We examine the constitution of the European Union territory in socio-technical practices. We argue that calculative practices are central in the constitution of the European Union territory but that these practices need to be understood as being situated within the broader ‘teleological structures’ of European integration. This paper scrutinizes the European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion (formerly European Spatial Planning Observation Network) programme as one of the activity spaces whereby the calculative practices of the ‘European knowledge-based economy’, a term which arose in the 1990s, are constitutive of the contemporary making of the European Union territory. We thus highlight the practices of surveying, mapping and modelling as central components in the constitution of the European Union as a political object.
BachmannV (2015a) Global Europa, ESPON and the EU’s Regulated Spaces of Interaction. Journal of European Integration37: 685–703. DOI: 10.1080/07036337.2015.1050012.
2.
BachmannV (2015b) Spaces of interaction: enactments of sociospatial relations and an emerging EU Diplomacy in Kenya. Territory, Politics, Governance. Epub ahead of print 11 April 2015. DOI: 10.1080/21622671.2015.1005124.
3.
Barca F (2009) An agenda for a reformed cohesion policy: A place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges and expectations. Independent Report prepared at the request of Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy.
4.
BarryA (1993) The European Community and European government: harmonization, mobility and space. Economy and Society22: 314–326.
5.
BialasiewiczLEldenSPainterJ (2005) The Constitution of EU Territory. Comparative European Politics3: 333–363.
6.
BialasiewiczLGiaccariaPJonesA (2013) Re-scaling ‘EU’rope: EU Macroregional Fantasies in the Mediterranean. European Urban and Regional Studies20: 59–76.
ClarkJJonesA (2008) The spatialities of Europeanisation: territory, government and power in ‘EUrope’. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (New Series)33: 300–318.
9.
CSD, Committee on Spatial Development (1999) European Spatial Development Perspective, Luxembourg: Office for the Official Publications of the European Community.
10.
DavoudiS (2006) Evidence-based planning: rhetoric and reality. disP – The Planning Review165: 14–24.
11.
DeLandaM (2006) A new philosophy of society: assemblage theory and social complexity, London: Continuum.
12.
DijkstraL (2004) European cities in a dynamic, knowledge-based economy. In: AntikainenJPyöriäT (eds) Kaupunkiseutujen kasvun aika, Helsinki: Sisäasiainministeriö, pp. 16–19.
13.
DührSColombCNadinV (2010) European spatial planning and territorial cooperation, London: Routledge.
14.
EldenS (2010) Land, terrain, territory. Progress in Human Geography34: 799–817.
15.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2004) The ESPON 2006 Programme. Programme on the spatial development of an enlarging European Union. Ministère de l’Intérieur et de l’Amenagement du Territoire, Luxembourg. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Programme/Menu_ESPON2006Programme/communityinitiativeprogramme.html (accessed 9 May 2014).
16.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2007) ESPON 2013 PROGRAMME: European observation network on territorial development and cohesion. Ministère de l’Intérieur et de l’Amenagement du Territoire, Luxembourg. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Programme/Menu_ESPON2013Programme/ (accessed 9 May 2014).
17.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2009) SURE – SUccess for convergence Regions’ Economies. Inception report, ESPON & LUPT Research Centre, Naples. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_TargetedAnalyses/SURE.html (accessed 10 April 2014).
18.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2010a) CAEE – the case for agglomeration economies in Europe. Final Report, ESPON & University of Manchester, Manchester. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_TargetedAnalyses/CAEE.html (accessed 9 April 2014).
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2010c) Territorial impact of globalization on European regions. Inception report, ESPON & Free University of Brussels, Brussels. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/tiger.html (accessed 18 March 2014).
21.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2010d) ReRisk – regions at risk of energy poverty. Final Report, ESPON & Innobasque, Zamudio. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/rerisk.html (accessed 12 March 2014).
22.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012a) KIT – knowledge, innovation, territory. Final Report, ESPON & Politecnico di Milano, Milan. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/kit.html (accessed 25 March 2014).
23.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012b) AMCER – advanced monitoring and coordination of EU R&D policies at regional level. Final Report, ESPON & Innova Europe, Luxembourg. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_TargetedAnalyses/amcer.html (accessed 5 May 2014).
24.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012c) SIESTA – Spatial Indicators for a ‘Europe 2020 Strategy’ Territorial Analysis. (Draft) Final Report, version 10/08/2012, ESPON & Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/siesta.html (accessed 18 March 2014).
25.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012d) TERCO – European Territorial Co-operation as a Factor of Growth, Jobs and Quality of Life. Final Report, ESPON & EUROREG, Warsaw. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/terco.html (accessed 8 April 2014).
26.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012e) TIGER – territorial impact of globalization for Europe and its regions. Final Report, ESPON & Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/tiger.html (accessed 18 March 2014).
27.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2012f) ATTREG – the attractiveness of European regions and cities for residents and visitors. Final report, ESPON & University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/attreg.html (accessed 14 March 2014).
28.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2013a) ET2050 – territorial scenarios and visions for Europe. Second Interim Report, ESPON & MCRIT Ltd, Barcelona. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/ET2050.html (accessed 27 March 2014).
29.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2013b) Territorial Dimensions of the Europe 2020 Strategy. ESPON 2013 Programme Coordination Unit, Luxembourg.
30.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2013c) GROSEE – growth poles in South East Europe. Draft Final Report, ESPON & University of Bucharest, Bucharest. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_TargetedAnalyses/grosee.html (accessed 11 April 2014).
31.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2013d) TOWN – small and medium sized towns in their functional territorial context. Interim Report, ESPON & KU Leuven, Leuven. Available at: http://www.espon.eu/main/Menu_Projects/Menu_AppliedResearch/town.html (accessed 9 May 2014).
32.
ESPON, European Observation Network, Territorial Development and Cohesion, Luxembourg (2014a) Territories finding a new momentum: evidence for policy development, growth and investment. Third ESPON Synthesis Report, ESPON, Luxembourg.
EU Ministers responsible for Urban and Spatial Development (2007) Territorial Agenda of the European Union: towards a more competitive and sustainable Europe of diverse regions. Agreed on the occasion of the Informal Ministerial Meeting on Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion in Leipzig on 24–25 May 2007.
35.
EU Ministers responsible for Spatial Planning and Territorial Development (2011) Territorial agenda of the European Union 2020: towards an inclusive, smart and sustainable Europe of diverse regions. Available at: http://www.eu2011.hu/files/bveu/documents/TA2020.pdf (accessed 11 September 2013).
36.
EC, European Commission (2010a) Investing in Europe’s future. Fifth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
37.
EC, European Commission (2010b) Communication from the Commission: Europe 2020 – a strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. COM(2010) 2020, Brussels: European Commission.
European Communities (2006) Creating an Innovative Europe. Report of the Independent Expert Group on R&D and Innovation chaired by Mr. Esko Aho. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
40.
European Council (2000) Presidency Conclusions of the Lisbon European Council. 23 and 24 March. Lisbon: European Council.
41.
FaludiA (2010) Cohesion, coherence, cooperation: European spatial planning coming of age?, London: Routledge.
42.
Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (2001) Study programme on European Spatial Planning, Bonn: Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning.
43.
GodinB (2006) The knowledge-based economy: conceptual framework or buzzword?Journal of Technology Transfer31: 17–30.
44.
JensenOBRichardsonT (2004) Making European space: mobility, power and territorial identity, London: Routledge.
45.
JonesHC (2005) Lifelong learning in the European Union: whither the Lisbon Strategy?European Journal of Education40: 247–260.
46.
KrzyżanowskiMWodakR (2011) Political strategies and language policies: the European Union Lisbon strategy and its implications for the EU’s language and multilingualism policy. Language Policy10: 115–136.
47.
KuusM (2014) Geopolitics and expertise: knowledge and authority in European Diplomacy, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
48.
LundvallBÅ (1992) National systems of innovation: towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning, London: Pinter.
49.
LuukkonenJ (2011) The Europeanization of regional development: local strategies and European spatial visions in northern Finland. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography93: 253–270.
50.
MillerPRoseN (2008) Governing the present: administering economic, social and personal life, Cambridge: Polity Press.
51.
MitchellT (2002) Rule of experts. Egypt, techno-politics, modernity, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
52.
MoisioS (2011) Geographies of Europeanization: the EU’s spatial planning as a politics of scale. In: BialasiewiczL (ed.) Europe in the World: EU Geopolitics and the Transformation of European Space, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, pp. 19–39.
53.
MoisioS (2015) Geopolitics/critical geopolitics. In: AgnewJMamadouhVSecorA (eds) The Wiley-Blackwell companion to political geography, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 220–234.
54.
MoisioSBachmannVBialasiewiczL (2013) Mapping the political geographies of Europeanization: national discourses, external perceptions and the question of popular culture. Progress in Human Geography37: 737–761.
55.
MoisioSLuukkonenJ (2015) European spatial planning as governmentality: an inquiry into rationalities, techniques, and manifestations. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy33: 828–845.
56.
OECD, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1996) The knowledge-based economy, Paris: OECD.
57.
PainterJ (2010) Rethinking territory. Antipode42: 1090–1118.
58.
SchatzkiTR (1996) Social practices: a wittgensteinian approach to human activity and the social, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
59.
SchatzkiTR (2002) The site of the social: a philosophical account of the constitution of social life and change, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
60.
SchatzkiTR (2010) The timespace of human activity: on performance, society, and history as indeterminate teleological events, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
