The Europeanisation of the Centre-Periphery Paradigm: The Case of Scotland 1979/1997

The paper addresses the question of whether and how European integration affects demands for regional self-government in states which are member of the European Union. It does so by analysing the dynamics of the demand for self-government in Scotland on the basis of a comparison between 1979 and 1997. What impact did membership of the EU have on support for self-government at the two points in time? Did the process of European integration between 1979 and 1997 increase support for self-government in Scotland? Through the analysis of public opinion data drawn from a series of election and referendum studies, the paper argues that the demand for self-government in Scotland was strongly affected by the EU dimension from the mid-1980s onwards. The different result of the 1997 referendum relative to the 1979 referendum can be explained as the result of a process of Europeanisation between the two points in time. By improving the cost/benefit balance of self-government relative to the status quo, European integration indirectly raised the demand for the former. Two broader conclusions follow: that European integration impacted on the demand for self-government at mass public level through the intervening variable of political actors ’ strategies and that it was the single market rather than regional policy that had the strongest impact