The Impact of European Integration on Regional Power

This article seeks to unravel ambiguity in analysis about the impact of European integration on sub-state regions' political power. In the literature there are arguments that integration empowers, disempowers and has no effect on regional power. In order to address this ambiguity and to contribute to theory-building, I develop a theoretical framework sensitive to multiple means by which integration can affect multiple sources of regional power, and apply it to the study of the Basque Country. The conclusion that European integration undermines Basque political power suggests that integration may, in some cases, be more a danger to, than a liberator of, regions.