Region (Europe)

Europe of the Regions is the name of a political concept, which aims to promote the regions in the EU member countries and support them in their regional autonomy. It is not, or not necessarily for a Eurosceptic stance. One expects this federalist concept a more efficient regional management with more expertise and proximity, to enhance the competitiveness and infrastructure of the regions and the realization of the principles of subsidiarity.

A " regional list of demands " focuses mainly the following points:

From the EU itself, especially the establishment of so-called European regions was promoted, ie cooperation between border regions. This economy and infrastructure underdeveloped regions should in particular be helped.

The concept of a Europe of the Regions is politically represented in particular by the European Free Alliance (EFA ), a European party, the regionalist parties from many EU Member States combined. The idea itself, however, is already much older than the EU. So called for the Bayern party that the EFA heard today, already in their Urprogramm 1949: "A citizen-centered and democratic Europe can be made only via subsidiaritäre possible responsibilities and in close cooperation between the historically developed regions. " Subregions was understood in this context originally the individual sub-national territories in the Member States of the EU, whose population has ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious commonalities. In Great Britain, Wales is one such region, in France it is the Brittany and in Germany there are, for example, Saxony or Brandenburg. However, the present boundaries of the states with the historical-political and cultural boundaries of the regions are not always congruent.

Political resistance against an appreciation of the Regions was created mainly in the centralized Member States, as a competence growth of the regions could be borne by the national government functions. In countries with strong separatist or regional nationalist aspirations, it is sometimes even regarded as dangerous to go into regionalist claims. The philosopher and economist Leopold Kohr, however, recommended the division of Europe into a region's network as ' Hope of Europe ', since then the subsidiarity and proximity to the regional units inherently könne.pdf

In order to achieve a better representation of the Regions on a European and international level, in 1985 the Assembly of European Regions (AER) was founded as a political organization of European regions. Currently, it has 270 regions from 33 European countries and 16 interregional organizations as members.

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 ( Article 198a ) the establishment of the Committee of the Regions has been agreed as a consultative body of the European Union ( CoR). It comprises 337 representatives of regional and local authorities and has the task of advising the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in all matters relating to countries, regions, autonomous communities, municipal and local authorities etc.. In related actions, the legislative bodies must seek the opinion of the CoR in the EU legislation; However, its opinions have no binding effect.

320530
de