ABSTRACT
Cross-border integration in Europe is a complex and multifaceted process, which has contrasted impacts on border regions. In order to contribute to better depict it, this paper provides, with the help of statistical indicators, a systematic and multidimensional analysis of cross-border integration along all the EU internal borders. It highlights the similarities and discrepancies that can be observed between the different European regions with regards to the intensity of cross-border practices (the functional dimension of cross-border integration), the level of mutual social trust between border populations (the ideational dimension), and the involvement of stakeholders in cross-border cooperation projects (the institutional dimension). The different patterns that emerge from this analysis show that there can be no unique cross-border cooperation strategy at the EU scale to accompany the dismantlement of EU internal borders.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Other values were also tested to approximate the average number of activities carried out on the other side of the border, in order to compare the mapping outputs and to see how influential these methodological choices can be (value of 12 for “once a month or more often“ and value of 4 for ”several times a year”). The comparison of the results obtained shows a robustness with regard to the mapping output at base 100 = max value (See Map 1).