Journal of European Public Policy · 2010 · 67 citations · 35 references
Public AffairsPublic PolicyRegulatory PolicyDecentralizationRegional GovernanceRegional IntegrationEuropean GovernanceEuropean IntegrationEuropean LawEuropean Union StudiesRegional PolicySubnational GovernanceEuropean Union Policy-makingEuropean Union Regulatory PoliticsPolicy DirectivesPolicy Formulation ProcessRegional AuthorityRegional PolicymakingSubnational InstitutionsSubnational Policy Implementation
Research on subnational authorities in the EU has largely focused on policy formulation and regional funds, yet this paper highlights their increasingly important but secondary role in implementing directives, particularly in environmental, social, and public contract policies, noting that greater decentralization raises involvement but can delay transposition. The study investigates the formal role of subnational authorities in the implementation of EU regulatory policies, specifically the transposition of directives. The authors analyze this role by examining the formal responsibilities and actions of subnational authorities during directive transposition.
Studies on the role of regions in the EU policy process concentrate mainly on policy formulation and implementation of regional funds. In this article, we redress this bias by investigating the formal role of subnational authorities in the implementation of EU regulatory policies, specifically in the transposition of directives. Subnational authorities play a secondary, but increasingly important, role in the application of these measures. Their impact is greater on environmental and social policies, as it is also on public contract legislation. More decentralized states display higher levels of subnational involvement but, in these states, regional participation in national policy-making and a high number of regional authorities decrease the likelihood of finding subnational measures of transposition. There is also more subnational involvement in states with territories that have both an elected government as well as special arrangements regulating their relations with the EU. Finally, subnational involvement tends to prolong the process of transposition.
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