The AER Observatory on Regionalisation is discontinued for the time being.
Regionalisation in Europe
Monitoring regionalisation has always been one of the main missions and objectives of the Assembly of European Regions. Keeping track of the developments in all European countries, in terms of decentralisation, subsidiarity, multi-level governance and regional democracy is key to understand where European regionalisation comes from, and where we are heading.
A pool of experts
The aim of the Observatory is to keep track of the “State of the Regions”. It relies on the expertise of a pool of selected academics and experts throughout Europe for that purpose. The pool is divided between the general experts on regionalisation, providing comprehensive researches on the patterns of regionlisation and multi-level governance in Europe; and the country-specific experts who know best how regionlisation is actually taking place in specific countries.
Learn more about the experts of the Observatory on Regionalisation here.
The Report on the state of regionalisation in Europe (2017 edition)
Early 2014, as the new programming period started, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) decided to look into the role regional authorities play in European politics and in Europe in general. To what extent is the subsidiarity principle implemented in European countries? Have Regions seen their competences and influence developed in the last years? How does multilevel governance look like in the various European states? If we consider the case of EU regional policy, to what extent has the partnership principle been respected for the setting up and implementation of this key policy for European regions? These questions have been at the heart of a first study run in 2014-2016. More than 40 experts accepted to give their contribution to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 42 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.
- The first part of the report gives – in the format of forewords – the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
- The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
- The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
- The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.
Country specific reports
 Albania |
 Armenia |
 Austria |
 Azerbaijan |
 Belgium |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
 Bulgaria |
 Croatia |
 Cyprus |
 Czech Republic |
 Denmark |
 Estonia |
 Finland |
 France |
 Macedonia (FYROM) |
 Georgia |
 Germany |
 Greece |
 Hungary |
 Iceland |
 Ireland |
 Italy |
 Latvia |
 Lithuania |
 Luxembourg |
 Malta |
 Moldova |
 Montenegro |
 The Netherlands |
 Norway |
 Poland |
 Portugal |
 Romania |
 Russia |
 Serbia |
 Slovakia |
 Slovenia |
 Spain |
 Sweden |
 Switzerland |
 Ukraine |
 United Kingdom |
