European Integration and Intra-State Relations in Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract This article examines the way in which multi‐level governance ‐more specifically the increased overlap in regional, state and EU spheres of authority ‐ can generate conflict between regional and central state actors in Germany and the United Kingdom.1 The main argument is that this increased overlap between different spheres of authority generates new tensions between regional and central state actors in both of these EU member states. However, the nature of the tensions differs in the two states. Domestic variables, including institutional structures, systems of intergovernmental relations and domestic political culture are key determinants of these differences.