Centre for European Studies Institut für Politikwissenschaften MASTER THESIS The influence of sub-national actors on European Cohesion Policy A Case Study of Saxony Study Programme: Master of European Studies Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Reinhard Meyers Prof. Dr. Ramses A. Wessel Chris Breuer, Msc, MA Submitted by: Katrin Westermann Aatal 139, 49479 Ibbenbüren.
[email protected] Student Number: Münster: 338691, Enschede: s0126349 Date: 20th of August 2007 Acknowledgement I Acknowledgement This thesis has been written to obtain the degrees Master of Arts (MA) at the University of Twente and Master of Science (MSc) at the University of Münster in European Studies. For the research I lived in Leipzig for the last months. This document could not have been written without the help of the following people. Thank you to all the interviewees for taking the time to answer the ques- tionnaires and sharing their information and experiences. The personal interviews provide a very important contribution to this research, especially because of the different perspectives. For their supervision and support a special thanks goes to my instructors: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Reinhard Meyers (University of Münster), Prof. Dr. Ram- ses A. Wessel and Chris Breuer (University of Twente). Especially Chris supported me with valuable feedback and constructive criticism. For our discussions, sharing of ideas and a good cooperation (despite the distance between Glasgow, Riga and Leipzig) I thank Sander Hooge- brugge and Wibke Krahl. For giving me their time, sympathy, support and encouragement during the whole period, a very special thank you and gratitude goes to André and my parents.