whether his interests are served by governmental
or non-governmental organizations. Given this fact,
it cannot come as a big surprise, that the European
citizen is hardly interested in some distant European
parliament and does not bother to make his way to
the ballot-box. So the quintessential question remains
if the European citizens' interests can be properly
served at the right time and in the right place. Can a
parliamentary system suffice? This brings me to the
regional tier.
European subsidiarity
As I have stated before, countries - or rather nations
- are the partners in the Treaty. In most countries
the policies of the national administration are
hardly integrated. The various interests are served
by different departments, that do not excel in
cooperation. The Dutch government has recently and
openly admitted, that integration of policies and the
national input in the European process not only badly
need reviewing, but essentially call for a completely
different modus operandi. The ambition of the
European Union 'that European policies regarding
the citizens should be implemented at the lowest
feasible tier of government', a phenomenon generally
labelled 'subsidiarity', is far from being attained.
This can be attributed to an inadequate appreciation
at the national level for the conditions an adequate
embedment of subsidiarity demands.
In essence subsidiarity is the European Unions'
equivalent of the constitutional set-up of most of the
participating countries, including The Netherlands.
This set-up consists of a central state with
decentralised democratic tiers of administration at
the local and regional level. The regional bodies (the
provinces) and the local bodies (the municipalities)
can usually act with a reasonable amount of autonomy
and on a scale that facilitates an integrated approach
of affairs. Ideally, each public activity is allocated to
the lowest tier, that can effectively execute it. In this
way a maximum of influence by the constituents can
be achieved. The same principle should have been
applied to the European subsidiarity within each
country, ensuring the local and regional voice in
the process of European decision-making. National
governments have been in no hurry to do so, because
it would mean a shift of power from the national to
the regional tier.
In this situation the institution of a Committee
of the Regions as an official body within the
European Union [Wim van Gelder is a member of
that Committee] has been a major step forward. This
Committee has given local and regional authorities
the voice in the process of European decision
making, that they had to do without for so long.
The importance of this local and regional voice,
representing an integral administrative approach, can
hardly be underestimated.
To illustrate this we need to take a closer look at
the borders of European countries. Modern nations
are seldom consistent with a coherent population
group, bonded by common cultural, linguistic and
economic backgrounds. Many national borders are
completely artificial and can only be explained by
history. The nineteenth century has seen the rise of
the nations as we see them around us now. These
nations have fostered their citizens' nationalistic
feelings which are based on synthetic borders,
national flags, national currencies, a national leader,
be it king or president, and a national anthem.
Especially wars have proved to be a strong stimulant
for the development of a national identity or worse:
nationalism. In turn, nationalism became a major
cause of war. Preventing war was one of the main
goals of European integration. One has only to look
at what has recently happened in former Yugoslavia
to find an illustration of the fact that most nations
in Europe do not concur on the many and various
peoples of this part of the world. Square pegs will not
fit into round holes.
The effectiveness of the regional approach
On the European scale we can detect a phenomenon
that is consistent with developments everywhere in
society. We see, that different activities tend to be
organized on a scale that is befitting, not on a scale
that is standard. High-tech activities tend to get
organized on a large scale, high-touch activities on
a small scale. This is inherent in the human urge
to organize things on a scale that makes effective
influence possible. Most regions in Europe actually
are consistent with a coherent population group and
have a fitting emotional scale for their inhabitants.
Therefore the delegates of the regions are best
equipped to voice the interests of those population
groups. The voice of local and regional communities
14 Zeeuws Tijdschrift 2006/7-8
