The Great Devolution of Powers Bazaar

The Scottish and Catalan referendum processes of 2014 are being closely watched by independence-minded movements elsewhere in Europe - e.g. 'Euskadi' (the Basque Country), Flanders, Corsica, and the northern Italian region of Padania - as bellwethers of their prospects. However, the risk is fairly small that these other separatist movements will dismember EU member states.

Nevertheless, they signal that the process of constitutional adjustment ('devolution', 'Estado de las Autonomías', 'regionalismo', 'federalisation') is an instrument for recognising and accommodating, rather than transcending, national diversity in certain EU member states. After all, democracy and self-determination are ongoing processes.

• Primary Source

Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/

ESO: Scottish independence referendum, 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/scottish-independence-referendum-2014/

ESO: Background information: Catalan self-determination referendum http://www.europeansources.info/record/catalan-self-determination-referendum/

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