Metagovernance and Control of Multi-level Governance Frameworks: The Case of the EU Structural Funds Financial Execution

Using as an empirical base the 2006–08 reform of the European Union Structural Funds financial execution, this paper explores control mechanisms of multi-level governance frameworks. The empirical evidence provides a representative case of initial metagovernance deficit and the subsequent, relatively successful, institutional response reinforcing metagovernance. The purpose is to clarify the conceptual dimensions of metagovernance, setting it in a categorical scheme that identifies forms of exercise of political power: government, governance and multi-level governance. Specifically, the paper argues for a conceptualization of metagovernance that highlights a sense of sovereignty by which governmental entities vested with legal legitimacy advance public interests.