ABSTRACT
This contribution offers an evaluation of subnational governance change in the Czech Republic in the context of a domestic response to Europeanization dynamics employing both the top-down and bottom-up approach. We do not find much evidence of a substantial empowerment of the regional level, but that the central government is still a gatekeeper. The regions have experienced both centralized and decentralized forms (temporal empowerment) of EU’s structural funds management. The effect of EU was not constant, but conditioned in time by the mediating factors such as domestic politics and administrative capacity. On the local level, the weak fragmented municipalities have taken advantage of the European opportunity structure and have thus empowered themselves. EU’s structural funds have accelerated intermunicipal cooperation. The partnership principle has become more embedded in regional policy, and some signs of multilevel governance (MLG) have emerged. As a result, the fragmented municipalities have become stronger partners with the state.
