To what extent have the various processes of regionalisation in Europe over the last 40 years been driven by a common set of factors?

Résumé du document

Ever since the early 60s, there were various processes for regionalisation in Europe. Time for the revalorisation of regional cultures, dialects and accents , it was also the time when De Gaulle tried to launch its first unsuccessful regional reforms . Some time later, in the early seventies, Italy started to launch a step-by-step devolution of power to the regions. And in 1978, after Franco's death, Spain's new Constitution made it clear that the new Spanish state was regional, paving the way for further reforms.

Extraits

[...] However, the processes of regionalisation have been achieved up to different stages according to the countries, showing the importance of the national factors as well. The more regions are present in the cultural and historical background of a country in a positive way, the more likely it is to focus on the devolution of powers to the regions. Moreover, a strong identification to the regions and the existence of a secessionist threat is likely to accelerate the process. Finally, in countries where regionalisation has been a success, such as in Italy and Spain, the people have been associated to the devolution, be it by demanding themselves autonomy, or by institutionalising the process through referenda. [...]

[...] In the new democratic Spanish state, regionalisation was seen as a means to prevent the heavy machinery of the fascist state to be ever possible again. At a time when the welfare state made the machinery of the central state increasingly heavy, the process of regionalisation was seen as a good way to enhance efficiency and reduce the administrative and political burden. An interesting fact is that in the three countries, the method adopted has always been a step-by-step approach. In Spain, the constitutional principle of a regional state was affirmed as soon as 1978. [...]

[...] It was therefore difficult to impose the principle of regionalisation for it has bad reputation. Not only the national perception of the role of the regions is important but also secessionists demands have played a major role in allowing for a greater degree of devolution of powers to the regions. First, it is more likely that this process is going to be more accepted in countries where there is a tradition of identification with the regions, a key element in the process of the regionalisation. [...]

[...] For instance, the Vendée region has been known ever since the Revolution for its particular stance on regionalisation and autonomy of the regions. However, as soon as the nineteenth century, these particularities were erased, especially thanks to education and the militant role of the primary school teachers who were know as the soldiers of the Third Republic or les Hussards noirs de la République. Even though Italy seems to be quite close to the French model, it is not, for her unification was only achieved a century and a half ago. [...]

[...] Wright Federalizing Europe? Oxford University Press, Oxford 1996, p.56 Juan Jose Solzabal, Spain, a Federation in the Making? In Joachim Jens Hesse and V. Wright Federalizing Europe? [...]