Regional policy styles and regional propensity to go European

According to our conceptual framework we were interested in a number of factual questions: 1) Is there a shared belief in guiding concepts as propagated by the European Union such as the attractiveness of a more important role for regions in European affairs; the benefits of joining the EU’s competitive strategies; and, the superiority of co-operative governance? 2) How did regional actors adapt to the deepening of European integration in terms of administrative reforms; a revision of lobbying strategies; and, getting involved in public-private partnerships? (Kohler-Koch and Knodt 1997). On some of our main hypotheses we would like to present our findings and discuss possible explanations: 1) the propensity to support an enhanced role for regions in European affairs depends on benefits to be gained and capacities to use them; 2) there is a co-variance between cognitive orientation and established practices and routines; 3) the support for co-operative European government is strong among regional actors that have a long tradition in joint decision-making and pride themselves on pursuing an open-minded public-private partnership; and 4) when policy studies are close to "network governance," and regions are more likely to be active participants in transregional networks and make effective use of European resources offered (Kohler-Koch and Knodt 1997).