Regional integration and development: A study of the European Union, the transformation of Spain, and the pursuit of regional development

This thesis examines the impact of European Union membership on Spain in order to determine the role that regional integration played in the pursuit of development. The value of the European Union's contribution to Spain's recent political and economic transformation is explored through a multi-spatial (international, national and regional) analysis that examines both economic and social development experiences. It concludes that, in comparison to other regional and global integration models based solely on trade liberalization, the European Union represents a distinctly different model of integration. By providing Spain's political elite with a political imperative to democratize, by establishing supranational institutions and policies that created a managed system of regional integration, and by actively engaging in development programming for Europe's lagging regions, the European Union has constructed a model for regional integration that has contributed positively to Spain's development.