Multilevel governance in the EU

Arjan H. Schakel and Michaël Tatham

Chapter 2 in Handbook of European Union Governance, 2025, pp 23-37 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The European Union (EU) has often been portrayed as a two-level system. And indeed, this is how it started its post-war existence. However, the EU has since become a truly multilevel system, often taking the form of a three-, four-, and sometimes a five-level system. The precise number of relevant levels depends on their competencies: these vary over time and across policy domains. Indeed, some policies are more multilevel than others. This chapter maps the evolution of multilevel governance in the EU. We reveal that the EU polity stands out in the depth and scope of multilevel governance above and within member states. Consequently, we argue that it is difficult to meaningfully analyse polity, political, and policy developments in the EU without considering its ‘multilevelness’. We are witnessing the consolidation of a ‘variable geometry’ multilevel system, which includes fluctuating constellations of the local, regional, state, European, and global levels.

Keywords: Multilevel system; Variable geometry; Governance; Local government; Regional government; International organizations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803925172
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