The spatiality of trust in EU external cross-border cooperation

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that effective cross-border cooperation (CBC) networks closely interrelate with the building of ‘trust’ between actors. The aim is to contribute to the CBC literature by investigating the different forms of trust, their spatial attributes and impact on actor relations in the context of the Finnish–Russian European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) of CBC. The paper applies a specific spatial approach by identifying the territorial and relational aspects of four different forms of trust: rational-personal decisions, social-cultural understanding, general-personal interactions and the historical–institutional environment. The analysis, based on policy documents and semi-structured interviews with relevant Finnish ENI CBC actors, shows that the study of transnational cooperation networks benefits from a conceptualization of trust recognizing its spatial characteristics. The study concludes that sub-national actors are key agents in the formation and maintenance of trust. These actors negotiate with socio-cultural differences through the development of personal relationships which increase social capital in the actor–network. However, the cooperation network is vulnerable towards geopolitical circumstances affecting foreign relations. The paper demonstrates that Finnish ENI CBC actors are operating in a transnational network in which their activities are challenged by territorial constraints such as national border-crossing regulations.

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-border cooperation
• Finnish–Russian border
• trust
• spatiality
• territoriality

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express her gratitude to Prof. Anssi Paasi and Dr Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola who provided their time to give feedback and comments for previous drafts of this article. Furthermore, the author wishes to thank Fredriika Jakola for helpful suggestions and fruitful discussions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Distribution of lead partners: Karelia ENPI CBC: 43 (FI)/23 (RU); Kolarctic ENPI CBC: 25 (FI)/8 (NO)/6 (SW)/12 (RU); South-East Finland – Russia ENPI CBC: 36 (FI)/19 (RU). Source: Keep.eu. (2017).

2 The Technical Aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States was a programme established by the European Commission to support 12 Eastern European and Central Asian countries in their transition towards a democratic form of government and a market-oriented economy. From 2007, this programme has been replaced by the ENPI.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant number 307348) and supported by the CoE RELATE.