The Regional Dimension of the European Union

Studies of the regional dimension of the EU have largely focused on the “Third Level” of political authority. But this line of enquiry has masked the reality of the diversity of the EU's substate dimension, and the complex relations across politics and polity that enable the EU to deliver on its policy ambitions. This chapter expands the understanding of the regional dimension by unpacking the “Third Level” concept and analysing instead the multiplicity of ways in which levels of governmental political authority below the state are engaged in EU decision-making frameworks. It connects the debates on the constitutional and jurisdictional architecture of the EU to those more focused on policy-making and “multi-level” governance arrangements. The chapter concludes by drawing attention to the new territorially dispersed markers of discontent which present further new challenges to a European Union already beset with numerous policy-related and political challenges.