Europe 2020 and its success are heavily dependent on the implementation of the strategy at national and regional level. In a multilevel governance system such as the EU, various actors at all levels are decisive for the realisation of the headline targets. While analyses have been conducted to assess the performance of member states in meeting the targets, little is known about how local and regional authorities and their involvement contribute to the strategy. Therefore, this chapter examines the role of local and regional authorities in implementing Europe 2020. The results demonstrate that the greater the involvement of local and regional authorities, the better member states perform in achieving the national targets. This applies especially to policy areas where local and regional actors have more extensive competencies. The results further illustrate that the potential and room for political entrepreneurs to shape policies is highest at the regional level.
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