Forget the policy gap: why local governments really decide to take part in cross-border cooperation initiatives in Europe

Abstract

The article investigates the motivations of European local governments to join formalized cooperation initiatives between sub-national authorities, referred to as Euroregions. Micro-level comparative empirical data are brought forward to argue against the European Union portrayal of Euroregions as primarily responding to local or regional policy problems that cannot be dealt with within the national contexts, expressed as “filling the gaps.” Instead, the paper contends that local government engagement mainly derives from normative beliefs, and when instrumental expectations appear, they are grant-driven rather than policy-driven. The empirical data consist of material generated by 136 interviews with mayors of local governments in six Euroregions, located at three national borders (Sweden/Norway, Hungary/Slovakia and Austria/Germany). Qualitative data from these interviews are used to investigate assumptions, beliefs, and practices underpinning Euroregional membership.

Keywords:

• cross-border cooperation
• local government cooperation
• European integration
• Euroregions

Acknowledgements

This article could not have been written without the many discussions I had with Gergő Medve-Bálint during my years as PhD student at Central European University, Budapest. I am also grateful to Dr Andrew Cartwright, who as supervisor urged me to keep asking questions. Useful feedback on an earlier version of this article was provided by participants in the panel “Local perspective on Europe” at the University Association for Contemporary European Studies Annual Conference, held in Leeds, UK, 2–4 September 2013. In addition, I acknowledge a grant from the Central European University for enabling fieldwork for this article.