ABSTRACT
Regions and the European Union....................................................................355 Subsidiarity: the neutered principle ................................................................356 Partnership: the limited practice......................................................................358 A voice mechanism? The Committee of the Regions...................................360 Further advances? The Convention on the Future of Europe and the European Constitution ..............................................................................361
Endnotes...............................................................................................................362 References.............................................................................................................363
Regions and the European Union European integration has had a varying impact on the way regional govern ments (hereafter, “regions” for the sake of brevity1) make policy. Certain actors at the regional level have perceived in European integration the oppor tunity to pursue influence via new channels, and others have used it as an impetus to forge new links and partnerships with regional players either inside or outside their own member-states. Still other actors — especially those in federal member-states of the European Union (EU) such as Belgium, Germany, and Austria — have been able to use the integration process as a means to reinforce their own powers within the national polity. And yet, many regional governments have very little engagement with the integration
