The Europeanisation of national institutions reassessed: A comparison of regional policies in Germany and Italy

This article explores an aspect of Europeanisation which notions of ‘adaptive pressure’ and ‘usage’ of European policies have tended to neglect: in a complex policy field such as regional policy it is the evolving nature and heterogeneity of (different) domestic institutional arrangements which will shape and determine the opportunities for domestic actors to exploit European policies. The article explains the differential impact of European regional policies in eastern Germany and southern Italy by focusing on the different domestic institutional settings and the competition between domestic actors for the position of gatekeeper in relation to the Commission. Despite similar exposure to European regional policies, the existence of ‘parallel institutions’ in German regional policy proved to be the basis for an empowerment of the regions through the reinforcement of one institutional arrangement at the expense of the other while limiting change within the institutions. By contrast, the dichotomous nature of formal and informal rules and institutions in Italian policies for the south resulted in the exploitation of European regional policy by a national actor in order to drive through change in governance and administration.