THE BOOK
OF THE MONTH

Andreas Schwab
DEVOLUTION - THE ASYMMETRICAL ORDER OF THE UK-STATE

Regionalism is not only a matter in the E.U., but also for the Franco-German relationship. Therefore, the devolution legislation is of special interest, as the British state reform might also open a new constitutional path in the E.U. The book identifies the "constitutional" nature of the devolution legislation in the United Kingdom. Taking a historical approach, it firstly refers to the basements of the United Kingdom as a coming together of different nations. It is shown that the Union-state, although partly making different arrangements for its component nations, has developed alongside the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, a doctrine which is completely unfamiliar with the sharing of competence. The main part of the book deals with the details of the devolution acts for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the creation of regional units in England. To understand the new constitutional settlement from a continental lawyer's perspective, the book finally analyses it is finally analysed how devolution organises the sharing of the different powers between the regions and the central state: Legislative, Executive, Finance and Jurisdiction. The analysis proves the asymmetrical structure of the British State. This is also shown by a comparison of devolution with the Spanish con-cept of "communidades autonomidas" and the principles of the Euro-pean Charter of Regional Self-Government. It is argued that the new "con-stitutional" order has, although being asymmetrical, quite strong federal elements and that the UK thereby follows in some way a European constitutional model.