Towards new forms of regional governance in Greece: the Southern Aegean Islands

Article is part of a special issue entitled 'Learning from abroad: Regionalization and local institutional infrastructure in cohesion and accession countries'.

Abstract:

This article studies the impact of Europeanization on the Greek regional administrative structures, policy-making processes and institutions, using as a case study the Region of Southern Aegean Islands. While acknowledging the significance of the adaptational pressure exerted by the EU, the authors argue for the significance of certain pre-existing facilitating conditions for the adaptational outcome. Elaborating on the results of a recent Social Network Analysis conducted in the region and a series of semi-structured interviews with key national and sub-national actors, the article analyses the impact of the pre-existing national structures and sub-national institutions and their interaction on the capacity of local systems of governance to learn and to adapt to the changing conditions brought about by the Europeanization of regional policy-making in Greece. The article studies the conditions that facilitate and promote regional institutional changes, as well as those that limit the regional institutional capacity to learn and to adapt. It concludes with some broader considerations with regard to the current regional governance trends in Greece, potential learning and adaptation.