Regions, broadly defined as subnational entities enjoying more or less autonomy within a federal – or quasi-federal or unitary – system, are not only autonomous actors within a nation state. They also act on supranational levels as part of the multi-level governance structures of the European Union where they develop and execute their own policies and represent their own interests on higher levels of government, using different channels. Regions might even develop their own foreign policy and become actors within the international system (cf. paradiplomacy), e.g. by investing in cross-border cooperation with other regions. Comparisons within and across countries show that regions, however, differ in the extent to which they can act autonomously, the power and resources they enjoy to conduct their policies, the way they represent their own interests towards both national and supranational authorities and the (formal and informal) channels they use. Papers of this panel deal with both subnational as well as supranational regions in the context of European multi-level governance and answer the following questions:

• How much discretion do regions have to represent their interests on the European level and which channels do they use?
• To what extent and how does the European Union affect subnational policy-making?
• Why do regions engage in cross-border cooperation and how do such cooperation structures affect visibility, autonomy and power of regions?