Developing European regions? Unity and diversity in the new Europe

This paper introduces a project recently started by the authors on the relationship between European integration and regionalisation in both extant member states and applicant countries. Our main question is whether we are witnessing a process of Europeanisation in relation to sub-central state structures; a common pattern of regional governance within member states. Related to this, we are concerned with the extent to which EU membership, and EU institutional actors in particular, have influenced the pattern of regionalisation. This paper situates the influence of the EU in the context of other potential explanations for change in European regions beyond the EU system (globalisation) and within the member states (sub-central demands for greater autonomy). It also places the public policy literature on policy diffusion and policy transfer alongside the concepts of globalisation and Europeanisation to provide a framework for comparative analysis. We provide a brief picture of developments in regional governance in a number of states and reflect on the issues this picture raises for future research.