Multilevel Governance in the European Union: The Role of Regions and Cities
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| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | This contribution focuses on multilevel governance in the European Union and the involvement of regions and cities. Multilevel governance (MLG) does not have a universal definition. According to Schmitter (2004), it is defined as "an arrangement for making binding decisions which engages a multiplicity of politically independent but otherwise interdependent actors – private and public – at different levels of territorial aggregation in more-or-less continuous negotiation/deliberation/implementation, and that does not assign exclusive policy competence or assert a stable hierarchy of political authority to any of these levels." The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) understands multilevel governance as "coordinated action by the European Union, the Member States and local and regional authorities, based on partnership and aimed at drawing up and implementing EU policies" (White Paper on multilevel governance, 2009). The CoR is an advisory body of the European Union composed of local and regional representatives from all Member States. The institution stresses the importance of multilevel governance in the creation and implementation of public policies in its opinions and other actions. In July 2020, the CoR adopted its five-year political priorities: 1. Democracy and the future of the European Union; 2. Building resilient local and regional communities; 3. Place-based EU policies. These priorities state that EU and national decisions should be taken as close to citizens as possible, in line with the principle of subsidiarity and with cohesion as a fundamental value. A perfect example is the EU cohesion policy, where the partnership principle applies, and funds are subject to shared management. The contribution also aims to present practical examples of cooperation among different stakeholders, such as macro-regional strategies, European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), and community-led development. |
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