The Europeanization of regions in Eastern and Western Europe: Theoretical perspectives

Abstract:

Today we witness the process of Europeanization of subnational regions in the 2004 pre-enlargement EU countries and in the new Member States. This article reflects on our knowledge about this phenomenon, especially with regard to an East-West comparison. It asks: which promising theoretical approaches have been developed so far for the analysis of (a) the institutional options the Europeanization process provides for the regions and (b) the Europeanization of policy-making in the regions. It points outs that current research is in danger of overestimating formal institutional convergence when comparing the Europeanization of regions, and of underestimating and/or overlooking the consequences of institutional reform for the future fabric of societies and regional political exchange. For the Europeanization of regional policy-making as well as for the impact of Europeanization on regional societies a theoretical framework is developed here.