The scarce literature on the European Economic and Social Committee has mostly paid attention to its institutional position and any influence it may have. Contrary to such an output approach this article focuses on the input of the ESC, i.e. its representative role. It argues that the ESC was...

Normative discourses on the European institutional set-up have paid attention to both vertical and horizontal decentralism. Decentralism refers to the respect of the autonomy of lower or smaller decision-making levels, the procedures privileging these decision-making levels (subsidiarity), and...

Both the European institutional discourse and part of the literature on the Open Method of Coordination have argued that the OMC is based on a 'fully decentralised approach'. This paper analysis to what extent decentralised actors such as civil society organisations and regional and local...