Transnationality is a principle of carrying out an action across national border

Border

Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...

s, so as to have effects at a more general level. It is commonly referred to with reference to the actions of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU), in distinction to 'international

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

' (among national governments and controlled by them) or 'supranational' (suggesting powers delegated to a higher level of government).

According to the principle of subsidiarity

Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which...

, actions ought to be taken at the lowest level of government possible, so as to maximise democratic

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 accountability

Accountability

Accountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...

 and responsiveness to people's needs. The actions of the EU are therefore often justified by reference to 'transnational added value

Added value

Added value in financial analysis of shares is to be distinguished from value added. Used as a measure of shareholder value, calculated using the formula:...

'. This means that the lessons of the experience of one country may prove useful in another.