Conceptos alternativos para comprender las grandes reformas descentralizadoras contemporáneas en Europa Occidental

Authors

  • FRANZ XAVIER BARRIOS SUVELZA

Keywords:

Federalism, decentralisation, territorial models, autonomies, subsidiarity.

Abstract

In the last decades Europe has seen changes pertaining to devolution and regional governance that has led to a crisis in the very concept of decentralisation. Using a new interpretation of three selected concepts —autonomy, sub-national Statehood and territorial macro-structuration— the territorial reforms in Spain, Italy, ermany, France and Great Britain are analysed. Autonomy appears to be the most sensitive parameter, as far as we understand it as law making power. Based on this approach we can substitute the current but misleading antagonist coupling of the concepts unitary vs. federal with a new division of simple vs. composed. Finally it is shown that a new version of the composite State seems to consolidate where the municipal level attains the same constitutional weight as the national and the intermediate level, diverging from both the federal and the Spanish autonomic path.

Published

2009-06-16

Issue

Section

ARTICLES