The Limits of Regionalization: The Intergovernmental Struggle over EU Cohesion Policy in the Czech Republic

Abstract

What explains national variation in the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy, in particular when it comes to the role of regions in Structural Funds management? This is an important question because, as some scholars have claimed, Cohesion Policy has the potential to empower regions and promote regionalization in Europe. Particularly in the new CEE member states, where relations between central and subnational authorities often remain unsettled or in a state of flux, the ability of regional authorities to exercise a substantial role in Cohesion Policy implementation could significantly impact intergovernmental relations and the balance of power between the central state and regions. This article examines this question in the case of one CEE member state, the Czech Republic, where the role of regions in Structural Funds management has been a particularly contentious issue over the course of three programming periods beginning in 2004. The article argues that the standard explanation in the literature for variation in Cohesion Policy implementation—national constitutional arrangements and governmental traditions—cannot explain the change of implementation systems in the Czech Republic because these remained constant over the three programming periods under investigation. Instead, the Czech case suggests the primary importance of regional administrative capacity and performance as a factor affecting Cohesion Policy implementation, while domestic politics and EU-level influences play important though secondary roles.

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“…One of the problems, as pointed out by Medve-Bálint and Šćepanović (2020), is that a large share of EU funds is absorbed by foreign companies that take money out of the country. There are several studies that demonstrate the relationship between the quality of public administration and the absorption capacity of projects funded by EU funds (Baun and Dan 2017;Terracciano and Graziano 2016). In their research, Mendez and Bachtler (2022) emphasizes that regional government does not have an influence on the administrative performance of EU funds.…”

Europeanization as the Reterritorialization of the State: Towards Conceptual Clarification

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“…Politicians are, of course, also change agents involved in the process. 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.…”

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