European Constitution: Towards Changing The Role Of The Subnational Level?
European Constitution: Towards Changing The Role Of The Subnational Level?

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the process of interests’ representation of the subnational level actors in the European Union (EU) governance system. The drafting of European Constitution at the Convention on the Future of Europe and the subsequent EU Intergovernmental conference (IGC) are the items that this paper draws heavily upon. Authors present the study on how the representatives of the Committee of the Regions and subnational level institutions define and defend their interests and aims that have emerged from the Maastricht “regional agenda”. The research discusses in depth the factors that were vital to the relative success of subnational level interests’ representation during the drafting of the European Constitution: firstly, the favourable political environment and the openness of EU Member States to the subnational level question, secondly, the high level of mobilisation, which defined the representation of subnational level interests, and thirdly, the leadership of the Committee of the Regions, which with varying success served as a vehicle for subnational interests’ representation at the IGC intergovernmental bargaining table and Convention. The article also argues that it is too early to speak about the effect of “hollowing the state”, used when discussing the EU policy-making from multilevel governance or neo-functionalist approaches.

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