Domestic Institutions and regional representation in the European Union: the case of Austria

Multi-level governance in the European Union is a well-established model in the EU literature. An area of ongoing focus within that literature has been the regional representation offices that have proliferated in Brussels. This article addresses the research question of how domestic institutional arrangements affect the strategies of regions seeking representation at the European level. Based on the results of original interviews with directors and deputy-directors of Austrian regional representation offices in Brussels to illustrate the approach these offices take when interacting with other European institutions and with Austrian federal representatives, this study builds on the regional representation literature that has stressed the pre-eminence of state institutional structures in understanding the role of regional representation offices and argues that the importance of the offices is best examined through a focus on state level institutions and power arrangements rather than on office impact at the European level.