Battling for the regions: Local government policy networks and the reform of the European Structural Funds

The recent reform of the European Structural Funds led to a wide-ranging set of lobbying activities on the part of UK regions which felt their previous allocations were likely to be threatened. Much of this activity took place through existing networks or alliances of networks at a national and transnational level. This paper examines the issues at stake in the reforms, the attitudes of the networks to those issues and the need for networks to have a common focus, adequate resources and effective internal communication structures to be effective.