Resourcing and Organisational Principles

Abstract

One of the most effective means of capturing variation between types of regional representations in the EU — those representing the interests of regions with legislative competences, those representing regional administrations with no formal constitutional role or a group of subscribing interests, and the bureaux representing regions from the new member states — is through an understanding of their resourcing and organisational principles. These dynamics provide a means of exploring the extent to which the different types of EU representations operate as functional tools of domestic administrations, or rather, whether they aim primarily to provide services to end users or clients. Analysis of the downstream relationship between Brussels office and domestic agency offers insights into what a region aims to achieve through active representation in the EU, and how that strategic aim is delivered. These differences in turn underpin variation in objectives and outputs.