Border Surfers and Euroregions: Unplanned Cross-Border Behaviour and Planned Territorial Structures of Cross-Border Governance

Abstract

The rise of cross-border relations is frequently linked to the decline of the nation state and the emergence of new forms of European governance. This article challenges some of the assumptions behind the policies stimulating regional cooperation along the national borders within the EU. It questions the assumption that regional cross-border governance is necessary for cross-border relations to develop. The article argues that the institutionalization of different territorial nation states with different social regulations not always hinders, but frequently stimulates cross-border relations. However, the territoriality of the EU planning practice of stimulating regional cross-border cooperation frequently hinders cross-border governance. The territorial administrative logic of cross-border cooperation and its governance drift away from the border, where cross-border behaviour is concentrated. The emergence of cross-border governance is further complicated while cross-border behaviour depends on national and international regulations outside the control of the midsized Euroregions. People living close to the border can sometimes profit from these differences. The fluid and fragmented groups of these border surfers are difficult to incorporate in the governance of territorial Euroregions. This article shows that unintended consequences of the EU planning practice of stimulating cross-border cooperation sometimes hinder the emergence of cross-border governance.

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank three anonymous referees for their constructive comments.

Notes

1. This is partly based on three field trips with Master students of the Department of Human Geography and Planning of Utrecht University. The results of these field trips were also used in a more general publication on the development of cross-border cooperation (Terlouw, 2008). The field trips used a quick scan method. After studying general literature on the border region and specific material on their topic beforehand, our students spent most of the time in the field interviewing key actors and the local population. The students did this in dozens of project groups in which they worked for 3 weeks, half of which was on location.

   The first field trip in 2000 was focused on the cross-border projects operating in the PAMINA framework. These were the INTERREG co-funded programmes on municipal cooperation, planning, education, tourism, cycling and the museums along the Rhine. Our students explored the cross-border regional processes that were addressed by these projects. Their perspective was much broader than the official project evaluation that focuses on achieving the specific goals stipulated in the INTERREG subsidy application. Other important border-related topics, such as identity and cross-border commuting were also studied. The second field trip in 2002 further elaborated different cross-border topics, such as migration, transport and cross-border experiences of the population. The role of PAMINA and the border for other administrative regions within PAMINA, such as the arrondissement Saverne and municipal cooperation, such as the Technology Region Karlsruhe were also studied. The third field trip in 2004 focused on the role of the border for businesses, citizens and the local administration in villages and towns on opposite sides of the border, covering most of the border in the PAMINA area.