Devolution 'could spark EU power struggle'

A power struggle between Westminster, Brussels and the UK's devolved bodies could be looming, suggests a new study.

Academics have found devolved administrations are strongly influencing EU policy to advance the interests of their areas of control.

While the devolved bodies and the UK government share a broadly similar approach to EU relations the situation is stable but things could change for the worse if different agendas were pursued.

The study also found that English regions were missing out because their lobbying resources were much smaller than those of Scotland, Wales and, before suspension, Northern Ireland.

The report - drawn up by researchers from the Universities of Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow - concludes that this will have important consequences for the UK's negotiations with the EU.

Researchers found the administrations in Scotland and Wales had been able to win concessions from the EU particularly in the areas of rural and farming policy.

Even though all EU relations are a reserved UK power, each devolved administration and each English region has an office in Brussels where they lobby for their own interests.

Priorities

Martin Burch, professor of government at Manchester, said: "What has happened since devolution is that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have acquired greater policy-making resources of their own and a clearer sense of priorities with which to influence EU policy in their territorial interest.

"But they may also find themselves at a disadvantage in that their civil servants are somewhat more outside the informal Whitehall network which has an important role to play in UK policy formation.

"However, while the Scottish and Welsh offices always had full access to the Whitehall network in the past, it is doubtful that they had the resources or priorities to make full use of it."

Nevertheless, the devolved administrations are better placed in these new arrangements than English regional assemblies and development agencies.

"We have found growing concern with European issues in the RDAs and the assemblies", added Burch.

"This is particularly true over EU structural funds, which support regional development, but it is also increasingly the case with rural and trade policies.

"However, most English regions have far less impact in Brussels than the better resourced offices set up by the devolved administrations. And, at home, they find themselves having to lobby Whitehall to influence the UK’s approach to EU issues, too."

Burch questioned what may happen in the future if different agendas are pursued by different tiers of government.

"The current relationships reflect the fact that the administrations share a broadly similar approach to the European Union, and that, as a result the UK government seems happy to allow the devolved administrations to have the input they do," he said.

"But what happens if there are changes in the parties in power in some of the parliaments and assemblies, and that trust starts to break down?

"That could prove a real test of the strength of the relationships between the devolved administrations, Whitehall and Brussels."