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Although the European Union has gradually overcome its «federal blindness» (Landes-blindheit), the participation of peripheral territorial authorities has yet to be perfected. This paper shows a comparative study of the bottom-up participation of Lander and autonomous communities in the European Union. While the German legal system encourages and facilitates internal (or indirect) participation, in Spain, the channels of external (or direct) participation essentially prevail. After exposing the existing ways of participation in both States, a critical conclusion is drawn to evaluate the interest and adaptation of the mechanisms and responses of one system in the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]