Solving European Problems with Regional Solutions? Conceptualizing ‘the Region’ in EU Higher Education and Climate Change Policies

Understanding the EU as a Regional International Organization (RIO) raises several questions, including what the term ‘regional’ means in this designation and how the EU can be understood as a specific type of RIO. Drawing on a theoretical framework from regional geography and a legal analysis of the constitutional aspects of EU regional politics, we argue that the EU employs multiple conceptions of ‘region’ in its policymaking. In education policy, we explore how the European Higher Education Area has developed into a loose organization of higher education in Europe, drawing on multiple conceptions of ‘region’ which to an extent transcend nation-state boundaries. In climate policy, we explore how subnational regions play a role in the European Green Deal’s ‘just transition’. Both cases illustrate key dimensions of the EU as a RIO: first, that the ‘regions’ constructed in these policies ‘exceed’ their legal and political foundations (especially the assumption of a territorially-bounded, sovereign nation-state); and second, that the state is (re)constituted as a multi-scalar regional actor in EU politics. We conclude with reflections on the difference regional thinking makes to understanding the EU as a regional organization.