Regions in the EU: F. Eggermont: In The Name of Democracy: The External Representation of the Regions in the Council -- A. Thies: The Locus Standi of the Regions before EU Courts -- P.Van Nuffel: The Protection of Member States’ Regions through the Subsidiarity Principle -- C. Bovis: The Role and Function of Structural and Cohesion Funds and the Interaction of the EU Regional Policy with the Internal Market Policies -- S. Ricci: The Committee of the Regions and the Challenge of European Governance -- National Patterns: C. Panara: Germany – A Cooperative Solution to the Challenge of the European Integration -- S. Villamena: Italy – State and Regions vis-à-vis European Integration: The ‘Long (and Slow) March’ of the Italian Regional State -- A. Chicharro Lázaro: Spain – The Spanish Autonomous Communities in the EU: The Evolution from the Competitive Regionalism to a Cooperative System -- H. Eberhard: Austria – The Role of the Länder in a ‘Centralized Federal State’ -- J. Colom: France – Centre, Regions and Outermost Regions: The Case for a New French and European Governance -- A. De Becker: Belgium – The State and the Sub-State Entities Are Equal, but Is the State sometimes still More Equal than the Others?- M. Varney: UK – Devolution and European Representation in the United Kingdom -- C. Panara, A. De Becker: Conclusion – The Role of the Regions in the European Union: The ‘Regional Blindness’ of both the EU and the Member States.

This book compares for the first time how the regions in seven different countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) are involved in EU governance. It is also the first book which tackles this matter from two different perspectives; that of EU law and that of comparative law. It includes contributions both from well-established scholars in the field of EU law and from younger scholars.