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Priorities 2015-2017

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In these troubled times of crisis, when confidence in public institutions is decreasing and there is a tendency for everyone to focus efforts on their own communities, regions have to be the leaders for change. The end goal of regional authorities must always primarily be to make their territory the best possible place to live for their citizens. To this end, they need to improve the services they deliver to the people in order to keep their trust. The AER’s mission is to address regional political concerns and foster leadership excellence, in order to provide services for better decision-making and offering visibility to regions in Europe. The objective is to make regions a driving force for political, economic and social development, with a view to accomplishing a multi-player Europe. Our guiding principle is subsidiarity. To this end, the AER fosters interregional cooperation: this means working together on common projects, sharing and transferring best practices and learn new methods and ideas to enrich regional policies. The AER must be a driving force in the field of governance, territorial reform and (re)definition of regions’ competences, building on the experience of its members and on its guiding principles. An example of this is the lobbying work carried out by the AER towards the main European institutions, aiming to integrate a territorial dimension into the centre of all policies designed at the European and international level. In accordance with its mission, decentralisation, youth and equal opportunities, remain key transversal issues that are an integral part of the AER DNA.

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The role of European Regions in 2015

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Foreword

Early 2014, as the new programming period is starting, the Assembly of European Regions
(AER) decides to look into the role that 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 study run in 2014-2015. More than 40 academic
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. As of now (1st
August 2015), the study covers 25 countries, and 9 more reports are under preparation. Each
report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all
studied countries.
The present “digest” entails a summarised version of the available country reports. The
objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of
regionalism in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are
available on the following page.

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Study on regionalisation

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As the new programming period has started, the AER is willing to look into the role that regional authorities actually play in European politics and in Europe in general in 2014. The study will focus on several questions, such as: 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? The study will be published in 2015 at the occasion of AER’s 30th Anniversary.

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The role of European regions in 2015

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As the new programming period has started, the AER is willing to look into the role that regional authorities actually play in European politics and in Europe in general in 2014. The study will focus on several questions, such as: 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? The study will be published in 2015 at the occasion of AER’s 30th Anniversary.

Link to the country reports
Link to the full report

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DG Regio efforts to implement cohesion policy in EU Member States

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Gratian Mihailescu graduated in communication and public relations. He specialized in European Affairs, International Relations and Development receiving scholarships from different countries. He was Erasmus student at Eberhard Karl University of Tuebingen and Erasmus Mundus at Trento University, Italy and Corvinus University of Budapest. Between the two masters, he worked and studied in Brussels, doing a postgraduate course in project management and community advisor.
Since 2012, Gratian Mihailescu is back to Romania and is a consultant and columnist, cooperating with various think tanks on public policy issues, or with consulting companies. His main area of focus are EU policies, EU funds, Regional Development, Democracy & Good-Governance, Regionalisation and Subsidiarity principle.
In 2013, he established an NGO, Local Development Institute aiming to support activities and initiatives that contribute to local and regional development in West part of Romania.

In July 2015, Gratian Mihailesch gave an interview about EU funds absorption, about DG Regio efforts to implement cohesion policy in EU Member States, which is interesting for all the people using EU funds, or for the public administration of EU Member States and for AER Members.

Read the full interview

 

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“What future for the regions” by Fredrik Söderbaum

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What future for the regions?

Fredrik Söderbaum

Professor of Peace and Development Research, School of Global Studies,
University of Gothenburg
E-mail: [email protected]

Thanks to the organizers for inviting me to this exciting event. It is a great privilege to be invited to speak about on my favourite topic.

One general conclusion that can be drawn from this event, and from regional processes around the world more generally, is that regionalism is thriving! The future of regionalism is bright — which is not to deny the many challenges that still exist.

It needs to be acknowledged that, in many ways, regionalism has become more dynamic and more relevant in spite of the transformation of the nation-state and the many radical changes in the world during recent decades.

This means that regions are likely to continue to thrive in the 21st century. However, the future of regionalism is in many ways different from earlier forms of regionalism.

When reflecting on the future of regionalism, one core question is to understand why some regions thrive while others are less successful, or even failures?

One of the most influential scholars in the field of regionalism, Professor Michael Keating, points out that ‘new regionalism is modernising and forward-looking, in contrast to an older provincialism, which represented resistance to change and defence of tradition’.

This means, among other things, that while old regionalist strategies often centred around industrial location and growth poles within a particular nation-state, today it has become clear that there is not one best mode of production and economic regionalism. Capitalism is socially embedded and takes different forms in different regions.

Regional specialists have written extensively about the new approaches to regionalism and regional development. The problem is that it has proved remarkably difficult to pin down the nature of the qualities that make for a successful and competitive region. It has proved even more difficult to show how successful regions can be reproduced elsewhere.

This is because ‘new regionalism’ is characterized by complexity and diversity. There are thus many varities of regions and economics, politics and culture may be combined in different ways. Complexity and variation rule out easy solutions and definitions.

A general feature of successful regionalism seems to be that regions are able to adjust and adapt to new circumstances and conditions. It is also evident that compared to previous forms of regionalism, which primarily centred around the relationship between the subnational region and the central government, new forms of regionalism often extend beyond the boundaries of the nation-state. The future of regionalism will deepen this trend.

About one decade ago, a scholar from Gothenburg, called Jörgen Gren, wrote an interesting book entitled The Perfect Region. The conclusion was that ‘the perfect region’ managed to adapt to the transformed political and economic landscape in Europe and successfully exploit the relationship with national government but also with the EU. The less successful region were less responsive and adaptive to the nation- state and to the EU.

This perspective of the Perfect Region is, it seems, compatible with the Declaration on Regionalism in Europe adopted by the Assembly of European Regions. A key passage of this declaration states that:

“The regionalist movement in Europe adheres to the belief that the powers vested in the regions complement the power vested in the nation-states as well as the supranational powers vested in the European Union.”

This statement in the Declaration is, of course, familiar to most of you, perhaps even somewhat elementary. Yet, it has far-reaching implications.

I will make two general reflections around this point, the first focuses on the relationship between regions and the nation-state, while the second deals with the international and transnational links of the regions.

Regarding the link between regions and states, the regions should not try to imitate or replicate the nation-state or attempt to become a new type of region-state, which competes with the nation-state. Even if there, of course, may be conflicts and competition between regions and nation-states, both need each other, and both will prosper if they recognize that they fulfil different and complementary roles within a larger system of multi-level governance — centred around regional, national and supranational governance.

In the academic world, this type of thinking has given rise to a very influential theory, labelled “multilevel governance”. The main point of multilevel governance, which is basically outlined in the Lisbon Treaty, is that authority is dispersed at various levels, and governance at one level cannot function in isolation from another.

It is often neglected that this way of thinking is not necessarily compatible with the well- known principle of subsidiarity. Although there are many interpretations of subsidiarity, one problem with subsidiarity is that it tends to favour one particular level of governance, usually the lowest level of governance, instead of the interaction of governance on multiple levels.

The increasing relevance of multilevel governance is related to the unbundling of the centralised nation-state. The unbundling results in that a multitude of private and public actors both below and above the level of the nation-state are able to cooperate within a multi-layered and multilevel governance system. This opens up for a much more dynamic and complex type of interaction both inside the nation-state and on the international scene.

The point is that multilevel governance is more relevant and efficient than subsidiarity/decentralisation in providing solutions to the challenges that regions, states and societies are currently facing, such as climate change, economic development, employment and migration.

Regarding the transational dimension, the Assembly of European Regions is of course a reflection of that international and cross-border contacts have become deeply institutionalised within European regions. Yet, the intensification of globalization implies that the world outside Europe has become closer and more important. This has many implications.

One thing is clear, something has happened to international diplomacy and to international governance.

In the past, the centralised nation-state was controlling outside international relations and international diplomatic contacts. To some extent, the nation-states are still in control. However, there is a quickly growing tendency that regions and large cities

develop their international contacts and engage in what is referred to as paradiplomacy — the foreign policy of subnational governments.

Such paradiplomacy is by no means restricted to Europe — there is a global pattern of paradiplomatic activities. We thus need to think beyond Europe, and add another, global, level or layer to the multilevel governance perspective.

As an example: One of my former PhD students left the University and after some years advanced to become the Head of the São Paulo State Government’s Office of Foreign Affairs. São Paulo State has quickly emerged as one of the most prominent subnational players on the global scene. And my former PhD student often emphasize that São Paulo State could be ranked as the 19th world’s largest economy. This statement was intended to reveal that regions and metropolitan regions have emerged as new players on the global scene, but also to draw attention to that the sharp distinctions between states and regions have become blurred in the emerging world of globalised diplomacy.

Such paradiplomacy is a recent and still rather embryonic phenomenon. Even if it is tightly linked to efforts to strengthen economic competitiveness and innovation, it still means that international relations is not simply confined to nation-states. In fact, paradiplomacy is even written into the constitution of several federal states.

My time is up and my final word is simply to conclude by stating that the role of regions and cities on the global scene is likely to continue to expand in the future. It is an exciting change, even if it is too early to say how comprehensive and deep such paradiplomacy and global contacts will become in the future. Needless to say, not all regions will benefit or have an interest in engaging on the global scene.

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AER Political Priorities

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Ratified by AER General Assembly 2015

In these troubled times of crisis, when confidence in public institutions is decreasing and there is a tendency for everyone to focus efforts on their own communities, regions have to be the leaders for change. The end goal of regional authorities must always primarily be to make their territory the best possible place to live for their citizens. To this end, they need to improve the services they deliver to the people in order to keep their trust.

The AER’s mission is to address regional political concerns and foster leadership excellence, in order to provide services for better decision-making and offering visibility to regions in Europe. The objective is to make regions a driving force for political, economic and social development, with a view to accomplishing a multi-player Europe. Our guiding principle is subsidiarity.

To this end, the AER fosters interregional cooperation: this means working together on common projects, sharing and transferring best practices and learn new methods and ideas to enrich regional policies.

The AER must be a driving force in the field of governance, territorial reform and (re)definition of regions’ competences, building on the experience of its members and on its guiding principles. An example of this is the lobbying work carried out by the AER towards the main European institutions, aiming to integrate a territorial dimension into the centre of all policies designed at the European and international level.

In accordance with its mission, decentralisation, youth and equal opportunities, remain key transversal issues that are an integral part of the AER DNA.

In this context, here are the AER priorities for 2015-2017 :

Supporting regions in ensuring a sustainable future for all

Supporting regions for fostering a more sustainable growth and investing in future generations

The AER aims at fostering economic development for all regions and at supporting regions in ensuring the sustainability of their policies, from a social and environmental perspective. This encompasses issues such as territorial planning and environment, sustainable strategic choices in energy policies, but also regional policies dedicated to youth, neighbourhood policy actions and responsible social choices. This aims at providing equal opportunities for all citizens, as well as education measures to strengthen the future generations. For regions to perform better in these areas, resources are needed: the AER will remain vigilant on the implementation of the European Union cohesion policy and will start reflecting on the future of this policy after 2020.

Supporting employment policies in European regions

The AER has made it a priority to support employment in all European Regions. Regions act in the field of education, training and entrepreneurship and many AER activities will continue to help regions in their fight against unemployment.

Building a sustainable future also means peace and stability in the wider Europe

The AER contributes to ensuring continued dialogue between countries at war or stuck in frozen conflicts. Hence the importance of the work performed in the framework of the neighbourhood policy, around the Black Sea, the Mediterranean areas and for the Eastern Partnership.

Sharing regional policies that improve wellbeing

Any strategy does not and should not only make regions an attractive place for businesses and investments, but first and foremost for its inhabitants

The attractiveness of a territory, in terms of transport, health and social policies, attitude to new businesses, leisure, culture, is a key for economic development but also for the wellbeing of citizens. In our old European societies, this means also to take concrete measures on demographic change and AER should support its member regions in this respect.

Supporting integrative forces within the regions

The AER focuses on creating inclusive societies that will encourage citizens’ participation to public life, prompt them into starting new businesses and become genuine integration drivers. Inclusion comes through education, equal opportunities and employment: 3 key topics that are central to the AER. Territorial integration is not sidelined either: this includes transport and communication policies, and maintaining public services in rural or disfavoured areas. Territorial cohesion is a condition for social inclusion.

The AER may also focus on issues relating to both the integration of asylum and refugee reception and integration in general.

Making European Regions the connecting link between Europe and citizens, while increasing the link between the European Regions

Promoting multi-stakeholder approaches, cooperating with different parts of the society: this is what partnership is about

Working with youth, empowering citizens via innovative participatory approaches, listening to business owners and investors and understanding what their needs and expectations are, reflecting on regional media, to maintain proximity information and mix it with more macro information, thus introducing Europe at the local level, finding new ways to deliver public services to all the citizens.

Interregional partnership and cooperation remains at the heart of AER actions

Making AER the connecting link among regions also means contributing to their attractiveness, notably through enhancing the connectivity of territories and citizens, via the Trans-European Transport Networks, among other initiatives.

Using networks and interconnections to boost the regions’ innovation potential

AER, as a network, is a key tool for interconnection of stakeholders at international level. By sharing best practices and making AER members interact with each other, by raising the international profile of European regions and bringing them the necessary support for change management, AER is fostering innovation and economic cooperation on the territories. Regions are drivers for innovation, for example in healthy ageing, adapt to the digital agenda and cooperate via many different EU programmes on innovation strategies. AER’s mission is to aggregate all this energy and knowledge and disseminate it all over Europe.

Multiculturalism is also an innovation vector: intercultural dialogue, interregional exchanges, promoting language and cultural diversity are at the core of AER action.

Accompanying youth towards better involvement and participation in public life

The AER promotes the foundation of youth councils and other types of youth representative organizations and supports the development of education systems so as to increase youth participation. In line with the priorities of the EU and UN, the AER sees youth, and working with youth, as the key to growth, success and sustainability, as well as to a wealthy society with proper jobs.

With these priorities, the AER aims at making our regions stronger. Using its different tools, the AER is gathering, capitalising and disseminating its members’ expertise and also contributes to actively train regional teams throughout wider Europe.

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The role of local government in national foreign policy in Poland

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Adriana Skorupska is an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs in the Eastern and South Eastern Europe Programme.
Her interests include the international cooperation of self-government, cross-border cooperation and the decentralization reforms in the Eastern Partnership Countries, especially in Georgia and Ukraine.

She published an article on “the role of local government in national foreign policy in Poland” in April 2015.

Read the full article

 

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“30 Years, 30 Stories” with Lambert van Nistelrooij

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In the framework of our 30th Anniversary, Mr Lambert van Nistelrooij, a Dutch politician, an MEP and a former vice-president of AER, joined us in the New Europe Studios on 3 April in order to discuss the regional future of Europe.

Mr van Nistelrooij explains the importance of presence of both AER and the Committee of the Regions by looking back to the history of their creation. He underlines that “the Assembly of European Regions is free to move, they can take they own subjects like initiatives, they can take all initiatives in lobbying and they do to the parliament” and that, due to member regions outside of the EU, AER “has even a broader agenda than the Committee of the Regions”.

Mr van Nistelrooij also mentions that in the face of current migration and terrorist related questions AER “has a big task to develop new types of programs, to bring policy ideas to our decision making bodies like the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions”.

Concerning the regional future of Europe, he seems to see the strength in regions and he underlines the importance of subsidiarity as one of the main principles of the European Project.

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AER at the Heart of EU Decision-Making on Education and Youth Policies

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A delegation from the Assembly of European Regions Committee 3 Presidium visited Brussels on 26 March for a series of meetings in order to raise awareness amongst European policy makers on the issue of education and youth policies. The delegation included Sonja A. STEEN (President of AER’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and International Cooperation), Karoly AMBRUS (Chairman of the Subcommittee on Education) and Aleks SEMERCIYAN (Vice President of the AER Youth Regional Network).

They were welcomed in the European Parliament by MEP Andrea BOCSKOR, Vice-President of the Committee on Culture and Education, and MEP Ilhan KYUCHYUK, Rapporteur the for opinion on the competitiveness of the labour market in the EU. At the end of the day, the delegation was greeted by EU Commissioner Tibor NAVRACSICS, in charge of Culture, Education, Youth and Sport, in order to strengthen the constructive dialogue between the regions and the EU.

These meetings were great opportunities to introduce AER and YRN, to present the current state of play of the respective achievements and to give an outlook on future activities and priorities.

All parties agreed that the only way to look ahead in Europe is to focus on education: new educational models need to be developed including the collaboration with various stakeholders in order to lower the percentage of school drop-out, or to improve vocational education. It was underlined that youth mobility programmes such as Eurodyssey need to be developed in order to allow all young people from all social and geographical backgrounds to go abroad to add a first international experience to their curriculum.

Another consensual topic is citizens’ and youth empowerment and participation in democratic life. Here again it was said that education is key to the success: introducing civic education at a very early stage and involving young people as full members in society can help creating a more equal and participative society.

If and only if the principle of subsidiarity and the place of regions is recognised and put into practice Europe will succeed in policies that are developed and designed for the wellbeing of its citizens.

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ICTs have changed the world: the rules of the game

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Arnhem, Gelderland (NL), 6 November 2014

Most of the services and companies we know will disappear in a few years and without much notice. Our society is in transition, the exponential growth of technology and the information society mean that businesses need to adapt for their survival – and in a way, so do regional authorities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) control the market of the XXI century economy, and impact the expectations of our citizens. Today, in the framework of the Assembly of European Regions’ (AER) autumn plenary session, our politicians and civil servants tried to figure out how regions can adjust to be more citizens-oriented and reform their own structures and policies in the information society.

A new renaissance

From smartphones to voice command apps and tablets, streaming TV, but also biomedicine, domotica or big datas: new technologies constantly alter our lifestyle in ways we could not have imagined a few years ago. Martijn Aalander, a professional “life-hacker” and people’s connector, brought us a few examples of current new devices that will continue to revolutionise our society.

Graphene is pure carbon in the form of a very thin, nearly transparent sheet, no more than one atom thick. Santhakumar Kannapan, from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in Korea, discovered that we can use graphene as a supercapacitor for electric vehicles or smartphone batteries. We will be able to charge our smartphones in two seconds! And 16 seconds for an electric vehicle.

In the field of health, we have the Scanadu Scout. This device will be on the market in two years and will provide us with daily access to valuable data about our body.

But the revolution does not stop at new gadgets, much can be done by regions to tap into the potential that technology and information have to offer. To improve the lives of citizens, regions should not only focus on the technology itself but to the problems that need solutions. ICTs represent a window of opportunity to solve the biggest problem of any administration: the lack of subsidiarity. Technology should be used in a more « citizens-oriented way » underlined Hugo Verheul, expert on government and the use of information and communication technology. He gave the example of passports in the Nederlands. Today, instead of going to the city hall, you can receive your passport at home as if it were an Amazon delevery.

ICTs are fundamental for economic growth. European regions have to be up-to-date on the latest ICT developments. Their future depends on it. This is why AER strongly supports active training in our regions and pledges for a good use of European funds to that effect.

Political debate on regional public television

Linked to this morning’s debate on ICTs, AER also organised a debate on the future challenges for regional broadcasters and the implications for regional public authorities. Slavisa Grujic, Vice-President of the AP Vojvodina (SRB) and Chantal Teunissen, from Omropep, exchanged their views on this issue. In addition to facing severe cutback, regional public televisions also face new competitors offering programmes on-demand, such as Netflix.

Netflix is a paid-for, on-demand Internet streaming provider offering television shows and movies online as well as on televisions in HD format to viewers in different countries around the world. Today, they have more than 200 millions subscribers. These platforms meet the viewer demands (I.e. the TV series House of Cards). Experts expect the TV landscape to radically change in a few years as a result of these now platforms. AER is currently working on a political report on the future of public television to be released in March 2015.

For more information: [email protected]

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AER backs the giant steps in EU-Georgia relationship

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AER President and acting Secretary General went to Tbilisi (GE) in October. This visit came a few months after the regional elections in Georgia and the historical signature, in June, of an association agreement between EU and Georgia, which deepens political and economic ties in the framework of the Eastern partnership.

The timing was perfect to discuss the state of decentralisation and the role regions will play in the future. The delegation met with Alex Petriashvili, State Minister for European integration, who stressed the importance of the government decentralisation agenda and the role AER could play in helping both the State and the regions deliver more subsidiarity.

AER met Aleksandre Iosebashvili, deputy governor of the Imereti region, keen to be among the first new regions to join AER. Building on the positive experience of the Adjara region, an active AER member, and on the State commitment, the follow up is now being done to welcome new Georgian regions.

This trip was also the occasion to greet Innovator, member of the AER Business Community.

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5th Black Sea Summit – Using existing bridges to rise above new walls

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Bucharest (RO), 3 October 2014

Bearing in mind the challenging political context that affects this area, the Assembly of European Regions (AER), at the kind invitation of the National Union of County Councils from Romania (UNCJR), held today its 5th annual Black Sea Summit in Bucharest, Romania. The 100 high level participants present during the Summit adopted the ‘Bucharest Declaration’, a political statement that focuses on the place of the Black Sea Synergy within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

This year’s edition of the Summit took the opportunity to welcome the Association agreements between the EU, Ukraine, Georgia and the republic of Moldova signed in July. This new step for these Black Sea regions recognises the importance of the involvement of the EU to promote a sound and fruitful cooperation within the area, but also highlights the work still needed to be done.

“We consider as urgent that a true Black Sea Strategy be put in place by the European Union, which would offer the ground for a much needed integrated approach of the area. A real synergy among the European policies must be ensured, in particular with regard to the Eastern Partnership and Danube cooperation programme, but also beyond, to keep important contacts with the Russian Federation.” stated Hande Özsan Bozatli, AER President.

“Indeed, the political and security issues in Eastern Europe have led the Black Sea Basin and its regions to undergo a test period, particularly suspending numerous projects with Ukrainian regions. The UNCJR is prepared to further develop links with Ukraine using all the means provided by the Black Sea cooperation. I call all fellow neighbouring regions to do the same”, declared Marian Oprisan, President of UNCJR and President of the Vrancea County.

Although the strategy for the Black Sea Basin Programme adopted by the participating countries in July represents a step in the right direction, AER is concerned that the areas for cooperation identified under each objective – whilst defined on the basis of an open consulting process and SWOT analysis – be very restrictive and too specific to encourage true cooperation. Therefore, AER through the Bucharest declaration, insists that support to cooperation and “people-to-people actions” through key fields such as Youth, education, social inclusion or health, would bring a strong contribution to the objectives of the programme, granting more equal opportunities directly to its citizens.

“Central governments still have too much power which could be passed down to a more local level, in order to boost efficiency, dialogue and stability for the citizens that they represent,” mentioned Romanian Prime Minister Victor-Viorel Ponta. “The principle of subsidiarity, which is the foundation of the European Union (EU), as well as the role of regional local authorities need to be enforced to better forge a strong, inclusive and flexible cooperation”.

Finally, President of the Committee of the Regions Michel Lebrun reminded the participants of the Summit that regions of the Black Sea Basin already have the tools and necessary bridges to overcome the new obstacles, which they are currently facing. A pursued integrated approach and strengthened partnership between Black Sea regions will continue to foster cross-border cooperation.

Download the AER Black Sea Declaration

For more information: [email protected]

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Why subsidiarity will not function in Romania

By

Gratian Mihailescu
August 2014

The 
deficit 
of
 democracy: Why
 subsidiarity
 will
 not 
function
 in 
Romania

The
 European
 Commission
 is
 highlighting
 the
 importance
 of
 bottom‐up
 governance
 in
 decision‐making
 process
 and
 subsidiarity
 principle 
is
 one
 of
 the
 central
 principles
 of
 EU 
which 
states 
that 
EU
 policy
 decisions 
should
 always
 be
 made
 as
 close
 to
 the
citizens. 
Is
 the 
basic
 principle 
of
 the 
EU 
and appears
 in
 the
 latest
 EU
 treaty
 stipulated
 over
 30
 times. Unfortunately
 for
 Romania
 subsidiarity
 principle
 will
 be 
hard
 to
 be 
put
 in
 practice.

Read the full article
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