Comparing EU-Activities of German and Austrian Cities

The local level is increasingly affected by EU policies. In particular, it is involved in the administrative implementation of almost all EU legislation. It is also the level closest to citizens and civil society in the whole EU multi-level system. However, due to the high number of cities in the EU, their heterogeneity due to their size and also position in the different national systems of the EU, the local level has less opportunities to influence the EU policy-making process. The proposed paper addresses the EU-related activities of Austrian and German Cities. A sample of all 9 Austrian cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and 9 randomly selected German cities with between 50,000 and 2 million inhabitants is compiled to identify similarities and differences. Through internet research and written and telephone interviews we survey the number of EU employees in the city administrations, the existing funding applications and projects, the networks of a city and its interest representation in the direction of Brussels. Moreover, we look at EU activities like public events to analyse a city´s EU commitment as the "level closest to the citizen". Applying a mixed quantitative-qualitative setting, the analysis will proof the following assumptions: First, in the sense of actor-centred neo-institutionalism, it is assumed that the institutional setting shapes the activities of cities in the EU system. Features such as the representation of Austrian municipalities in the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU in Brussels (including information and participation rights), which leads to direct involvement of Austrian Cities, should lead to significantly different strategies for feeding local interests into the EU decision-making process than in Germany, where this kind of formal representation is not given. In Germany, the input into EU processes is assumed to move more into the informal sphere (similar to lobbying). Within actor-centred neo-institutionalism another assumption is that the size and financial strength of a city plays a role in its EU activities. Second, in the sense of historical neo-institutionalism, we assume that former (sometimes centuries-old) involvement in international contexts (as a specific geographical setting etc.), but also existing characteristics such as certain highly developed industrial sectors (which can lead to international dependencies, but also opportunities) determine EU activities. This may affect the level of activity, but also its characteristics (e.g. specific interests to the EU decision making process; specific networks with cities which have similar characteristics; e.g. applications for funding in a specific policy field). Third, we assume that the orientation of the mayor and majorities in the city council (party-political, EU-friendly etc.) play a major role in a city's EU activities. This may, for example, have an impact on the establishment of EU offices within the city administration.