Subsidiarity And Eu Multilevel Governance

This book examines the theory and praxis of the legal concept of subsidiarity and the policy paradigm of multilevel governance, providing an updated overview on how subnational and national authorities engage within the EU institutional framework. Providing a theoretical assessment of real-life case studies, the book reflects on a number of key events from the negotiations of the European Convention to the process that led to the "Brexit" referendum and assesses the key agendas and institutional ethos of most actors involved in EU policymaking. It particularly focusses on the EU engagement of so-called non-privileged actors, such as subnational authorities from the UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, as well as national and regional parliaments. The author goes on to examine the sometimes selfish behaviour and individual agendas of the European Commission, European Parliament, Member States and even the European Court of Justice but also identifies many constructive ways of interaction that can decisively frame how EU decisions are made. This comprehensive book will be a useful reference to students, practitioners and academic researchers working in European politics, policymaking, public policy and EU law and integration.

This book is the first monograph-form legal study on multilevel governance in the EU and represents a radical change in the approach to this topic. Particularly after the Treaty of Lisbon’s entry into force, research on multilevel governance can no longer remain confined to the analysis of political dynamics or of soft law arrangements. Multilevel governance emerges as a constitutional principle in the European constitutional space, envisaging a method of governance based on the strong involvement of sub-national authorities in the creation and implementation of EU law and policy. Its foundation is in the mosaic resulting from the constitutional systems of the Union and its Member States. Multilevel governance arrangements play a fundamental part in achieving key Treaty objectives (such as subsidiarity, respect for the national identities of the Member States including regional and local self-government, openness, and closeness to the citizen). These arrangements lend legitimacy to EU decision-making, while also promoting constitutionalism and democracy in the EU.

This distinctive book highlights the comparative transversal and national issues of multi-level governance in social welfare policies. The author reports on three particular policy areas: social assistance and local policies against poverty; activation and labour market policies; and care for the elderly; whist looking at the changes that have taken place over the past few years and their resulting effects. It will be a key text for those concerned with social policy and welfare.

European politics has been reshaped in recent decades by a dual process of centralization and decentralization. At the same time that authority in many policy areas has shifted to the suprantional level of the European Union, so national governments have given subnational regions within countries more say over the lives of their citizens. At the forefront of scholars who characterize this dual process as Omulti-level governance,OLiesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks argue that its emergence in the second half of the twentieth century is a watershed in the political development of Europe. Hooghe and Marks explain why multi-level governance has taken place and how it shapes conflict in national and European political arenas. Drawing on a rich body of original research, the book is at the same time written in a clear and accessible style for undergraduates and non-experts.

This book provides solid academic evidence of a lively debate and dialogue between US and EU scholars about Multilevel Governance (MLG) and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR). Beyond the contingencies of the terms and the path dependency of their historical developments, there are elements of convergence and overlap. This publication is a good example of how academic transatlantic dialogues result in a stronger understanding of the premises of our concepts, and of the functioning of our systems.' - Geert Bouckaert, Public Management Institute and European Group for Public Administration, Leuven, Belgium This book represents a major attempt to draw together two fundamental streams of research; Intergovernmental Relations and Multi-Level governance. Combining US and European schools of thought, this timely volume outlines key areas of convergence and divergence.

This book looks at the way in which the Committee of the Regions (CoR) can influence EU policy making from below, despite its relatively weak position in the decision-making process. Bringing together theoretical arguments about the central role of the formation of judgment in addition to the more conventionally emphasized expression of will, with an up-to-date account of the CoR's institutional development and activities, Simona Piattoni and Justus Schönlau make a strong case not to overlook the significance of the Committee's contribution to EU-level democracy.

It has become apparent that a clear gap exists between European Union (EU) level policymaking and Member State implementation. Previous research has neglected to fully define factors that encourage or prevent implementation processes and instead focused on upstream decision making processes or downstream effects of policy. Simona Milio here proposes a shift in analytical focus towards policy-implementation since this constitutes a crucial common pathway that determines whether a policy actually becomes effective or not. EU implementation deficits appear to be influenced by problems related to the multi-level structure of European policy making. Successful implementation will only occur if relevant policy actors at national and sub-national levels are persuaded to co-operate with EU policy goals. Furthermore, this co-operation is not possible unless all parties manage the complex policy networks and implementation regimes responsible for putting European policies into force. Within this framework, this book answers three important questions: 1 Is the EU multi-level governance system weakening the implementation of policies? 2 Are national and sub-national governments capable of dealing with the challenges imposed by multi-level governance? 3 Which factors account for differences in implementation performance among Member States? In order to answer these questions, Simona Milio's research explores the influence of two variables on implementation processes: Administrative Capacity and Political Stability. Cohesion Policy is chosen as the focus of this study since it has demonstrated a dramatically different implementation pace among EU Member States over the past 20 years. Three EU Member States are chosen to test the hypothesis. Italy appears to be a pertinent example, given its constant struggle to conform to EU directives and to implement Cohesion Policy. Spain is chosen since, in contrast to the Italian scenario, it represents the best performing Member State in terms of implementation. Finally Poland is studied, as a case where a shift from centralization towards decentralization has occurred in order to implement Cohesion Policy and integrate the multi-level governance system.