Economic conditions of islands and policies to rebalance territorial disparities

Abstract

The focus on island contexts stems from the fact that they present peculiarities related not only to the morphology of the territory but also to the economic and social system that characterises them. The territory of the European Union includes more than 3,000 islands in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Basins and the Caribbean. The islands share similar social, geographical, economic, and environmental characteristics. Con- sidering only island regions, the European Union recognises more than 280 islands, identified as those territories surrounded by the sea, having an area of more than 1 km2, located at least one kilometre from the mainland, having no permanent infrastructure connecting them with the continent, and boasting a population of at least 50 inhabitants. It has been shown in the scientific literature that island territories possess obstacles and constraints to development due to their status as islands. This evidence is found in all islands, regardless of their size, char- acteristics or even the fact that they are recognised as island states. Con- firming this, they verified that the development dynamics, in the case of Mediterranean islands, differ from European Union countries’ coastal and non-island regions. Some aspects such as small size, isolation and remoteness, envi- ronmental vulnerability and specific socioeconomic factors strongly affect the dynamics of growth and development. It should also be considered that islands have limited natural resources, and most of the goods and services consumed on islands cannot be produced locally in adequate quantity and quality, resulting in a high number of imports to meet most of the demand for goods for residents and tourists.