The politics of European union regional policy

The cash divide: the allocation of European Union regional grants

“…Previous studies argue that the domestic constitutional position of a region influences that region's lobbying power at the EU level (Bomberg and Peterson 1998;Marks et al 2002) and that constitutionally strong regions, that is regions in countries with federal constitutions that strengthen regional autonomy, have particularly benefitted from the increasing power-sharing between actors at regional, central and supranational levels in EU regional policy (Hooghe and Keating 1994;Marks et al 2002). A testable implication of these studies is that the Commission has incentives to allocate more structural funds to constitutionally strong regions (Bodenstein and Kemmerling 2008).…”

Introduction: Whatever Happened to the Europe of the Regions? Revisiting the Regional Dimension of European Politics

“…At the supranational level, changes in EU structural funding rules, and the legal and institutional innovations of the Maastricht Treaty, created new opportunities for regional actors to acquire new material resources and to participate in the European policy process (Hooghe and Keating, 1994;Hooghe, 1995;Bartolini, 2005: 257 -264). Within many western European states, the creation or strengthening of regional political institutions since the 1970s further empowered regional actors to develop new strategies for securing financial aid and accessing institutional arenas beyond the state.…”

“…Within many western European states, the creation or strengthening of regional political institutions since the 1970s further empowered regional actors to develop new strategies for securing financial aid and accessing institutional arenas beyond the state. Together, the processes of European integration and de-centralization provided new incentives for regional actors-a heterogeneous group encompassing, among others, regional and local authorities, sectoral regional associations and regionalist and minority nationalist parties-to participate in European decision making (Hooghe and Keating, 1994;Hooghe, 1995). For some, this meant establishing a direct presence in Brussels; for others, it also meant creating new trans-regional partnerships and engaging in para-diplomacy in order to lobby effectively for regional interests within the EU (Weyand, 1996;Aldecoa and Keating, 1999;Bartolini, 2005: 264-271).…”

Europe as a multilevel federation

“…From its beginnings in the 1970s, the instrument was contested among the European Commission, member states and regional governments, with a Europeanization and then a partial renationalization (Hooghe and Keating [1994]). It was torn between a social rationale, as a territorial compensation measure, and an economic one, as efficiency-enhancing.…”