Shallow or Deep Europeanisation? The Uneven Impact of EU Cohesion Policy on the Regional and Local Authorities in Poland

Abstract

With this paper I aim at refi ning the understanding of mechanisms of postaccession Europeanisation in the new member states by investigating the impact of EU cohesion policy on the Polish subnational policy actors involved in its implementation. Drawing on recent empirical evidence on the infl uence of EU cohesion policy in three areasadministrative capacity, strategic planning, and governance-I show that adjustment to the EU cohesion policy norms initially tends to be stimulated by cost-benefi t calculation or constraint, which may involve 'shallow' adjustment. However, the study also reveals that over time, provided that EU-imported norms are in line with the actors' preferences, socialisation and learning mechanisms become more prominent. Moreover, I demonstrate that the subnational impact of EU cohesion policy remains uneven and diff erentiated depending on the actors' preferences, attitudes, and capacity.

From Single-Use Community Facilities Support to Integrated Sustainable Development: The Aims of Inter-Municipal Cooperation in Poland, 1990–2018

“…Collaborative territorial governance may be seen as an instrument not only for the production of public goods and management of local, limited resources, but also for changing the nature and logic of state-society relations in a given country [41]. It was disseminated throughout most European post-socialist countries from the early 21st century, mainly after their accession to the European Union [42,43]. The term "endogenous development" is considered as more or less synonymous with the "grassroots", "bottom-up" or "participatory" approach to management of local resources and is closely related to "sustainable development" in policy practice [44,45].…”

“…Collaborative territorial governance may be seen as an instrument not only for the production of public goods and management of local, limited resources, but also for changing the nature and logic of state-society relations in a given country [41]. It was disseminated throughout most European post-socialist countries from the early 21st century, mainly after their accession to the European Union [42,43]. The term "endogenous development" is considered as more or less synonymous with the "grassroots", "bottom-up" or "participatory" approach to management of local resources and is closely related to "sustainable development" in policy practice [44,45].The advantages attributed to local stakeholders' territorial cooperation encouraged EU policy makers to promote neo-endogenous and place-based integrated development, in which such governance processes have an important role, and have similar features and are considered more sustainable than the top-down exogenous approach [23,46,47].…”

“…Such arrangements had scarcely been established prior to funding being available, so cannot be considered as a genuine national self-organisation process, but rather as policy transfer of the concept of place-based development. It can be considered also as "Europeanisation"; in this case, a conscious process of territorial development policy transfer to post-socialist countries led by European Union policymakers [43,104]. Funds and programmes originating in Western Europe played a significant role in mobilising local stakeholders to create partnerships and provide technical assistance, funding and investment possibilities.…”

The durability of European Regional Development Fund partnership and governance structures: a case study of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

“…Lastly, the case study findings dovetail with other research that has been carried out in other EU Member States and regions exploring the ways in which ERDF has contributed to an apparent 'Europeanisation' of domestic policy as well as governance structures albeit in differing ways and to varying extents across Europe (see Adshead, 2013;Bristow and Blewitt, 2001;Dąbrowski, 2012;Percoco and Giove, 2009;Spilanis et al, 2014). Indeed, this paper aims to contribute to this interesting angle of analysis on ERDF through exploring the durability of the partnerships in the Highlands and Islands.…”

Multilevel cross-border governance in the Czech-Saxon borderland: working together or in parallel?

“…A combination of methods was used for data collection. Similar to Dabrowski (2008Dabrowski ( , 2012 or Kull and Tatar (2015), mainly interviews with regional informants with everyday practical experience of local processes were used as data sources, accompanied by document analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with different actors -such as regional and national political/administrative authorities, representatives of Euroregions, chambers of commerce, NGOs, municipalities or other cross-border actors -to identify their interactions within decision-making processes related to regional development in each cross-border region.…”