Multi-level governance in EU Cohesion policy
Professor John Bachtler
VI EU-China High-Level Seminar On Regional PolicyMulti-level Governance And Support To Priority Areas In
Regional PolicyBrussels, 13 October 2011
MLG in EU Cohesion policy
• What is Multi-level Governance (MLG)?• Evolution of the governance of regional policy• MLG in Cohesion policy• MLG in practice:
– between the Commission and Member States– within the Member States
• Experiences and lessons
What is multi-level governance?
• Origins of ‘multi-level governance’– intergovernmentalism vs. supranationalism– debates about a ‘Europe of the regions’
• Main dimensions– vertical dimension – relations/interactions
between levels (EU, national, regional, local)– horizontal dimension – state-society relations at
different levels– applies to politics, policies and polities
Central government
Firms Local authorities
Evolution of regional policy:
From top-down governance…..
Central government
Regional offices of the State Regional govt
authorities
Firms Local authorities
Communities
Evolution of regional policy:
……to multi-level governance…..
Central government
European Union
Regional offices of the State Regional govt
authorities
Firms Local authorities
Communities
Evolution of regional policy:
……to multi-level governance…..
Central government
European Union
Regional offices of the State Regional govt
authorities
Firms Local authorities
Communities
Para
-sta
tal org
an
isati
on
s
(qu
an
gos)
Non
-govern
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org
an
isatio
ns
Evolution of regional policy:
……with new actors
MLG in Cohesion policy: principles
• Principle of shared management– Commission is formally responsible for implementation of
EU budget, but implementation is decentralised to the Member States
• Principle of partnership – Regional/local authorities, economic and social partners,
environment and gender equality bodies, NGOs and civil society
– Monitoring committees
• Requirement for alignment with EU objectives– Lisbon Agenda and Europe 2020– Translated into strategic guidelines and programmes
9
EU Cohesion & Rural Development policies, 2007-13Regional Policy
EUROPEAN COMMISSION January 2006EN
EN
Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Employment
CommunityStrategicGuidelines for Cohesion
EU StrategicGuidelines for rural development
Strategic Guidelines for sustainabledevelopment of thefisheries sectors andcoastal areas dependent fromfisheries
National Reform Programmes
National StrategicReferenceFrameworks
National StrategicPlans
National Rural DevelopmentStrategies
Cohesion policyCAP/rural
development
Fisheries policy
European Council
European Commission
Council
Member States
"Lisbon-new" and Cohesion, rural development and fisheries policies
MLG in Cohesion policy:
framework of shared management
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MLG in Cohesion policy:framework of shared management
Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion(Commission, Council, Parliament)
National Strategic Reference Frameworks(Member States, Commission)
Operational Programmes (Member States / regions)
Programme management & delivery(Member States / regions)
Strategic follow-up and annual debate(Member States / Commission / Council)
MLG in practice: management of the interaction between
the Commission and Member States
• Regulations and guidelines– including programme negotiations
• Incentives and sanctions – financial management & control obligations– incentives to spend money
• Accountability and oversight– Monitoring Committees and annual meetings– Annual Implementation Reports and IT communication– evaluation– strategic reporting
MLG in practice: implementation in the Member States
• Centralised implementation systems– management by national ministries or other national bodies– sometimes limited decentralisation and partnership– examples: Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia
• Mixed central-regional systems– implementation arrangements divided between national and
regional levels, e.g.• combination of sectoral and regional programmes• shared responsibilities between regional authorities and regional offices of
the state
– examples: France, Poland
• Regionalised systems– significant devolution to regional self-governments– examples: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain
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MLG in practice: implementation in the Member States
Managing Authorities
Managing Authorities
– single ministry for multiple programmes MA (e.g. Sweden, Latvia)
– multiple MAs (e.g. Poland)
Intermediate & Implementing Bodies
• Delegation of management to intermediate bodies:– central government ministries
(smaller countries)– state agencies (e.g. Hungarian
National Employment Office)– regional offices of the state (e.g.
France)
• Delegation of delivery to implementing bodies (e.g. regional development agencies)
• Use of specialist management/ delivery bodies (e.g. Netherlands, U.Kingdom)
MLG in practice: implementation in the Member States
• Partnership principle has had several benefits– wider range of organisations engaged in economic
development– ‘joined up’ policymaking ‘better’ programmes and projects – new public management practices and positive spillovers on
domestic policy
• But…. – role of regions/local authorities varies greatly across the EU– participation or involvement of non-public sector actors is
often low– sustainability issue – how to keep partnerships strong and
active
Experiences and lessons
• Balance between top-down (prescription) and bottom-up (autonomy and experimentation)
• Balance between compliance and performance
• Need for credible and robust monitoring and evaluation systems - especially if linked to conditionalities and incentives
• Institutional capacity is important at all levels
• Involvement of non-public actors/private sector is difficult
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