Europeanisation and Regionalisation: Domestic Changes and Governmental Structures in Slovenia

Abstract

This article focuses on the Europeanisation of regional policy and politics in
Slovenia. It argues that the Europeanisation of regional development is
closely linked to regionalisation, particularly for Slovenia, where there are
still no officially recognised regions. This article highlights the importance
of establishing a competent network of actors and institutions to
coordinate and manage the EU's structural policy, and of a regional
structure compatible with the NUTS classifications. Early indicators in
Slovenia show that Europeanisation and regionalisation promoted the
emergence of a relatively stable institutionalised network for administering
the EU's regional development programmes, and boosted cooperation
among subnational actors, which was poor in Slovenia during the last
decade. My analysis shows that we can see the employment of subnational
actors in Slovenia, rather than their actual empowerment.