The Brexit dilemma: redrawing the map
The vote to leave the European Union after over 40 years membership threw up some major challenges for the United Kingdom, not least for the regions. Whilst England and Wales voted out, Scotland and Northern Ireland supported “Remain”. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly said, “Scotland will not be taken out of the EU against its will”, but how that should come about is unclear. In the last year Scotland has been given even more autonomy especially on tax rates and welfare and has a special status amongst the four regions making up the UK which include England.
In all the population of the UK is around 65 million with just five million in Scotland, 1.8 million in Northern Ireland and just over three million in Wales. But also in England there are regional differences with London and major cities more pro-European than the urban North where job losses have ensued as a result of declining industries. With the direct election of Mayors large cities such as London, Bristol and Manchester assume greater political weight and promote their own agendas. Strong personalities characterise many of these mayoral politicians who have a chance to build up their own power base separate from that of their party. In all the United Kingdom is far more diverse than it was twenty years ago before the establishment of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
Click here for the full study by Melanie Sully.
You can learn more about the experts on regionalisation here.
The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.
More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 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 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.
Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.
Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.
