Introduction

Twenty years ago. Page and Goldsmith (1987) edited a volume of essays on central–local government relations in unitary states in Western Europe. Since that time, much has changed on the European landscape, with die collapse of communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the massive enlargement of the European Union. What twenty years ago seemed largely a question limited to activities within nation-states now has a multilevel dimension often involving an increased number of tiers within and between countries as well as an EU influence. In an increasingly globalised and Europeanised setting, important questions are raised as to how far these changes have affected the nature of intergovernmental relations in European countries over the past twenty years, whether or not political systems reveal stronger similarities as a result, and what explanations can be offered for whatever changes have taken place.