How have Europe’s outermost regions dealt with the economic and social consequences of the COVID‐19 crisis? Effects, policies and recommendations

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature by documenting how regions have experienced and managed the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, particularly for regions that are largely understudied and whose territorial characteristics (related to hyper-remoteness and poverty) deserve greater attention. To this end, the study investigated regional strategy and planning documents and conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with public authority representatives, sectoral actors and civil society groups. The findings show the socio-economic consequences of the crisis and local policy responses. The study proposes a reflection in terms of public policies on what could be the ‘world after’ in the outermost regions, and highlights how the COVID-19 crisis presented an opportunity to design and implement future territorial development policies that are more adapted to the context and territorial characteristics of these regions. Building a resilience policy in the outermost regions requires strengthening the territories’ capacities, which involves their structural equipment.