LEIPZIG (Own report): Berlin Ministries are financing the penetration of the planning process in all European states. They are working on detailed projects for the "spatial development" of foreign territories. These studies are not only concerned with the traditional German sphere of influence on the eastern borders. They also take in western Europe including Great Britain and France. The cross border(*1) planning activity is discussed in a specialist periodical published by the "Institut fuer Laenderkunde" (IfL) in Leipzig. The institute is sponsored by the Berlin "Ministry for Traffic, Building and Housing".

"Europa Regional", the paper published by IfL, discusses "Questions of Spatial order"(*2) in numerous detailed analyses. These touch on the sovereignty of British & French planning authorities. Thus the periodical busies itself with "Economic spatial structural change in the West Midlands Conurbation (Birmingham & the Black Country) in the times of "Thatcherism" and "post Thatcherism"" or concerns itself with "Geo-deterministic factors" in British "large settlements". The aim is an X ray examination of those factors favourable and unfavourable to the parcelling out of central state administrations and their replacement by "Regions". This is a well known key
project of German high policy . On the French side it is particularly targeted against Lothringen (the French region called Lorraine).

"A COMMUNITY TASK"

The geo-politcal analysts are doing further research to place the assumptions and possibilities of large scale industrial projects under German hegemony. In order to put the multi billion German industrial project, "Transrapid" on a profitable basis, the "spatial planners" have already made drawings for Europe-wide sections of construction. This is a train system which will go from the Channel coast in the west to the Black Sea in the east: it has no rails and a planned speed of 500 kilometers per hour. By this the levels of planning will be decreed to subordinate the sovereignty of France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and various other states. In the notorious jargon of German "Geo-politics", the arrogant monopolisation of the sovereign powers of foreign states it is said "Target setting and target achievement are a European Community task which concerns the fashioning of a LIVING SPACE (LEBENSRAUM) (*3) (translator's emphasis)

"MAKING SAFE THE BORDER REGION PROJECTS"

Until a short while ago the Director of the IfL ("Institut fuer Laenderkunde) was Professor-Doctor Frank-Dieter Grimm who is also a member of the Praesidium of the "South East Europe Society". The institute is funded not only by the Federal government but by the provincial government of Saxony. As part of " A network of competence in the study of spatial scientific arrangements" the Leipzig institute co-operates with the "Academy for Spatial Research and Land use Planning" (Hannover) and the "Institute for ecological spatial Development" (Dresden). Together they are members of "The scientific Association Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (GWL) in the section of "Spatial scientific Studies".

The IfL has made co-operation agreements(*4) "particularly for assuring borderland projects" with Lviv, Hrodna/Grodno and Minsk. The IfL has also founded "Work Bases" in Riga, St Petersburg, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Cluj-Napoca and Sofia. In the project area of "Border Regions" the Institute is particularly concerned with "Border regions between Poland and its eastern neighbouring states" and is examining "Co-operation between towns in central and south east Europe" . It also sponsors "The trans border town network in "Three country corner" between Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia".

There are eight cross references to other papers on the www.german-foreign-policy website

SOURCE INSTITUT FUER LAENDERKUNDE e.V.Leipzig; www.ifl.leipzig.com

Translator's Notes

(*1) "Cross border" is rather a weak translation of the German "grenzueberschreitend" which means literally "border over-striding" - a far more vigorous and active concept.

(*2) An inadequate translation of the German "Raumordnung". Some months ago a Councillor told me he was puzzled by the title of an EU Directive - the "Spatial Directive". Raum literally means space but it includes everything in it - agriculture, water, mineral resources, industry etc.

(*3) LEBENSRAUM - Living Space is the concept of a large area with all necessary resources for a self-sufficient developed economy under a single political system. These are concisely set out in Walther Funk's paper "Economic Face of the New Europe" published in "Nazi Plans for European Union" (ISBN 1 904260 03 09) Price £2.85 inc. p & p from Publications on this site.

(*4) The German word "Vertrag" also means treaty or contract.