The Regional Dimension In European Public Policy

This book analyses EU regional policy and its co-ordination with other European and national public policies, namely investment grants, research and development policy and transport policy. The analysis identifies shortcomings within EU regional policy as well as co-ordination, problems with other public policies.

Decision-making within the EU has moved to a third (regional) level of government emerging in the EU policy process alongside the first (Union) and second (member state) levels. Multi-level governance can increasingly be identified. These papers describe and analyse this third level.

The role of regions in the European Union has been frequently debated since the 1980s. This comprehensive book provides a thorough overview of the issue from a variety of perspectives, analysing regional governance and territorial dynamics in the EU and its member states. Focusing on the implications of the democratisation–regionalisation nexus, it argues that a ‘Europe with the regions’ may promote good governance and ameliorate the democratic deficits of the EU.

Regions in Europe explores the state of regional politics in an increasingly integrated Europe. It argues that the predicted rise of increased political power at the regional level has failed to materialise and is fraught with paradox. In doing so this study locates regions in relation to European integration, globalisation, the nation state, local government, and comparative and national perspectives. Using case studies of the main players in Europe including: * Germany * France * UK * Italy * Spain * the Netherlands * Belgium. the contributors show how and why European regions remain remarkably weak in European governance.

Providing a new picture of the socio-economic map of central Europe after several years of transformation, and focusing in particular on Poland, this book gives an account of the major problems of regional restructuring. The author identifies the opportunities and problems faced by particular regions by relating the Polish experience to the experience of other central European countries. This in turn provides a general picture of spatial patterns of transformation in this specific part of Europe and will interest those concerned with the transformation of Eastern Europe.

The External Economic Dimensions of the European Union focuses on the broad range of recent initiatives taken by the EU to reinforce its common external economic policy in a rapidly changing environment. The prospects of the EU are increasingly interrelated with the dynamics of the world economy. In the multipolar post-Cold War economy, the EU faces many uncertainties and new challenges. The transatlantic link still dominates the EU's external relations but the cohesion of the Euro-American relatioship has been tested severely. Moreover, the transition of Central and Eastern Europe and the rise of new growth poles in Asia and Latin America have not only creates new opportunities for trade and investment but intensified international competition at the same time. The volume is organised in two parts. Part I focuses on the competitiveness of the EU and its position in the world economy as well as on specific aspects of its external economic policies including the restructuring of the Common Agricultural Policy and the enlargement of the EU membership. Part II is exclusively devoted to the regional dimension of the external policy of the EU and focuses on the rapidly evolving relationship with the other Triad powers, the USA and Japan, the neighbouring countries and the emerging markets. The book brings together a range of distinguished authors who analyse the wide range of initiatives from the perspective of economics, political science and law. It is a timely and essential work that will reward the attention of policymakers and interested academics throughout the world.

The book critically reflects on some of the most important novelties and experimentations in the context of the European Union’s renewed urban and regional policy in the last programming period, 2014-2020. In particular, it examines four main innovations characterizing this period, which emerged as a result of the deep rethinking and reorganization of Cohesion Policy in the spirit of the place-based approach to local development, i.e. the development of the smart specialization strategy, the establishment of macro-regions, the focus on the urban dimension as a horizontal priority, and the role of social innovation in urban policy. Unlike other similar books, it analyzes the urban dimension of the reformed EU cohesion policy, especially focusing on its interplay with the regional dimension, and which has not been fully addressed to date. The book is intended for social scientists engaged in research on European issues, especially from regional and urban perspectives, policy-makers, particularly at the local level, and graduate students interested in regional and urban European matters.

The Handbook of Public Administration and Policy in the European Union focuses on the current state of the EU while also demonstrating how its current structure came into being and how it may change in the near future. Although most existing literature is either policy-oriented or institution-oriented, this textbook employs a different, more comprehensive approach. Not only does it analyze selected EU laws and most EU institutions, it is also unique in that it brings together EU public administration, EU institutions, and, most importantly, EU policies into a comprehensive text. Divided into five parts, the book provides an overview of theory discourses on European integration, followed by an analysis of the development of European organizations. Part II explains the nature of the EU, highlighting its institutions. Part III addresses various dimensions of public administration, followed by a review in Part IV of major EU policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy. The textbook concludes with a history of Economic and Monetary Union and a study of the European Central Bank and the euro.