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B. Haselsberger:
"Key Challenges for the Future of Cross-border Regions";
Talk: Contested Regions: Territorial Politics and Policy (RSA Winter Conference), London; 2011-11-25.

Key Challenges for the Future of Cross-border Regions

Cross-border cooperation is almost as old as the Treaty of Rome, with the first (and eponymous) EUREGIO being established across the Dutch-German border in 1958 (CoE 2006). In 1980 the Council of Europe proposed what became the Madrid Convention - an international treaty signed by 20 countries and later updated with two additional protocols - as a first step towards cross-border cooperation structures based on public law (Haselsberger & Benneworth 2011). Finally, thanks to the European Community funding initiative INTERREG (set up in 1990) cross-border cooperation became quite common throughout Europe. Since that time European cooperation projects, mostly funded by INTERREG, have provided a real opportunity for many countries to more effectively tackle issues with transnational impacts (as in the case of transnational transport infrastructure or water and air pollution) and hence require - or at least benefit from - coherent management across national borders (Haselsberger 2010). The most recent milestone regarding cross-border cooperation activities in Europe is the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), a European legal instrument allowing different institutional levels from different nation-states to set up cooperation groupings with a legal personality based on a new form of multi-level governance.

As has been demonstrated here briefly, the European Community/Union has made a substantial effort in enabling cross-border cooperation activities, by providing on the one hand financial support programmes and on the other, institutional frameworks to address `border effects´ and the `costs of non-coordination´; in other words to assist those regions located adjacent to a national border to overcome their particular geographical disadvantages. But the process of building up a common agenda among competing interests [which according to Dühr & Nadin (2007) are often characterised by political rivalries, historic differences and the importance of market forces in directing economic growth] across traditional administrative boundaries throughout Europe is still unsatisfactory (Healey 2007). Hence, it could be argued that despite many years of European integration and considerable financial support for cross-border cooperation programmes, spatial issues are still largely perceived through the lens of national and regional concerns and that `few, if any, border regions are truly integrated, despite the removal of border controls and increasing interdependencies of housing and labour markets´ (Dühr et al. 2010, pp.388-9).

This cross-border cooperation paradox raises many questions which this paper aims to address and in so doing provides valuable insights into how to deal more effectively with the evolving challenges faced by cross-border regions. The border itself - the root cause of the problem - is taken as a starting point to assess some of the approaches and trends in terms of cross-border cooperation but also in terms of the wider context of EU cohesion policy that is emerging out of this process. Despite being a context-specific heterogeneous delimitation element, borders share some common characteristics regarding their functions, roles and meanings, which they have been equipped with over the years. The paper aims to provide a unique insight into the complex concept of borders by revealing their often nuanced and underestimated impacts on space in general and cross-border cooperation activities in particular. It highlights borders as ambiguous human constructions, comprising an overlapping set of boundaries (including geographic, political, social, cultural or economic) which are constantly in flux (more than might be imagined at first sight). Given the fact that borders not only constitute social units, but are also dependent on the nature of the reciprocity within the unit, different border discourses (from planning and policy as well as sociology) are introduced and discussed. The discussion further emphasis, that borders assist not only the building up but also the maintenance of a society´s´ culture and consequently identity. In so doing attention is drawn to the cultural significance and necessity of bordering, by questioning at the same time how far belonging to one social group or society may favour the interests and opinions of in-group members (inclusiveness) over out-group members (exclusiveness) and as a consequence hamper cross-border cooperation activities. Building on evidence from different cross-border regions throughout Europe (in particular from the Austrian-Slovakian border region) the paper also showcases that in particular where there is a fundamental split in interests between the involved cooperation partners, borders can facilitate the emergence of generic stereotypes as well as mental boundaries. This and other problems of cross-border regions which create static barriers and dynamic tensions, such as differences in mindsets or differences in territorial visions, are taken as a starting point to discuss the question of how far `irrational emotions´ (deriving from borders) affect the quality and success of `rational cross-border cooperation processes and practices´.

References:
COE (Council of Europe) (2006) Practical guide to transfrontier co-operation. Available at: http://www.espaces-transfrontaliers.org/en/studies/practical_guide_en.pdf (accessed June 2011).
DÜHR, St.; NADIN, V. (2007) Europeanization through transnational territorial cooperation? The case of INTERREG IIIB North-West Europe. Planning Practice and Research, Vol. 22(3), pp.373-394.
DÜHR, St.; COLOMB, C.; NADIN, V. (2010) European Spatial Planning and Territorial Cooperation. Routledge.
HASELSBERGER, B. (2010) Reshaping Europe. Borders´ Impact on Territorial Cohesion. Vienna University of Technology: Unpublished PhD Thesis.
HASELSBERGER, B.; BENNEWORTH, P. (2011) Cross-border Communities or Cross-border Proximity? Perspectives from the Austrian-Slovakian Border Region. In: Adams, N; et al. (Eds.) Territorial Development, Cohesion and Spatial Planning. Building on EU Enlargement. London: Routledge, pp.229-254.
HEALEY, P. (2007) Urban Complexity and Spatial Strategies: Towards a Relational Planning of our Times. London: Routledge.