Multi-level Governance Model Research Articles

The role of local government bodies in European policy-making

Since the publication of the White Paper on European governance, COM (2001) 428, the Commission has stressed that ‘people increasingly distrust institutions and politics or are simply not interested in them’, registering the growing gap between the EU and European citizens. In this context, the European institutions have been promoting several initiatives with the aim of facilitating participation in the European decision-making process. The paper will focus on: (1) the relationship between local governance and participation in the European Union; in this frame, the European institutions tried to start a dialogue with local authorities (see the role of the CoR) and the actors of civil society (through both the European Economic and Social Committee and the Transparency Policy); (2) the consequences either in the theoretical field or in practice. On one hand, the initiatives carried out have created the basis for a new model of multi-level governance and ‘participative democracy’; on the other hand the demand for wider participation produces a continuous growth of lobbying by the actors of civil society, whose regulation appears rather difficult notwithstanding the important efforts made through the European Transparency Initiative.

Sub-State Diplomacy Today

In an increasingly interdependent world, Europe will need its regions to tackle the challenges of globalization effectively, and to remain a leading partner on the international scene. Regions should therefore reorient their administrations towards the European Union (EU), focus more on the EU’s rolling political agenda, and dare to better steer the EU’s decision-making process. On the flipside, the EU itself should be based upon a model of multi-level governance, allowing the EU to work in partnership with its regional and local authorities. Having experienced politics himself at all levels of governance during his career, Dr Luc Van den Brande gives his practitioner’s view to future policy-makers.

Restricting the import of ‘emission credits’ in the EU: a power struggle between states and institutions

This article examines the development of a cap on the use of so-called ‘project credits’ in the EU emissions trading scheme. It investigates how the issue of such a limit was addressed in the negotiations of the Linking Directive, and how it has been dealt with in the later implementation of this directive. The article applies two explanatory approaches: one based on intergovernmentalist theory, assuming that the cap reflected the preferences of the EU Member States; and one based on the multi-level governance model, assuming that the cap expressed the preferences of EU institutions rather than Member States. What is found is a two-stage development: during the negotiations of the Linking Directive, Member States managed to secure a no-cap solution allowing extensive use of the project credits. In the later implementation phase, however, when the emissions trading scheme was up and running and a certain legitimacy for the system had been established, the Commission managed to ‘regain control’ by bringing back a cap. Thus, the project credit cap—and by that, the very nature of the EU emissions trading scheme—has been the subject of a continuing power struggle within the EU—and different theoretical perspectives explain different stages of this process.

Régionalisations et régionalismes dans une Europe élargie : les enjeux d'une comparaison Est-Ouest

Regionalization and regionalisms in a bigger Europe: The issues in an East-West comparison In recent decades, the framework for analyzing regional issues has nearly always been based on empirical cases from western Europe. Three principal patterns can be distinguished: the ethno-territorial constructivist current of thought, the multi-level governance model and neoregionalism. But can they be generalized to a EU with 27 members? Does the bigger EU imply changing our grids for interpreting regional phenomena in Europe? After testing these theoretical west European patterns by applying them to eastern Europe, a series of variables is presented for restudying regionalism and regionalization in an enlarged Europe.

New tendencies in EU governance and the future of the EU governance model

The explanation of the EU governance model as inter-governmental or federal entity have been today superseded by the multilevel governance model. Multilevel governance gives a valuable account of the way the EU functions from the perspective of the organisation of its public administration institutions. However, its present organisation is the result of the pressure of tendencies that have been present informally or tacitly on subnational and global level since the 1970-1980 and that, in the case of the EU, have been turned into institutional principles of governance.

Beyond the notion of security community: What role for the African regional organizations in peace and security?

African regional organizations' increasing activity in security policy is usually approached through the concept of ‘security community’, which can only partially clarify their difficult situation. A multi-level governance model is suggested as a more useful approach in a situation where economic cooperation is weak, member states' principles of governance diverge, and they themselves might be part of security problems. A security community is not a necessary condition for a regional organization to play a role in the field of security. Through new intra-regional and cross-level relationships with the international community and civil society, regional organizations can become important security actors in Africa.

Principals, agents, and the implementation of EU cohesion policy

The purpose of this paper is to analyse who controls the implementation of EU cohesion policy. The main argument is that EU control mechanisms are weak and that the goals formulated at the EU level are likely to be remoulded in the implementation process in order to suit the preferences of the implementing actors at the national level. In order to make this argument it is necessary to move beyond the traditional approach to EU cohesion policy, i.e. the multi-level governance model. I suggest the principal–agent framework as an alternative approach. An inspection of EU cohesion policy through the lenses of this approach uncovers serious implementation problems. The empirical relevance of this argument is demonstrated in a study of the implementation of a selected area of EU cohesion policy, the Urban Community Initiative.

The transition in Dutch water management

Over the past decades, the Dutch people have been confronted with severe water-related problems, which are the result of an unsustainable water system, arising from human interventions in the physical infrastructure of the water system and the water management style. The claims of housing, industry, infrastructure and agriculture have resulted in increasing pressure on the water system. The continuous subsidence of soil and climate change has put pressure on the land. Hence, the nature and magnitude of water-related problems have changed. Longitudinal research of relevant national policy documents reveals that the water management regime has changed its water management style over the past 30 years from a technocratic scientific style towards an integral and participatory style. We have investigated if the historical development in Dutch Water management can be characterized as a transition. Based on longitudinal research through an integrated systems analysis, document research and expert interviews, we have reconstructed the historical narrative by using the transition concepts of multi-level and multi-phase. This research indicates that the shift in Dutch Water management can be characterized as a transition. This transition is currently in the take-off stage and near the acceleration stage. This is a crucial stage as long as the considerable gap between the strategic macro-vision and the practical implementation at the micro-level remains. As long as these levels are not compatible (modulation), the transition will not be completed successfully. Transition management as multi-level governance model should therefore be adopted to facilitate the modulation.

British devolution and european policy-making : a step-change towards multi-level governance ?

The Labour government came to power in 1997 with a commitment to conducting a more constructive European policy. However, the domestic machinery for making European policy has become more complex because of another Labour policy, the domestic devolution of authority. This paper explores the changes in the British machinery for European policymaking since 1997. It draws upon the literatures of Europeanisation and multi-level governance as analytical orientation. We argue that the UK has come closer to the prevailing continental model of multi-level governance but that this has arisen less as a result of a “Europeanisation-effect” than for domestic reasons.