The Enforceability of Subsidiarity in the EU and the Ethos of Cooperative Federalism

In this article I will tackle the issue of the enforceability of subsidiarity in the EU and, more specifically, I will deal with the following questions: if and to what extent subsidiarity is justiciable; if the full justiciability of subsidiarity would be politically sustainable; and if there are any alternatives to the judicial enforcement of subsidiarity. I will argue that subsidiarity is justiciable, even though its judicial enforcement should be limited to particular situations. I will also argue that full justiciability of subsidiarity would be politically unsustainable in the long run and that a balanced combination of judicial review, procedural ar-rangements and political cooperation is the only alternative to an all-encompassing judicial enforcement of subsidiarity. In tackling this issue I will use a comparative law approach in that I will make extensive reference to the legal systems of Germany and Italy

Multi-Level Governance as a Constitu-tional Principle in the EU Legal System

In this article, I will examine the notion of multi-level governance in the EU (MLG) as developed by the Committee of the Regions in the 2009 White Paper on MLG. I will analyse MLG from a legal perspective to identify its legal basis. I will sketch out the nature of MLG as a procedural principle in the EU legal system and will identify four functions of MLG: shaping the EU as a polity; shaping future developments in EU law; shaping the behaviour of political actors within the EU; shaping the interpretation of EU law by the CJEU

The Contribution of Local and Regional Authorities to a 'Good' System of Governance within the EU

The participation of the local and regional authorities in EU processes should be promoted and enhanced by the EU, the Member States and the same local/regional authorities. These should perform a stronger role in the constitutional architecture of the EU. In this way they would contribute more effectively to a limited, balanced and le-gitimate system of governance based on constitutionalism within the EU. The participation of sub-national authorities in the EU has the po-tential to reconcile European integration with the multi-level systems of governance of the Member States; to strengthen the legitimacy of EU and national (EU-related) decision-making processes; to reinforce the legal limitation of the decision-making power of both Union insti-tutions and national authorities

The ‘Europe with the Regions’ Before the Court of Justice

This article analyses the case-law of the CJEU concerning the re-gions. It argues that there is a discrepancy between the progressive framing of an ‘Europe with the regions’ in the political sphere and the limited impact of the Court in this field. This discrepancy does not emerge everywhere, nor does it emerge with the same intensity in all sectors. Indeed, in a number of areas the CJEU has acknowledged the role and responsibilities of the regions. Examples include the right/duty of the regions to implement EU obligations, the protection of regional languages, as well as the ‘sufficient autonomy’ test devel-oped by the CJEU in relation State aid. There is no ‘ideological oppo-sition’ of the CJEU to an increasing ‘regionalisation’ of the EU. There are, however, structural hindrances which prevent the Court from promoting further advancements of the status of the regions in the European edifice, particularly as regards their participation in EU pro-cesses. Since the EU remains an ‘union of states’, the ‘Europe with the regions’ has developed so far, and is likely to continue to develop, via advancements reflected in policy-making practices, soft law ar-rangements and Treaty amendments, rather than via the ‘judge-made federalism' of the Court

Multi-Level Governance in the EU and EU Democracy: Democratic Legitimacy, Democratic Accountability and Transparency of the European Offices of the English Local Authorities in Brussels

This paper seeks to examine the role and functions of the representative offices of English local authorities in Brussels by considering the democratic legitimacy (i.e. linkage to elected councillors or mayors), accountability and transparency of the office’s activities. Representatives of each of the offices studied were interviewed by the authors and an examination of documents relating to the governance of the offices was also undertaken, resulting in a substantial amount of new data on the activities of the offices. The study demonstrates that the offices differ in their governance arrangements and funding, which has a direct impact on the approach to democratic legitimacy and accountability, noting that those offices which rely most heavily on direct funding from a single authority or a combined authority have the closest links to the authorities concerned. The transparency of the offices varies considerably, with clear distinctions between offices that are creatures of contract (i.e. where authorities have contracted out the activities of the office) or where offices are an emanation of the authority concerned and are thus in the public sector. The pattern here is less dependent on the pattern of funding of the office and depends more on the availability of resources and the approach adopted by the office itself. The article presents a substantial amount of new data on the activities of the offices and their approaches to legitimacy, accountability and transparency. It also seeks to demonstrate that the offices are increasingly important in tying together the territorial and functional interests in a locality in order to represent them at the European level

The fusion approach – applications for understanding local government and European integration

The article explores the theoretical capabilities of the fusion approach as a conceptual ‘kit’ to explain the ‘bigger picture’ of European integration from a local government perspective. Fusion addresses the rationales and methods facilitating the transfer of policy-making competences to the European level. It understands European integration as a merging of public resources and policy instruments from multiple levels of government, whereby accountability and responsibilities for policy outcomes become blurred. The article argues that the fusion approach is useful to explain the systemic linkages between macro-trajectories and the corresponding change at the local level; the fusion dynamics of the local and European levels in a common policy-cycle; and the attitudes of local actors towards the EU. Although the article concludes that local government is rather modestly ‘fused’ into the EU, fusion approaches allow examining the extent to which the local level has become integrated into the European governance system

Local government in the 2013 constitution of Zimbabwe: Defining the boundaries of local autonomy

The 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe recognises local government as the lowest tier of government in a three tier arrangement. Thus, local government, composed by urban and rural local authorities, now owes its existence directly to the Constitution and not to legislation as was the case under the previous constitutional order. The Constitution assigns to local authorities the responsibility to ‘manage’ and ‘represent’ the affairs of people in their respective areas. Every local authority is given the ‘right to govern’ its jurisdiction with ‘all’ the necessary powers to do so, including devolved powers. Thus, the Constitution recognises that, for the benefits associated with decentralisation to be realised, local authorities require a certain measure of local autonomy. The autonomy which this Constitution affords to local government is however unknown and unexplored, especially from a constitutional law point of view. In this article, we measure the degree of local autonomy guaranteed by the 2013 Constitution