Europe as a multilevel federation

Abstract

European federalism must be conceived at multiple levels, not just that of the state and the EU. A regional level has emerged below and across the states, as a result of spatial rescaling: the migration of functional systems, political change and the institutionalization of the regional level. The sub-state region remains a contested space, both as to its territorial boundary and its control. The EU itself has used the regional level for the framing and implementation of its own policies. Regional politics are characterized by inter-regional competition. Demands for recognition and autonomy from below have added another dimension. There is not a uniform regional level of politics or policy but a variety of constructions of the region. Federalism helps us understand this changing dynamic, if it is seen not as a specific form of government but as a general principle of order, combining unity with diversity.

Hungry for power? Regional elites and the architecture of government

“…These processes have knock‐on effects on party competition (concerning both state‐wide and regionalist parties) all the way to systems of interest intermediation and the formation of territorial policy communities. In turn, they affect the structure and practice of government from the regional to the European levels (Keating, 2017a, 2017b).…”

Europeanization as the Reterritorialization of the State: Towards Conceptual Clarification

“…As case studies (Baun and Marek, ; Havlík and Kuchyňková, ) and some theoretical works (Keating, ; cf . Keating, ; Van Der Zwet et al ., ) have shown, under the right circumstances regional development priorities can become a strongly politicized issue that polarises the political spectrum. Whether the national governing party holds a substantial number of elected offices at the regional, as opposed to the local, level may swing the matter decisively, as it may decide whom the central government supports in regional policy planning (Havlík, ).…”

Problem‐Solving Across Literatures: Comparative Federalism and Multi‐Level Governance in Climate Change Action

“…Multi‐level governance also concerns how the authority is spread throughout the EU with a functional and a structural understanding of integration with actors within and beyond the nation state (Schakel, Hooghe & Marks, ). The EU's integration classification can be contested, such as between compound polity and federal (Keating, ). It is an “unconventional” multi‐level governance system, which according to Wurzel, Liefferink and Connelly () has the potential to detract from the cohesiveness of its environmental actions, pointing out to the outcome /implementation side of its problem‐solving capacity.…”

“…The multi‐level structure of the EU is “superimposed on” but also “nested” within the structure of the diverse member states that comprise the EU (Hooghe & Marks, ; Leuffen et al., ). The ambiguity in classifying the EU on the political integration continuum also has a bearing on its functional differentiation (Keating, ; Leuffen et al., ), which in turn has implications for problem‐solving.…”