Jürgen R. Grote, Michèle Knodt, Fabrice Larat
Convergence et variation de styles régionaux de politique dans le cadre des politiques communautaires

Arbeitsbereich III; 17
Mannheim
,
MZES
,
1996
ISSN: 0948-0099

Regions, as much as nation states alike, are strongly affected by EU policies. A widespread thesis claims that the impact exerted by the latter on the regions would mainly be contingent on the economic strength and performance of regions as well as on its predominant legal patterns. We are arguing that there is at least one further element accounting for variations in the way regions respond to initiatives of the European Community in the widest sense. This is a cultural dimension which can be called 'regional policy styles' and which could be defined by its dominant paradigms (cognitive dimension), its dominant patterns of actor relationships (networks) and the dominant standard operation procedures. By identifying regional policy styles among six European regions on the basis of an European data survey the perception of the European paradigm of partnership, especially its functional dimension and its integration in regional actors strategies is examined. It could be asserted that national patterns in regional acting are far more dominating than claimed and therefore regional policy styles converge to a greater extend within Nation states than between. In addition it could be demonstrated how far the perception of the European paradigm of partnership is varying according to the different policy styles, even if it should be pointed out that the argumentation is not a causal one but supported by correlation.