The case of multi-level governance and the participation of British in EU regional policy

• Main Authors: Yu-Chien Lin, 林佑謙
• Other Authors: Chin-Peng Chu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33653857798838949875

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 公共行政研究所 === 99 === The European Union is one of its kind among international organizations nowadays. Ever since its initiation, it has kept integration for decades. As the integration unceasingly proceeds, the EU has much more authority than other international organizations; in certain domains, it even substitutes some functions of the member states. In fact, the authority of the EU derives from the transferred authority of the member states; i.e., the member states transfer the authority they originally have to an EU level. Moreover, EU policy implementation requires execution and cooperation of regions. Thus, regions of EU member states can also directly or indirectly take part in the decision-making process and the execution process. Besides, on the basis of their particular interests, enterprises and non-governmental organizations actively participate in the decision-making process of the EU. These kinds of situations continuously develop, which makes the authority held by the member states in the first place begin moving up, moving down, and moving out, which, as a result, makes the unique multi-level governance in the EU . The United Kingdom is a unitary state. The authority of decision-making has been held by the central government. The UK has long been an uncooperative member state in the process of European integration, yet it is also the main promoter in the setting up EU regional policies. Because of the special role of the UK, by means of looking into British government’s participation in the reforms of regional policies in 1975, 1988, 1999, and 2007, in these reforms the different attitudes of Conservative government and Labor government, the role of European Commission in the decision-making process, and the interactions and links among regions. This thesis aims to explore whether a multi-level governance structure has been established in the EU and to understand how the national government, regions, and commission influence and shape the decision-making in regional policy reform. Lastly, through these processes, an understanding of the influences on the member states owing to the long-term development of regional policies will be the major point of this thesis.