Regional governance in the EU or: what happened to the ‘Europe of the regions’?

Abstract

The European Union is perceived to be a ‘multilevel’ system. If ‘multi’ is to be more than two, logically, we have to consider a third level: the subnational or regional level. This level has received some attention since the 1980s, when ‘Europe of the regions’ became a promise that was soon to disappoint. This chapter outlines the debate as well as the dynamics of regional governance in the EU. It calls for a modest model of ‘Europe with the regions’. It illustrates that region and regionalisation are polysemic terms; the dynamics of territorial politics is not limited to the state (in the form of intra-state decentralisation), but also transcends national boundaries, e.g. in the form of macro-regions. Key issues are the nexus between democratisation and regionalisation in the EU and how regions can contribute to democratic legitimacy.