ABSTRACT
Regional organisations are mushrooming at the moment. Regionalism is on its way to becoming a new interdisciplinary field in the social and economic sciences. This chapter stresses real agency, as regional blocks may be created out of mere political symbolism. Regional organisation is attractive because it offers a flexible response to the challenges of globalisation. However, the uncertainty in regional organisation is real, as governments tend to postpone or renege on ambitious plans for regional organisation, not knowing what the constitutional implications are from far-reaching regionalisation. When a regional organisation engages in a common market project, the question of the ratio of benefits against costs becomes so highly relevant that constitutional decision-making is called for. A new structure for economic regulation must be designed and enforced, the consequences of which spill over into other state regulations. A regional block of states must devise and run a minimum of common institutions in order to qualify as an organisation. In a maximum approach, a regional organisation takes over public competences from the participating nation-states.
