More and more attention is paid in the academic debate to the issue of sub-state entities, represented by regional governments, as partially independent actors of international politics. This phenomenon, referred to as paradiplomacy, is particularly visible in the European Union, where since 1980s regional governments have been mobilising to gain direct influence on the shape of European politics. A regional government that acts as an agent of European politics may or may not be actively supported by its central government. This thesis tries to investigate the relationship between the direct representations of the Visegrád Group regions in Brussels and their respective national Permanent Representations. In the first chapter, I discuss the theoretical issues related to regional mobilisation in Brussels by referring to the work of researchers who deal with multi- level governance in the context of the European Union. In the second chapter, I present and justify the choice of research design, case studies, and semi-structured interviews as the main source of obtaining data necessary to answer the research question. In the third chapter, I included the analysis of the obtained information, and in the fourth chapter, the conclusions drawn from it. This research shows that direct regional...

This study is based on previous research concluding that sub-national actors now function on a complex arena where the nation state is not the sole and self-evident channel to the European Union. Based on that assumption, the thesis is intended to create understanding of the nature of the relationship between the West Sweden regional office and its Värmland commissioners in the case of regional action. The relationship between the regional office and its members was examined in a case study of open consultation around the EU’s new EU 2020 strategy. The questions posed in the thesis are answered by interviews with representatives of West Sweden and certain Värmland members of that organization. The results of the interviews were then analyzed based on a fusion perspective, which addresses various indicators for regional action. The results of the study show that the West Sweden regional office can assume a clearer role in regional influencing, but also that Region Värmland plays an important role in influencing the EU. In order for Värmland as a region to continue to be able to influence the supranational level forthcoming, its municipalities need to raise their awareness of what the EU does.