Regional development policy is an integrated part of the European Union cohesion policy. Regional development policy has emerged in response to the need for economic recovery and ensuring a common and balanced development space. European countries share common features of regional development policy, but the forms of intervention are very dierent in terms of objectives, strategies, priorities, governance and tools used. e specic forms of implementation evolve over time in response to various factors such as changing economic circumstances, new governments and policy programs or external pressures, such as European Union cohesion policy and European Union competition policy frameworks. All these evolutionary aspects are a part of the planning programs of the European Union, and were introduced as parts of the cohesion policy.