On the failure of European planning for less developed regions. The case of Calabria

This study analyzes the negative performance of Calabria’s Regional Program 2000-2006, for the enhancement of cultural goods to attract tourism, as an example of the waste of resources done in the regional planning under the EU-Italian complex planning procedure for economic convergence. The empirical analysis shows that the variables relating to cultural sites, education sites and sites with tourism or tourism potentialities had no significance or even negative influence. The most significant variable was the number of non profits present in the municipalities. Criminal hubs were also significant, but the variable cultural sites in criminal hubs was not significant. A relevant part of the funds remained unspent for the purposes of the plan and was devoted to other destinations. After the program the number of visitors and revenues from museum and archeological sites of Calabria lower than before while on average in Italy has had a great increase. On the other hand tourism in Calabria experienced a differential increase, in spite of the waste of the funds of the European regional policy.