The involvement of the local and regional authorities in the European semester : analysis of the 2018 national reform programmes

The political backdrop of the present analysis is provided by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) proposal of a Code of conduct for the involvement of the local and regional authorities in the European Semester and by the territorial analyses of the 2018 Country Reports based on Country-specific Recommendations (CSR). As a word of caution, it is important to note that the following analysis describes how the National Reform Programme (NRP) reports on the role and involvement of the Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs). It might be the case that the actual involvement of the LRAs in the preparation and implementation of NRP is not stated in the documents. The analysis followed a comparative approach between the current situation and the preceding years (from 2011 onwards, with a special focus on 2015 onwards). A major point is evident: political administrative systems do not change quickly - these systems rather evolve than change all of a sudden. Given this 'inertia' of the systems, one can expect that major findings in many analytical dimensions do not change or vary much over time.