Cohesion Policy and Multi-Level Governance in South East Europe

This book considers the extent to which EU cohesion policy and related pre-accession instruments are contributing to the development of more compound polities in south east Europe and, specifically, promoting multi-level governance. In this respect, there are two points of departure: the first is the argument that the EU is a highly compound polity that tends to pull member (and candidate) states in this direction; the second is the considerable literature that links EU cohesion policy to the promotion of multi-level governance. Following this, we have chosen a range of south east European states whose period of engagement with the EU generally differs: Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia and Turkey. The case studies reveal that EU cohesion policy has created more compound polities but that system-wide multi-level governance remains weak and central governments are still prominent. However, there are interesting and potentially important developments in relation to particular features of multi-level governance, not least in states whose engagement with the EU in this sphere is relatively new.

This book was published as a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.

Ian Bache is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. His books include Europeanization and Multi-level Governance: Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain (2008), Politics in the European Union (2006, with Stephen George), The Europeanization of British Politics (2006, with Andrew Jordan) and Multi-level Governance (2004, with Matthew Flinders).

George Andreou is elected Lecturer at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has published the book The New Cohesion Policy of the EU and Greece (in Greek) (2007, with P. Liargovas).