Article

 

Frontier Regions of the European Union: The National State and the European Union as significant factors to the function of local communities (p.75-87)

by

Trifonas Kostopoulos, Panteion University

Keywords : local communities, national state, European Union regions

JEL classification : H7, N9, P1, P2

Abstract

This article investigates how the National State functions as a member of the European Union in respect to social minorities. Especially, it is examined whether the National Government can resolve the problem of social minorities by itself or can it be more easily handled within the framework of European integration. From this point of view we deal with the case of the Greek National State, which is part of the European Union of the “27”. The analysis presents the economic and other social characteristics of the region of Thrace. We examine the decentralized policy of the government, through the institution of the local self-government, along with the politics of the European Union concerning those social minorities.