Territorial Interests

The focus of this chapter concerns sub-national, regional, and local interest representations at the European level, which are dominated by the perspectives of territorial public authorities. Much of the ‘hype’ of one to two decades ago about regions becoming a ‘third level’ of EU multi-level governance (to member states and supranational institutions) has long since evaporated. Much of this hype seemed aspirational, and it is notable that the subject field attracted contributions from writers originating from or based in countries where there have been significant issues of regional conflicts or at least a history of centre—regional issues, such as Belgium, Scotland, Italy, Germany, and Spain. It seems somewhat doubtful that arrangements for some countries to be represented by regional entities in specific discussions in the Council of Ministers, and for regions to be partners in policy instruments, ‘have transformed the European Union from a primarily state centric system of authority into a system of multi level governance’ (Hooghe 2002:370–1). The slogan of a ‘Europe of the Regions’ gradually gave way to ‘Europe with the Regions’ (Hooghe 1995) to one of, at best, ‘Europe with … some of … the regions’.