Is European Policy European? The Political Case

Abstract

This chapter explores the four case study regions’ political administrative elite’s role in building a European identity through the respective regions’ European policy. It assesses whether political elites intend to design identity-related European policies or purely economy-related policies. After studying the scope and objectives of EU regions’ European engagement in Chap. 3 and the regional characteristics and features that influence the scope and objectives of regions’ European policies in Chap. 2 , this chapter sheds new light on the role and influence of regional political decision-makers within the European directorates—do these driving forces aim to build an ever closer European Union or are they motivated by other sentiments? Implications of political elites’ decisions are discussed, particularly those of the South West of England and the citizens’ vote to leave the European Union. The findings are based on semi-structured interviews with regional political elites from the four case study regions.