Book Description

European integration has profoundly changed the relationship between national and subnational governments and has led to the emergence of the Europe of the Regions. This edited volume highlights some of the problems involved in the integration of the three main levels of governance in the European Union: the regional, national, and supranational level. The contributors address recent developments in various regions and examine the way these regions have adjusted to the growing importance of the European Union's multilevel governance system. Among the issues discussed are the emergence and institutionalization of new regional political systems, such as those of Scotland, Wales, and Flanders; the channels available to the regions for influencing the EU policy process in relation to their constituencies; and horizontal projects of integration among regions, which make the whole multilevel governance system more flexible as well as more complex.