Multi-level governance in EU Cohesion policy Professor John Bachtler VI EU-China High-Level Seminar On Regional Policy Multi-level Governance And Support.

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

men

tal

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

10

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

13

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

Thank you for your attention!

谢谢你。

[email protected]