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Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, on University Access European Open Author(s). Available The 2020. © in Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, on University Access European Open Author(s). Available The 2020. © in Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE on University BADIA FIESOLANA, SAN DOMENICO (FI) Development Policies in Flemishthe Region Access The Europeanization ofRegional EUI Working Paper RSC No. 94/5 ROBERT SCHUMAN CENTRE European Open STEFAAN STEFAAN Author(s). Available The 2020. © d e in r y n c k Library EUI WP 4 EUR 3 £ 1 . 0 2 0 9 the by 0 W->Pfco produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, on University No part ofthis paper may be reproduced in any form Access European Open without permission oftheauthor. I -I 50016 San Domenico (FI) European University Institute Printed in Italy in May 1994 Author(s). Available © Stefaan De Rynck All rights reserved. BadiaFiesolana The 2020. © in Italy Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Stefaan De Rynck1 Repository. The Europeanization of Regional Development Policies in the Flemish Region Research Institute Introduction University Theories of EC decision-making tend to be polarized around a supranational or a national focus. The first set of approaches assumes that there is a supranational European institution that functions as a motor for the integration process. In this 'functional' Institute. view, the European Commission and the interests that are expressed at Community level Cadmus, are the driving forces behind the on-going process. On the other hand, theorists in the on more ’realist’ and ’intergovernmentalist’ tradition claim that mainly national preferences University can provide an explanation for the forward and backward steps in the creation of the Access supranational community. For instance, Moravcsik argues2 3 that preferences at the European domestic level are crucial to understanding European integration. Such preferences are Open aggregated inside central government, and expressed by the latter at Community level, where they are the object of intergovernmental, strategic interaction. A basic Author(s). Available assumption of this approach relates to the rationality of state behaviour on the basis of The 2020. domestically-constrained preferences. Moravcsik tests the validity of his theory against © in EC decision-making, especially at major turning points such as the Single European Act. Majone and Dehousse', on the other hand argue, that a satisfactory explanation Library must include consideration of the role of the Commission and other supranational EUI institutions. They label the Commission, for example, as a 'policy entrepreneur’. Each the by 1 This paper has been presented in a slightly revised form at a Conference on EC Cohesion Policies and National Networks (Centre for European Studies, Nuffield College, Oxford), organized by Vincent Wright and Liesbet Hooghe. The author wishes to thank Yves Meny, Wolf Heydebrand, Giandomenico produced Majone (EUI, Florence) and Filip De Rynck (KU Leuven), who all gave comments on draft versions. 2 Preferences and power in the European Community, 1993. version 3 The dynamics of European integration, 1993. Digitised 2 Repository. of the explanatory frameworks contain some valid arguments that illuminate the diverse decision-making patterns at Community level, which can contribute to the understanding of institutional and policy innovations. The emerging picture is that no single theory Research can explain a complex and multi-faceted process such as the European integration. Institute Still, while all the current theories may have some value in offering a partial explanation of the European integration, it seems to us that most of the present authors leave one important aspect untouched. The emphasis is mainly put on the agenda University setting and on the decision of policies at Community level. What happens as regards implementation is hardly explained. Such a lack neglects one of the fundamental European insights of public administration since Pressman and Wildavsky4, namely that one cannot analyze a policy process without looking at what happens after a decision has Institute. been made. Cadmus, on University This paper takes the new Structural Funds regulations of 1988 as a point of departure, and focuses on some aspects of the implementation of European regional Access policy programmes in the Flemish region. Such an approach leads the observer away European Open from the press covered European politics to the more daily routine aspects of the European bureaucracy and of its interaction with national administrations, it hopes to Author(s). generate some insights in policy processes, which will show that the European Available Commission is not only a policy entrepreneur or an intergovernmental broker. It can The 2020. also act as a mediator in purely domestic interactions, it can be used as a leverage by © in domestic actors in an internal bargaining process, and further still, it can function as an incentive to keep a policy implementation process going. These statements are Library specifically related to the policy sector of the Structural Funds, and need to be tested EUI against the analysis of other policy sectors. It should be clear that the aim of this paper the is not to give a critical assessment of the existing theories of EC decision-making. by More modestly, it provides some empirical information that calls for a broader perspective on the whole process. produced version 4 Implementation, 1973. Digitised 3 Repository. The analysis assumes that all the public and private actors in regional policies, from the local to the European level, are involved in what Ostrom calls an ’action arena’5. No a priori assumptions are made on the outstanding importance of certain Research actors, such as central government or the European Commission. This accords with the conclusion of Marks on structural policy that ’we are witnessing the emergence of Institute multilevel governance in the European Community, characterized by co-decisionmaking across several nested tiers of government’'1. University To show the extent, and the precise nature of the changes that can be observed, this paper will proceed by analytic induction. The case of regional development in Belgian Limburg is described in detail. The patterns that were discovered in this case European will be confronted with those of three other regional development cases in the Flemish Institute. Region. Limburg provides the most important example of reconversion in the modern Cadmus, era of Belgian politics. It is chosen as a starting point, since the budgetary and on organizational involvement of the European Commission in this case outweighs all the University other cases. Thus, one could expect to find there the clearest indicators of changes Access following the intensive involvement of the EC. European Open To give a better understanding of the issues, the paper starts by outlining some Author(s). basic principles of the Belgian federal state. The case of Limburg is introduced by a Available brief description of the policy problem and of the policies that were carried out (1987- The 2020. 1993). The ensuant patterns of the policy process are explored thereafter: the position © in of the region versus other actors at national and subregional level, the realization of the partnership principle, organizational innovations, the question of a rising technocracy Library and the extent of democratic control on the process. A final section of the paper EUI compares the described patterns with the data from the other cases. the by produced 5 A method of institutional analysis, 1985. version ' Structural policy and multilevel governance in the EC, 1993, p. 407. Digitised 4 Repository. 1. The structure of the Belgian state The reform of the unitary Belgian state into a federal one should provide the Research answer for the co-existence of different language communities, and for managing differences at the political, economic and social level. These differences explain the Institute will for self-government of Flanders, Wallonia and of the German speaking Community. A basic principle of the new state structure is the exclusiveness of competences. There is no hierarchy between the national level on the one hand, and the regional and University Community level on the other hand. A national law cannot change a regional decree. So the Constitution tries to delineate clear packages of public functions that are attributed either to the national or to the subnational level. With the exception of European agriculture and labour market awards, the Regions and Communities are exclusively Institute. competent for all aspects of the EC regional policy (e.g. infrastructure, economic Cadmus, policies, energy, transport policies, spatial planning, public investment and social on policies such as education and vocational training). Thus, Regions and Communities University are the only responsible governments for decisions on the content of Structural Funds Access programmes and on the implementation of such programmes. European Open Yet, this is the outcome of the evolution process which took place during the Author(s). 1980s. The above-mentioned situation exists in principle since