The Slovenian regional development asymetries as EU welcomes new members

Abstract

The global economic crisis has deeply affected national economies. Governments were aware about the prospects that have been achieved in the past, but they haven’t been aware of the new economic realities. Emerging decline of the western successful economies, focused governments on the inadequacy and heterogeneity of commonly used instruments and the economic instruments that could be rapidly successfully introduced by policy makers. This concepts are generally discussed under the heading of "new regionalism". The economic policies of the European Union moved in direction of complete integration of European markets. European market is split into the developed Western European market and the developing market in Central and Eastern European countries. European Union is facing a classical NorthSouth problem. Developed North and underdeveloped South. (Vodopivec Р.: 1998,2000) Economic problems remain unsolved, internal as well as external balance problems persists. Regarding the internal development of the European Union, EU tries to solve this problem by aiming at economic and social cohesion, so regional policy is becoming an economic and political commitment. Each EU countries has shown perceived need to implement an adaptation of the territorial administrative structures and building regional institutional capacity. As the EU welcomes new members and its external boundaries shift, socio-economic and political transformations are taking place at the borders. These transformations signify new regional development opportunities but often also problems and tensions. At the present and future external borders of the EU it will be necessary to find mechanisms that mediate between external pressures and local concerns and transcend socio-economic, political and systemic asymmetries - Slovenia is just an example.