Social capital, Subsidiarity, Regional policy, European Union
Abstract
In this paper it is argued that the operationalization of the principle of subsidiarity implies the need for flexibility in the EU system of governance in order for an acceptable trade off between efficiency and democratic guarantees in the policy-making process to be reached. In European structural policy subsidiarity is seen as an important component of the system of multi-level governance which involves europeanization of the policy process on the one hand, and decentralization of decision-making to subnational level on the other. This system of governance implies mobilization towards the creation of regional economies capable of adapting to the changing environment, that is learning economies. The main prerequisite for development based on learning is the presence of learning institutional networks -institutional networks able to change with changing conditions- and social capital which facilitates the learning process within institutional networks. The presence of both social capital and learning institutional networks at the regional level can substantiate the role of subsidiarity as a principle of "competitive federalism", which is viewed as the future system of governance in the EU. Within this system subsidiarity should not be seen as just a procedural criterion for delineating competencies, but as an incentive for mobilization of civil society towards the achievement of higher levels of collective action, that is towards acquiring more power.
