Suchergebnisse

The concept of multilevel governance was introduced to reveal the impact of regions on European Union (EU) policy making in Brussels. In this contribution, I show that multilevel governance also exposes regional involvement in EU affairs within the member states. In contrast to perspectives that focus on formal decision-making by central governments, multilevel governance uncovers significant sharing of authority between governmental actors within and beyond national states even in cases where the formal right to make a decision lies with national governments or the EU legislator. I argue that the concept of multilevel governance is key for understanding developments within a three-tiered EU polity because it directs scholarly attention to the incentives for regions to be involved in EU affairs and for national governments and EU institutions to share their authority with regions.

This article analyses the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the regions. It argues that there is a discrepancy between the progressive framing of a 'Europe with the regions' in the political sphere and the limited impact of the Court in this field. This discrepancy does not emerge everywhere, nor does it emerge with the same intensity in all sectors. Indeed, in a number of areas, the CJEU has acknowledged the role and responsibilities of the regions. Examples include the right/duty of the regions to implement EU obligations, the protection of regional languages, as well as the 'sufficient autonomy' test developed by the CJEU in relation to state aid. There is no 'ideological opposition' of the CJEU to an increasing 'regionalisation' of the EU. There are, however, structural hindrances that prevent the Court from promoting further advancements of the status of the regions in the European edifice, particularly as regards their participation in EU processes. Since the EU remains a 'union of states', the 'Europe with the regions' has developed so far, and is likely to continue to develop, via advancements reflected in policy-making practices, soft-law arrangements and Treaty amendments rather than via the 'judge-made federalism' of the Court.

Analyzes dynamics of regional involvement in European politics and transnational interaction, through the Committee of the Regions, the Council of Ministers, the Commission, regional offices, and transnational associations.

A CASE STUDY OF STATE-AID PAYMENTS BY SAXONY TO VOLKSWAGEN SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THAT, IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN TENSIONS BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE GERMAN AUTHORITIES IN THE STATE-AID FIELD, ONE NEEDS TO COMPLEMENT ACTOR-CENTERED ANALYSIS BY LOOKING AT BROADER INCOMPATIBILITIES BETWEEN THE INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS OF GERMANY'S CO-OPERATIVE FEDERALISM AND CENTRALIZED DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES IN THE EU.

Corporate tax levels have fallen substantially in Europe during the last decades. There is a broad literature on tax competition which has been identified as one reason for the decline in corporate tax levels. However, none of these studies explicitly ask the question whether tax competition within regions is di erent from tax competition across regions, e.g. due to "global regionalism" of foreign direct investments. This is a crucial question to answer in order to discuss the desirability of (local) tax harmonization, for example, within the European Union. Therefore, the study aims to give hints on the following questions: Is the decline in corporate tax levels in Europe mainly driven by inner-European tax competition? Or is it (also) due to pressure from other world regions? The results of this study which makes use of tax reaction functions (spatial econometrics) indicate that there is evidence for tax competition within Europe (with respect to effective average tax rates) whereas there is no evidence that European countries compete with countries from other regions.

Corporate tax levels have fallen substantially in Europe during the last decades. A broad literature has identified tax competition as one reason for this decline in corporate tax levels. However, none of these studies explicitly asks the question whether tax competition within regions is different from tax competition across regions, e.g. due to global regionalism of foreign direct investments. This is a crucial question to answer in order to discuss the desirability of tax harmonization in a distinct region, for example, within the European Union. Therefore, the study aims to give hints on the question whether the decline in corporate tax levels in Europe is mainly driven by tax competition between EU member states or by pressure from other world regions. The results of this study, which makes use of tax reaction functions, indicate that there is evidence for tax competition within Europe, whereas there is no robust evidence that European countries compete with countries from other world regions.

Recent political events in the European Union (EU) highlighted a growing dissatisfaction of citizens in several EU regions with the EU institutions' management of socio-economic and financial challenges. This eventually led to a political legitimization crisis, whose drivers are partially shared among EU regions and partially area-specific. However, the relation between citizens' identification with the EU project and the regions' characteristics has not been analysed yet. In this article, we fill in this gap by addressing tree research questions: i) To what extent do EU citizens identify with Europe and the EU project? ii) Do European regions have different patterns and level of identification?, and iii) Are the results driven by specific socio-economic variables?
Answering these questions is crucial to inform a more inclusive and resilient design of the EU Cohesion Policy in a crucial period for reforming the EU. To this purpose, we develop a novel probabilistic classification model, IdentEU, which embeds with the concept of individual identification with Europe. We use micro-level data from a survey implemented within the PERCEIVE project. We find that the influencing variables that mostly affect (citizens and) regions' identification with the European project are trust in the EU institutions; the effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy and spending; the level of corruption. These issues gain relevance at the light of three main challenges that affected the EU socio-economic development path in the last decade, i.e. the 2008 financial crisis, the globalization process, and Brexit.

What role will the 'regions' play in the emerging governance structures of the European Union? This unit examines the rise of the regions and regionalism in Western Europe. You will look at the possible development pathways for Europe: will it become a Federal super-state or a decentralised 'Europe of the Regions'?