I do have to disagree with this here tidbit: "If not, it shouldn't hurt either, should it?". I think it might. There is a bit problem with federalism and handing out responsibilities to smaller regions ad-nauseum. That's to say, there is a problem when the regions don't talk to each other and don't cooperate. That's where the actual federal state should come in to play, it should a) provide a forum for the regions to cooperate on ALL relevant matters, and b) make the bastards cooperate.

I saw something rather trivial on the news a while back. A small river on the flanders-wallonia border. On one river bank, fishing is strictly forbidden. On the other side, it's allowed. Any sane person sees that this is completely and utter madness, but that's exactly what happens when governments don't communicate.

This isn't just a flanders vs wallonia thing, this includes all adjacent regions. There have been problems with the strong contrast in drug laws on the Dutch border, for instance. Europe is far too big and bureaucratic to give a toss about a couple of potheads, so it should fall to regional administrations to deal with it, imho.