Still Bypassing the Nation-State: EU regional mobilization two decades later

Twenty years ago the role of the regions in the European arenas seemed to grow incessantly. Channels of access to these arenas were pursued and intensively nurtured, and the regional mobilization was a hot topic for scholars. Two decades later things evolved differently. The global crisis and the EU manyfold crises curbed both the enthusiasm and the activities of the regions. Regional mobilization endured, although in partially different forms. Through an overview of the main political science strands of studies on regional mobilization, the chapter addresses the evolution over time of this phenomenon and tries to account for the renewed scientific interest and the persistent mobilization activity of the European regions.