On the possible future West European capital

The emergence of a real West European capital requires a transfer of national decision-making power to a European common body or a form of federalism in Europe. The first uniting phases and later some voting results in member countries of the EEC point to an emergence of a possible future political core area in the Benelux countries. There is a large choice of cities in Europe as to the position of a future federal capital. Using the location of the headquarters of European international organizations, large firms, financing firms, and taking the accessibility of the cities into consideration, Brussels, London and Paris receive a nearly equal and high position in rankings. This, and an abundance of smaller international centers, point to an existence in Europe of a system of highest level decision-making centers rather than a single capital city. To a great extent this three point construction is located inside the European megalopolis. The whole supranational decision-making city system is very marginally oriented to the west within the continent. The modest share of Germany in these activities is conspicuous. Economically, however, it is now the strongest country in Europe. The future of the decision-making city system may, therefore, still see considerable change.An earlier Finnish language version of this paper entitled Euroopan ylikansalliset päätoksentekokeskukset by Mauri Palomäki and Matti Hiltunen appeared in Terra 102, 1 (1990)