ABSTRACT
Intuitively, the concepts of autonomy and multilevel governance not only seem not mutually exclusive but almost as two sides of the same coin. Autonomy-the exercise of exclusive jurisdiction in distinct policy areas-and multilevel governance-the distribution of power and competences through the vertical layering of public authority from the supra-state to local government level-appear to originate from the same concern for subsidiarity. In theory, the principle of devolving the decision-making process to the lowest possible level in order to make democratic governance locally more relevant, accountable and transparent, as well as more effective and efficient underlies both regimes of autonomy and of multi-level governance. However, in practice, when multilevel governance extends beyond the boundaries of the traditional Westphalian nation-state and involves supra-state layers of authority, such as in the European Union and its forerunner institutions or the Nordic Council, matters become more complicated. State-internal arrangements of divided and shared sovereignty cannot be easily accounted for in emerging supra-state regimes, which by their very nature have their origins in the cooperation of states and their governments, even if they may over time develop into more institutionalised forms of cooperation from their inter-governmental roots.
