ABSTRACT
Local authorities have become increasingly aware of the role of the European Union in their work, primarily as a source of funds to support initiatives to deal with local economic restructuring. The squeeze on local authority finance over much of the same period as Britain’s membership of the Union and the availability of this alternative funding source have encouraged the notion that the EU’s main relationship with local government has been in this funding role. A new breed of staff has emerged whose job it is to act as intermediaries in this process, including some who are based in offices in Brussels.
