The changing dynamics of sub-state participation: The Commission's proposals for increasing regional and local involvement in European policy processes

Concern about the participation of the sub-state level of governance in European policy processes is not new. The European Commission's White Paper on European Governance introduced innovative proposals to address this issue, which have stirred up debate among the different actors involved. In this paper we analyse the progress made so far in developing two of those proposals: the so-called "permanent dialogue" between the Commission and Associations of regional and local authorities, and the tripartite agreements between the Commission, a territorial entity and the respective Member State. These ideas have not advanced and face several major problems (political, legal and technical) which will be difficult to resolve. This article analyses those problems, with the aim of contributing to the ongoing review process of these proposals.