The Influence of Local Government on European Decision-Making

In recent decades, local government has become increasingly affected by European legislation in many of its policies and functions. At the same time, however, the EU offers new opportunities to promote and defend local interests, for instance by trying to influence decision-making processes at EU-level.

The aim of this research project is to probe into the bottom-up dimension of local-level Europeanisation, i.e. the regulatory mobilisation of local government towards the EU. Using the QCA-methodology, the project seeks to determine which conditions (e.g., starting conditions, lobby strategies, external opportunities, the composition of the EU decision-making arena) explain local government influence on EU decision-making.