Regional organisations and their resources

This chapter investigates the resources available to regional organisations, in particular budgets and personnel, and how these resources impact the ability of regional organisations to act as agents of integration. Previous research has given relatively little attention to the practical input side of regional integration. This chapter addresses this gap by examining the diversity of funding and staffing modalities, which exhibit significant variation rather than convergence towards specific models. Regional organisations generally seek financial independence and budget autonomy to establish a capable civil service, with some proposing the use of regional levies or taxes as a direct source of income. External funding, common in the Global South, creates specific challenges such as conflicting loyalties and unequal treatment for regional staff. The higher regional budgets become, the more they are prone to politicisation, for instance by giving more influence to regional bureaucrats or spurring increased interference from member states and donors. The chapter illustrates the diversity of resources among regional organisations through cases from various regions and highlights the need for basic knowledge in order to better understand the institutionalisation, professionalisation, and agency of regionalism.