Studies of the European Community typically reach for global explanations "intergovernmentalism" and "supranationalism" being the two main contenders - and mainly revolve around the Brussels core of Europe. But as Europe «europeanizes", we need to find ways of understanding the cleavages and alignments developing between and among Europe's levels and public and private actors. Drawing on historical work on center-periphery cleavages in early modern Europe, it is argued that four forms of alignment can be traced in the relations between Europe's center and peripheries: territorial consolidation, supranational/local alignments, national/local alignments and transnational coalitions. The example of european structural policy is used to illustrate the different ways in which the supranational, national and subnational actors interact.