Date: 13 December 2007 

The EU activities of Swedish subnational authorities have varied across space and time since Swedish membership in the Union. The constitutional asymmetries on the regional level in Sweden create a unique opportunity for testing the impact of different institutional settings on EU-activity within a Member State. 

The report Sub-national authorities' links to Brussels by Linda Berg and Rutger Lindahl surveys the temporal and spatial variation of subnational EU activity and analyse the variance from an institutional perspective and through using the concepts of resource push and resource pull. The analysis is based on a comprehensive set of qualitiative and quantitative data collected through surveys and interviews with key actors on the local and regional level as well as officials at the regional Brussels offices. The report is part of the research project Representation, delegation and democracy.

Speakers: 
Linda Berg, Department of Political Science, Göteborg University 
and visiting fellow at University of Edinburgh Professor 
Rutger Lindahl, Department of Political Science, Göteborg University

Discussant:
Anders Knape, President, Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR)

Chair:
Mats Hellström, Chairman, Sieps

Publication:
 2007:7 Svenska kommuners och regioners kanaler till Bryssel - Subnationella nivåers försök att påverka EU.s policyprocess (Sub-national authorities' links to Brussels) (531.98 kB)