Cohesion Policy and Multi-level Governance in South East Europe

<p>This book considers the extent to which EU cohesion policy and related pre-accession instruments are contributing to the development of more compound polities in south east Europe and, specifically, promoting multi-level governance. In this respect, there are two points of departure: the first is the argument that the EU is a highly compound polity that tends to pull member (and candidate) states in this direction; the second is the considerable literature that links EU cohesion policy to the promotion of multi-level governance. Following this, we have chosen a range of south east European states whose period of engagement with the EU generally differs: Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia and Turkey. The case studies reveal that EU cohesion policy has created more compound polities but that system-wide multi-level governance remains weak and central governments are still prominent. However, there are interesting and potentially important developments in relation to particular features of multi-level governance, not least in states whose engagement with the EU in this sphere is relatively new.</p><p>This book was published as a special issue of <em>Southeast European and Black Sea Studies</em>.</p> <p>1. Europeanization and Multi-Level Governance: Introduction <em>Ian Bache </em>2. The Domestic Effects of EU Cohesion Policy in Greece: Islands of Europeanization in a Sea of Traditional Practices <em>George Andreou </em>3. Europeanization and Multi-Level Governance in Slovenia <em>Ian Bache and George Andreou </em>4. The Europeanization of Bulgarian Regional Policy: A Case of Strengthened Centralization? <em>Alexander Yanakiev</em> 5. Europeanization and New Patterns of Multi-Level Governance in Romania <em>Ana Maria Dobre </em>6. Europeanization and Nascent Multi-Level Governance in Croatia <em>Ian Bache and</em> <em>Daniel Tomšić </em><em> </em>7. Europeanization and FYR Macedonia: Towards a Compound Polity? <em>Gorica Atanasova and</em> <em>Ian Bache </em>8. Europeanization and Multi-Level Governance in Turkey <em>Ebru Ertugal </em>9. Building Multi-Level Governance in South East Europe? <em>Ian Bache</em></p>