Regional autonomy movements in Europe: National governments and the EU

Melamed, Eugenie Vivian

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/104945 Copy

Description

Title

Regional autonomy movements in Europe: National governments and the EU

Author(s)

Melamed, Eugenie Vivian

Issue Date

2019-04-26

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

• Vander Most, Neil
• Kourtikakis, Konstantinos

Department of Study

Liberal Arts & Sciences

Discipline

European Union Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• EU
• European Union
• federalism
• autonomy
• Aland
• Catalonia
• Scotland
• Flanders
• separatism

Abstract

This thesis investigates whether the success of a regional autonomy movement within a nation state belonging to the European Union (EU) is determined by the actions of the national government or activities on behalf of the autonomy within the EU. Case studies are made of the autonomy movements in the Åland Islands, Catalonia, Scotland and Flanders, and the results are compared through a matrix typology. The level of autonomy of a region is determined by its “independent fiscal ability,” defined as the region’s ability to raise revenues or to receive automatic transfer payments from the national government. The actions of a central government affecting the region’s level of autonomy are defined as those that affect the region’s independent fiscal ability. Activities within the EU on behalf of a region’s autonomy are defined to include the region’s own paradiplomatic activities at the EU as well as actions of EU institutions on behalf of that autonomy. These indicators are generalizable and can be applied to all regional autonomies in nations belonging to the EU. It is found that the success of a regional autonomy movement is determined by the actions of a national government and not the activities on behalf of the region’s autonomy within the EU. The results have implications in the understanding of the EU’s three-tiered system of federalism.

Graduation Semester

2019-05

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104945

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Eugenie Melamed

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