Sub-Regional Cooperation and European Integration. The Role of the Visegrad Cooperation and Baltic Cooperation in the Architecture of the European Union

The aim of this work is to analyse the mutual relationship of sub-regional cooperation structures and the dominant integration structure: the European Union. We follow the evolution of mutual relationship between Visegrad Cooperation and the EU from the establishment of such sub-regional cooperation structure until today. Similarly, we analyse the relationship of the Baltic Cooperation and the EU. Later, we compare the evolution of both cooperation types on the background of their integration into the EU and thus identify their specifics. In the final part, we widen the research scope on the whole European Union and even more on the European continent and we try to identify and categorize existing cooperation and integration structures in this wider European region. As a conclusion we introduce brief characteristics of sub-regional cooperation and integration process in Europe in the relation to the EU and suggest future development