Regions and Strategy Europe 2020

Abstract

The new long term aimed EU strategy Europe 2020 replaces Lisbon strategy which framed political development in the EU during the last decade. The whole strategy has 5 targets and 7 flagship initiatives and takes into account various levels of political actors – national level, European as well as regional. There is strong assumption from EU that regions matter in implementing the strategy (Committee of Regions 2011). The aim of the panel is to investigate whether this rhetorical and theoretical assumptions hold. This can be done through posing and subsequent answering various different questions: do regions in the EU develop new structures, institutions and tools in order to comply with Europe 2020? Do regional political actors pay attention to the e. g. concept of smart specialization? Does the strategy bring some kind of impulse for the regions at all? Which is the role of regions in implementing the strategy´s goals? Are they closer to the Brussels than to their respective capitals? How can the innovative policy influence regional identity in terms of its changing or even constructing? Is region an effective platform for implementing Europe 2020? What lessons were learnt from previous performance of regions (e. g. Lisbon strategy)? The panel should help identify role of regions in Europe 2020 and in this term shape future direction of research. Using different words: do regions bother with such strategies at all? The panel welcomes papers that address these questions both in empirical and theoretical perspectives and that focus on the role of regions in implementing strategy Europe 2020. Comparative studies as well as case studies are welcomed.

Title	Details
The Long Road from Proposal to Adoption of the Cohesion Policy of the EU - Compiling European Policy from a Regional Perspective	View Paper Details
Impact of Europe 2020 on Subnational Governance. Mapping and Explaining Variation Between Flanders, Scotland and Catalonia	View Paper Details
EU Strategy Europe 2020 in Germany	View Paper Details
The Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 and the Europe 2020 Strategy – Ambitions beyond Capacities?	View Paper Details