Governance Processes in Euregios. Evidence from Six Cases across the Austrian–German Border

Abstract

Cross-border regions emerged as early as at the start of European Integration; once the European Commission initiated the Community Initiative ‘Interreg’, however, they flourished. This article presents the results of empirical studies on the six Austrian–German Euregios established within the frame of this financial incentive and the accession of Austria to the European Union (EU) in 1995. The main questions tackled focus on (a) the capability of these relatively new cross-border regions to govern their own regional spatial development matters and to establish a region and (b) the factors influencing the failure or success of these cross-border governance processes. These relatively new Euregios are thought to be capable of governing their own regional matters. This is generally possible if certain factors are clearly manifested. Such factors include the existence of a strong need for action in addition to Interreg, established social relationships and internal institutionalization. Evidence was derived from the criteria-based analysis of the data compiled; data that consisted of internal documents, secondary literature, websites, press articles and qualitative interviews conducted between 2004 and 2006.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the German National Academic Foundation for funding and the editors of Planning Practice and Research, especially Ana Maria Fernandez Maldonado and two anonymous reviewers, for their very helpful comments and support in improving the quality of the article. This final version of the article remains exclusively my responsibility.