Over the last decades, at a European level, efforts have been made so that regions become capable of sustainable economic growth, with great social cohesion and better distribution of wealth, while at the same time under open market conditions, they are being exposed to external competitiveness....

In this paper, I will discuss this question with special emphasis on the European experience. The European Union (EU) qualifies for an interesting case study because of two reasons. First, it has been founded more than 40 years ago in 1957. Second, its ongoing process of deep Integration is...