Thursday, June 27, 2013
D1.18B (Oudemanhuispoort)
Regional offices in Brussels have proliferated: from a handful in the mid-1980s to well over 200 today. The literature on regional mobilization on the supranational scene, however, is in two minds over such offices. Some consider them as a fashion accessory, the result of emulation and mimetic trends, others argue such offices play an indispensable role for their home region, fulfilling both re-active and pro-active functions in Brussels. No research, however, has sought to explore how the main users – and to some extent principals – of these offices evaluate them. Do they represent real value added to regional civil servants? We asked 268 senior regional civil servants how they asses their Brussels representation office. We not only fill a gap about regional office usefulness for 55 such offices across 5 countries but also explore its determinants. We conclude that a mix of contextual and actor-based factors affect the usefulness of Brussels offices. Both sets of factors have policy and theoretical implications relevant to both practitioners and academics.
