Multi-level Governance and European Union Regional Policy

Ian Bache considers the utility of multi‐level governance in relation to the implementation of EU regional policy. This chapter provides an examination of multi‐level governance on its ‘own ground’: the concept was developed from a study of EC/EU regional policy and is said to be most prominent at the implementation stage of the policy process. However, in addition to discussing multi‐level governance and EU regional policy across Member States, particular attention is given to its implementation in the UK, which, for reasons suggested above, presents a ‘hard case’ for multi‐level governance theorists.