‘Té Para Todos’? A Comparison of the Processes of Devolution in Spain and the UK

Abstract

IntroductionDevolution in the United Kingdom is clearly an ongoing process, which is why it is vital to compare the experiences of other European countries that share longer histories of devolution and can offer potentially important insights for the future trajectories of change in the UK. Thus far, however, the debate on devolution in the UK has been rather parochial and little attention has been paid to the experiences of decentralisation elsewhere (Mitchell, 2002). This paper, however, bucks that trend because it focuses directly upon the situation in Spain. The Spanish case can offer important lessons for the UK because of its relatively recent history of devolution (since 1978) and extensive decentralisation. In particular, the so-called`historic communities' of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia, and Andaluc|¨a (1) were granted more autonomy than the other Spanish regions in what is commonly referred to as a model of`asymmetrical federalism' (Moreno, 2001).It is precisely such a model of asymmetrical autonomy that has been adopted in the UK since 1997, with the creation of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies that have been granted a greater degree of autonomy compared with the English regions, which following the publication of the White Paper in May 2002 have the possibility to opt for elected regional assemblies (Cabinet Office and DTLR, 2002). Clearly, the implications of this asymmetry remain unclear, especially for England, which is why comparisons with the Spanish case are particularly important and timely.

Devolution, state restructuring and policy divergence in the UK

“…The well‐worn characterisation of devolution as a ‘process, not an event’ (Shaw and MacKinnon ) refers to the tendency for institutional structures and relations to evolve and unfold over time, sometimes in unintended or unpredictable ways. In general, this tends to operate in the direction of further devolution whereby dissatisfaction with existing arrangements fuels demands for additional reform (Giordano and Roller ). This trend tends to be particularly pronounced in cases such as Spain and the UK in which asymmetrical forms of devolution interact with distinctive territorial identities, fostering institutional tinkering and region‐to‐region emulation (Jeffery , 101).…”

Region and place: devolved regional government and regional economic success?

“…More generally, as Tomaney (2004, 2093) put it, the precise nature of the linkages between regional governance and social development -and even more so, the character and direction of any causal links between them -"remains subject to conjecture". For Giordano andRoller (2004, 2165), reflecting on the evidence from a range of studies, the "common assumption … that greater regional autonomy has led to positive impacts upon economic well-being" is a "somewhat bold claim". Not least, this is because of the persistence of regional inequalities and uneven development despite regional devolution.…”

New development: The courts and multi-level governance—some comparative perspectives on the emerging jurisprudence of the UK Supreme Court

“…While in some ways the devolution statutes were inspired by Spain (Giordano and Roller, 2004), there is a difference as Britain does not have written single document constitution. But this has not deterred the courts from using the individual devolution statutes as de facto proxy constitutions.…”