| Preface | 6 |
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| References | 9 |
| Contents | 10 |
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| Part I: Regions in the EU | 12 |
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| Chapter 1: In the Name of Democracy: The External Representation of the Regions in the Council | 13 |
| A. Composition of the Council | 14 |
| I. EEC Treaty | 14 |
| II. Treaty of Maastricht | 16 |
| B. Rationale for the Participation of Representatives of the Regions in Council Meetings | 17 |
| C. How Does the Participation of the Regions in the Council Work? | 20 |
| I. Austria | 20 |
| II. Belgium | 21 |
| III. Germany | 22 |
| IV. Italy | 22 |
| V. Spain | 23 |
| VI. UK | 24 |
| VII. Council Presidency | 24 |
| VIII. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Such Participation Rights of the Regions | 25 |
| IX. Possible Limits and Drawbacks of the Participation of the Regions in Council Meetings | 27 |
| D. Regions Within Coreper | 28 |
| E. Regions Within Council Working Groups | 29 |
| F. Is Participation in Council Meetings Something the Regions Cannot Live Without? | 30 |
| Selected Bibliography | 32 |
| Chapter 2: The Locus Standi of the Regions Before EU Courts | 35 |
| A. Regions´ Direct Access to the EU Courts | 36 |
| I. Legal Personality of Regions | 38 |
| II. Direct Concern of Regions | 39 |
| 1. Decision Being of Direct Concern | 39 |
| a) State Aid | 39 |
| b) Structural Funds | 40 |
| c) Cohesion Fund | 43 |
| 2. Legislative Measure Being of Direct Concern | 44 |
| 3. Summary | 45 |
| III. Individual Concern of Regions | 46 |
| B. Regions´ Indirect Access to the EU Courts | 50 |
| I. Annulment Actions Brought on Behalf of REGIONS | 51 |
| II. The Position of Regions in Preliminary Ruling Proceedings | 53 |
| C. Changes Through the Lisbon Treaty? | 55 |
| D. Critical Evaluation | 58 |
| Selected Bibliography | 63 |
| Chapter 3: The Protection of Member States’ Regions Through the Subsidiarity Principle | 64 |
| A. Introduction | 64 |
| B. Which EU Action Needs to Satisfy the Subsidiarity Test? | 65 |
| C. What Does It Need to Satisfy the Subsidiarity Test? | 67 |
| I. The Ability of National and Regional Authorities to Achieve the Proposed Objectives | 67 |
| II. The Added Value of Union Action to Achieve the Proposed Objectives | 69 |
| D. What Protection Can National and Regional Authorities Expect from the Subsidiarity Principle? | 70 |
| I. Legal Protection Through Judicial Enforcement | 70 |
| 1. Substantive Assessment of the Subsidiarity Test | 71 |
| 2. Statement of Reasons with Respect to the Subsidiarity Test | 75 |
| II. Political Pressure to Be Exercised Within the Decision-Making Process | 77 |
| E. The Impact of the Lisbon Amendments on the Protective Value of the Subsidiarity Principle | 79 |
| I. Discussion of the Subsidiarity Principle in the Decision-Making Process | 79 |
| II. Judicial Review of Union Decisions Against the Subsidiarity Principle | 84 |
| F. Guardians of Subsidiarity: To Be Found at National or Regional Level? | 87 |
| Selected Bibliography | 88 |
| Chapter 4: The Role and Function of Structural and Cohesion Funds and the Interaction of the EU Regional Policy with the Internal Market Policies | 89 |
| A. Introduction | 89 |
| B. The Legal Basis of EU´s Regional Policy and the EU Structural Funds | 90 |
| C. The General Principles of Structural Funds | 94 |
| I. The Principle of Programming | 94 |
| II. The Principle of Partnership | 95 |
| III. The Principle of Additionality | 95 |
| IV. The Principle of Authentication | 96 |
| V. The Principle of Probity | 96 |
| D. The Function of Structural and Cohesion Funds | 97 |
| I. The European Regional Development Fund | 98 |
| 1. Objective 1 Measures: Development of the Least Favoured Regions | 98 |
| 2. Objective 2 Measures: Conversion of Regions Facing Difficulties | 99 |
| 3. Interreg III: Measures of Interregional Cooperation | 99 |
| 4. Urban II: Measures of Sustainable Development of Urban Areas | 99 |
| 5. Innovative Actions – Development of Innovative Strategies to Make Regions More Competitive | 100 |
| II. The European Social Fund | 103 |
| III. The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund | 105 |
| IV. The Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance | 106 |
| V. The Cohesion Fund | 106 |
| E. The EU Regional Policy and the Structural Funds in the Twenty-First Century | 107 |
| F. The EU Regional Policy and the Internal Market Policies | 111 |
| G. Conclusions | 115 |
| Selected Bibliography | 115 |
| Chapter 5: The Committee of the Regions and the Challenge of European Governance | 117 |
| A. Premise | 117 |
| B. Role and Legal Nature of the Committee | 118 |
| C. Composition | 120 |
| D. Organisation | 122 |
| E. Tasks | 125 |
| F. Political Priorities | 127 |
| G. Activities | 127 |
| I. Cooperation with Associations of Local and Regional Authorities | 127 |
| II. Debate Europe | 128 |
| III. Lisbon Strategy | 128 |
| IV. Multilevel Governance | 129 |
| V. Structured Dialogue | 130 |
| VI. The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation | 131 |
| VII. The Committee and the Principle of Subsidiarity | 131 |
| H. Impact Analysis of the Action of the Committee | 134 |
| I. Final Remarks: The Role of the Committee in the European Governance | 135 |
| Selected Bibliography | 137 |
| Part II: National Patterns | 138 |
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| Chapter 6: Germany: A Cooperative Solution to the Challenge of the European Integration | 139 |
| A. Introduction | 139 |
| B. The German Federal System | 141 |
| C. The Transfer of Powers to the European Union | 143 |
| D. The Role of the Länder Vis-à-Vis Further Amendments to the Treaties | 145 |
| E. The Participation of the Länder in the EU Law-Making Phase: Indirect Participation | 147 |
| F. The Direct Participation of the Länder at EU Level | 150 |
| G. Representation Offices of the Länder in Brussels and the Länderbeobachter | 153 |
| H. The German Länder in the Committee of the Regions | 154 |
| I. Defence of the Länder Competences on the Judicial Level | 154 |
| J. The Fulfilment of EU Obligations in the Domestic Sphere | 157 |
| K. Concluding Remarks | 159 |
| Selected Bibliography | 161 |
| Chapter 7: State and Regions Vis-a-Vis European Integration: The ``Long (and Slow) March´´ of the Italian Regional State | 163 |
| A. Introduction | 163 |
| I. The Italian Regional State | 163 |
| II. Constitutional Reform and ``Regional EU Power´´ | 165 |
| B. Regional Participation | 170 |
| I. Internal Participation | 171
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