engleski

Regionalism as Reaction to European Integration

In all EC member states the European integration process resulted in strengthening of the national government’ s executive branches and weakening of their respective legislative branches. This development was conditioned upon the key role of the Council, which is the EC institution composed of national executives, in the process of supranational decision and policy making. The European integration strengthened the executive branches of government both at the supranational as well as at the national level. At the national level the executives have taken the leading role in carrying through European legislation. The European integration process enabled the member state’ s executives to realise by way of European legislation what otherwise cannot be regulated on the national level. The described shift in regulative supervision weakened the member state’ s regional authorities. It jeopardized the ability of regional institutions to influence politics of their national governments through regional representatives in the national parliaments. The paper will argue that development of the Alpine regionalist/populist parties lays intrinsically linked to the strengthening of national executives, as a consequence of the integration process. The regionalist/populist parities originate on the fissures between the European centre and periphery ; they speak to the fact that at the EU level there is no effective institutionalised way for the regional voices to influence the policy making processes.

Regionalism; Regional parties; European Union; Committee of the Regions; Euro-scepticism; Political culture; Democracy; Populism

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