Book Reviews Scott, Joanne, Development Dilemmas in the European Community v. Rethinking Regional Development Policy, Buckingham: Open University Press (1995) xviii + 160 pages + Index. £16.99. paper; £40, hardback. Scott's book provides a timely and stimulating treatment of the increasingly important area of regional development policy in the European Union (EU). The introduction outlines a major dilemma presently facing the EU. The author contends that the phenomenon of the globalization of capital investment restrict,., nation states' (and, therefore, local communities) autonomy in policy making. Possessing the ability to play states off against each other, international capital can negotiate the best possible conditions for investment in any given state Consequently, there is a tendency for states to race to the bottom of the deregulation heap to attract such investment. A response to this problem is the creation of supra-sovereignties which increase the leverage of states by allowing the co-ordination of investment policy. The rub, however, is that these larger political structures display a tendency to concentrate power at the supra sovereign level. As a result of' such concentration, the possibility of meaningful decision making at the local level is endangered. Therefore, the dangers, posed by international capital, and the response to this danger, both threaten local community decision making. Here lies the dilemma. Worse still, in the EU context, the pay off that supra sovereignty promises has not been exploited. The author claims that the very political tools the EU has to deal with international capital investment, positive harmonization powers is the example given, remain under exercised. Instead, EU policy preference has placed great reliance on negative integration powers which are largely driven by the policies of individual member states. Scott argues that EU regional development policy is one such instance of the EU's failure to exploit its supra sovereign powers. Scott outlines the regional development initiatives, namely the European Regional Development Fund, the three EU structural instruments and the Cohesion Fund, before engaging in an extensive critique of these policies. A major premise from which the author proceeds is that regional development policy should be concerned more with human development as an end in itself rather than as a facilitation of capital investment. The gravamen of the criticism is that EU policy in this area stresses quantitative criteria, especially Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in both measuring and assessing policy. Broadly, this approach is flawed for two reasons. First, an increase in GDP does not necessarily imply development. The author cites the example of the pollution of a river caused by a factory in the course of production. In this instance 'the money value of what was produced is included in the GNP and then if the river is cleaned up, the money for cleaning up is also included in GNP' (p. 56). Second, by using growth as a measure of development success many significant factors and values, such as quality of' life, life expectancy and autonomy, are left out of the assessment. The author develops the thesis by situating the critique within the ongoing international development debate. We are told that the United Nations has largely rejected the growth model of development in favour of a development model based on more qualitative criteria. This new model places at centre stage the human right to personal development. The contention is that there are viable alternatives to conceiving development policy. Moreover, the adverse effects of the EU's 'anachronistic' policy are not restricted to Europe. Scott argues that the present EU policy tends to feed off the use of growth models of development in the developing world in order to sustain the market for a wide range of EU goods and thus, in turn sustain economic growth in Europe. Having established the general thesis the book turns to explore the implications of the present EU regional development policy relating to the environment and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The general conclusion is that in both areas elements of economic growth and efficiency are given undue priority. In the environmental area, there is a lack of adequate decision making structure to ensure environmental concerns are taken sufficiently into account. Concerning the CAP, there is a tendency to promote economic efficiency over social, cultural and environmental concerns. In view of the ambitious range of the thesis, Scott wisely avoids easy conclusions. The possibility of a development policy involving a simple redistribution of income within the EU is considered and rejected. We are reminded that growth in income does not necessarily imply development. Even the greater use of qualitative criteria in EU policy may presuppose universal and commensurable notions of human need. This presupposition itself may threatens the value of autonomy by denying local communities the right to define a concept of need for themselves. Instead, the author calls for a departure from the present model of development to ensure a European Union which respects the deep variety of its traditions and ways of life. No alternative solution, however, is offered. It might be thought that Scott's book makes for heavy reading. This is not so. Each of the chapters offers a succinct summary of the argument so far developed and points to the issues raised in the next. Moreover, the statistics are marshaled in an orderly fashion and never threaten to detract from the main thrust of the argument. The level of detail is set appropriately for the concerned lay person without ever giving the sense of simplifying essentially complex issues. In this tight structure particular arguments are made with force and clarity. One quibble might be that the author relies on many works in the development field or related fields in developing the thesis, without fleshing out her own theoretical framework. This does not, however, significantly detract from a challenging and inter-disciplinary approach to a vital area of the EU policy. Jeremy Richmond Graduate Programme Harvard Law School
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