ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book deals with the evolution of ten European countries with significant degrees of political decentralisation which initially displayed large de jure asymmetries in their constitutional structure following the Second World War. In Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain there is evidence of a growing process of decentralisation, but one that has different consequences for the initial asymmetries of these political systems. Political dynamics have increased the degree of decentralisation of both political systems, but have also reduced their degree of juridical asymmetry. The case of the island of Corsica is very different; the statute particulier granted by the 1982 law was quickly followed by a number of reforms that virtually eradicated any kind of de jure asymmetry through the general decentralisation of the French territory. The constitutional asymmetries of a country are usually related to de facto asymmetries.
