On the added value of cross-border co-operation: The view from EUBORDERREGIONS

While the concept of CBC is not new, it is the context of post-Cold War change that has elevated CBC to the paradigmatic status it now enjoys. ‘De-bordering’ within the enlarged European Union and new cross-border relations in Central and Eastern Europe indicate that not only states but citizens, communities and regions have chosen to open new avenues of communication with their neighbours across nation- al boundaries. Furthermore, in those contexts where states have (re) gained their independence and new borders have emerged, Eurore- gions, cross-border city partnerships and similar co-operation vehi- cles have also come into being. CBC within the EU and at the EU’s external borders aim at managing issues that transcend the confines of individual communities, issues such as social affairs, economic devel- opment, minority rights, cross-border employment and trade, and the environment. CBC also involves attempts to exploit borderland situa- tions, using borders as a resource for economic and cultural exchange as well as for building political coalitions for regional development purposes.

If the practice of CBC has been a long-standing element of the EU’s border politics as a means of consolidating political community, it has been employed vis-à-vis neighbouring states in order to enhance the EU’s external role as both a stabilizing and a transformative force in post-Soviet and Mediterranean regional contexts. Announced with much fanfare in 2003, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) promised a new dimension in regional co-operation and interstate re- lations between the EU and its direct neighbours to the east and south. The geopolitical vision that underlies the EU’s concept of Neighbour- hood is that of ‘privileged partnership’; that is, of a special, multifac- eted and mutually beneficial relationship with the EU. A further  indication of this are the roles attributed to civil society and CBC. In particular, the strengthening of a ‘civil society dimension’ within the Neighbourhood context has been promulgated by the European Com- mission, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Some evidence for the redoubled efforts of the EU to promote co-operation with its immediate neighbours is provided by ENPI.

The project EUBORDERREGIONS has shed critical light on how related CBC at the EU’s external borders functions in practice. Our research confirms that the EU has attempted to create new contexts for social development, economic growth and innovation. In addition, CBC has been framed as a region-building process across borders. The EU’s political uses of borders, moreover, have been highly idealistic, despite the complex practical agenda of Cohesion and Neighbour- hood policies within which co-operation discourses are embedded. A central logic of Interreg and other support mechanisms of CBC has been the creation of new communities of interest and geographically flexible networks, and to break down territorial/administrative con- straints to the exchange of ideas. It is perhaps not an exaggeration that the EU has envisaged a project of European construction through the transcendence of local particularisms and boundaries. However, this idealistic element of the EU’s border politics coexists uncomfortably with the Realpolitik of implementation. CBC within the EU is embed- ded in Cohesion Policy and is highly territorialised: spatially defined indicators, goals, remits and responsibilities create their own barriers to interaction. At the same time, national implementation of Cohesion Policy remains guided by a fixation on physical investment and devel- opment and not on the development of co-operative networks across borders. As a result, different border logics inform the EU’s politics of borders.

Based on fieldwork and interaction with stakeholders our research raises a number of issues of particular policy relevance.

• Understanding the border as a resource. It is clear that national contexts and the gaps between them still very much influence policy- oriented behaviours at the national and subnational levels. Despite three decades of support, CBC is by no means a self-evident resource for territorial development; it is also not a process that can be un- derstood as inherently ‘rational’, based on common-sense economic, social and/or cultural logics. The informal economy appears to un- derstand the border quite well, but formal governance structures of- tentimes do not, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and in neighbouring countries. One reason for this is the lack of incentives and (still) high transaction costs that are associated with CBC. As a result of this situation, we have observed in EUBORDERREGIONS that stakeholders generally affirm the desirability of CBC but that actual implementation remains patchy.

• Critically interpreting CBC as filling gaps in Cohesion and Neigh- bourhood Policies. Our research reflects tensions between realist regional policy concerns related to national development and more idealistic policy imperatives that seek to create alternative, border- transcending territorial contexts for regional policy. Cohesion policies and ENP are nationally oriented and highly territorial. Furthermore, funding and policy marginality affects CBC at  the external  borders –  where we also find the poorest border regions – to a much greater degree; here, co-operation networks are highly localized and not well developed. Generally, some parts of ‘core Europe’ do much better in this respect. Sustainability and a high degree of self-referentiality have been achieved, for example, in the Dutch–German case even if fund- ing is low.

• Highlighting the dilemma of ‘hard’ versus ‘soft’ development fac- tors. The one-sided focus on ‘hard’ factors and physical investment is problematic. Regional policy tends to be positivistic, based on an ‘ob- jective’ and containerized picture of territorial conditions, assets and structural relationships. CBC, on the other hand, is highly networked, often ‘de-territorialized’ in the sense that interaction between different actors is the main driving force.

• Emphasizing the role of civil society actors. Civil society   needs to be a more important part of the ENP–Cohesion–CBC nexus. This is a rather long-term concern and reflects the problem that, despite rhetorical assurances to the contrary, actors that represent societal and community issues have very limited opportunities to access CBC pro- motion structures.

• The gaps between local-level needs and interests and the high- level (geo)politics that governs the management of borders. Rarely do border communities have the political and economic influence to negotiate special border regime conditions with central government agencies. However, a degree of local control can be achieved through local networks that create bridges across hard borders. Furthermore, and in the long term, local-level and people-to-people co-operation can play an important role in supporting the high politics of interstate dialogue.

• Drawing attention to the need for new forms of data  collection for policy purposes. Much of the basis for developing regional poli- cies is provided by quantitative and criteria-based methodological ap- proaches. The assumption underlying these traditional approaches is that regions are ‘given’ and exist objectively as spatial categories. While necessary for general policy purposes, these are broad-brush methods that ignore the social, immaterial, non-quantifiable and networked nature of territorial relations. There are methodological issues to consid- er. Many socio-spatial phenomena can only be described, explained or traced; they cannot be meaningfully measured, counted or ‘correlated’ in a positivistic manner. Studies with a ‘soft’ approach focusing on per- ceptions and representations also have the benefit that they critically challenge the researcher’s own preconceptions. Our research indicates that bordering processes serve as important sources of insight for pol- icy-relevant research on spatial planning and regional development. This is clearly most relevant in relating the significance of CBC and other flexible territorial arrangements to European Cohesion Policy.