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Preparations for the EU's post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework have brought increased interest to the functional approach as a major paradigm of the EU policies towards cross-border areas. This approach aims to focus cross-border programmes on territories where there is a high degree of cross-border interaction. Cross-border functional areas (CBFAs) can be a potential instrument for this, fostering further reduction of cross-border barriers and enhancing flows of people, goods, materials and knowledge. However, certain aspects of this notion are rather vague. This includes both the way how to turn the rather discursive concept of the CBFA into more material-institutional practices, and how CBFAs can be identified in practice to successfully implement the EU's cohesion policy. This paper debates the concept of the CBFA and proposes understanding CBFAs as spatially specific territorial complexes, located on two (or more) sides of a state border(s) that are not defined by administrative borders, but by cross-border functional linkages, a system of cooperative relationships and the existence of governance mechanisms. The paper proposes a novel approach for CBFA's identification based on a four-level model, taking into account the selected criteria. The proposed framework enabled to identify CBFAs and potential CBFAs at the borders of Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a growing number of institutional mapping approaches has reflected on border regions' development. These approaches visualise the relationship between institutional and spatial patterns. In parallel, the quality and quantity of cooperation-related information in the EU KEEP database (DB) is continuously increasing. The aim of our paper is two-fold. Firstly, we aim to understand the cooperation dynamics and funding geographies of the recent INTERREG A period. We do so with the example of cross-border programmes with German participation. More concretely, we scrutinise the relationships that exist between the spatial configurations of funded project cooperation, the involved thematic topics and the role of territorial contexts, particularly in terms of the degree of urbanisation and distance to a border. Secondly, we reflect on the potential and limitations of institutional mapping based on KEEP data. Specifically, we explore the explanatory capacity of institutional mappings based on KEEP data and discuss the blind spots that must be considered and how these could be addressed. The general conclusion from our paper is that institutional mapping based on the KEEP DB proves to be a strong data exploration tool with potential for comparative analyses. However, it has clear limitations with regard to causality testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the notion of spatial justice has been discussed as a possible conceptual foundation for rethinking EU Cohesion Policy. While scholars have adopted a dual distributive and procedural understanding of spatial justice, the paper argues that, applied to cross-border areas, such a conceptualisation is challenged to explain how the border contributes to disparities. We argue that actively questioning the role of law is paramount for better examination of the dynamics within border areas. An understanding of spatial justice informed by legal geography allows examination of how law fosters and impedes movement across borders. The paper presents three recent examples where policy representatives from affected communities have fought to adapt legal provisions to cross-border spatiality. Whether such initiatives increased border communities' capacities to shape their own development (i.e. European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) or not yet (i.e. co-development at the Lorraine-Luxembourg border; European Cross-Border Mechanism), these examples show that analysing EUropean borderlands as a spatio-legal category helps understanding of how space and law constantly struggle with one another, and how spatial justice emerges from a movement out of this conflict. The paper concludes by discussing the practical and conceptual implications of combining legal geography and spatial justice for analysing EU Borderlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores the unresolved issue in regional planning of whether small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefit from being located in border regions in terms of cross-border cooperation opportunities and cross-border externalities. By systematically reviewing the existing literature on the topic with the help of a mapping review, it suggests the following answer: SMEs in border regions do benefit from cross-border cooperation opportunities. However, there is no strong empirical support of a prevalence of positive cross-border externalities. Rather, the review finds that SMEs in border regions are influenced by negative cross-border externalities. Since the results do not point in a clear-cut direction, given their high degree of context-specificity, we claim that further studies on the topic are necessary to combine the established knowledge on SME-based entrepreneurship with planning theories and concepts taken from the literature on borders, border asymmetries and border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European border regions have witnessed a long history of remarkable mobility shocks stemming from complex ecological and economic changes and geopolitical events. The experience of near-continuous regional and global crisis has increased interest towards the idea of resilience, that is, the ability of communities and regions to adapt and cope with disturbances and transitions. Inspired by the literature of regional resilience and the evolutionary approach, this paper will examine the difference that borders and geopolitical conditions make from the perspective of regional resilience and especially 'border-regional resilience'. Particular focus will be on irregular cross-border mobilities and consequent transitions in EU external and internal border towns, here the Finnish towns of Lappeenranta and Tornio. The study points out that the geopolitical environment and the openness of the border partly determine the regional development trajectories and the ways of coping with cross-border mobility-related changes. Although the border location entails some vulnerability, formal and informal cross-border institutions and relations of trust are of crucial importance from the perspective of border-regional resilience. The paper proposes a research agenda for studying border-regional resilience in the context of environmental, economic and social changes and geopolitical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of spending, Cohesion Policy appears unable to fully address growing national disparities and increasing 'roll-out' nationalism. In the present study we discuss regional effects of 'fuzzy' policy concepts, such as EU's policy for Territorial Cohesion, in Central European borderlands from a stakeholder perspective. Identifying how key policy documents have framed the discussion of Territorial Cohesion, we furthermore demonstrate the differing ways regional stakeholders have interpreted this vision. By showing how multiple translations have produced dynamics that create a circular process, we conclude that this process leads towards non-comparable outcomes, increased misunderstanding, while fuelling EU scepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven years after the accession of Poland and the Czech Republic into the European Union (EU) the intensity and the quality of cross-border cooperation along the new internal borders are still lagging behind. The physical barriers have been removed with the Schengen Agreement coming into force in 2007. However, the legal, institutional and mental barriers of cross-border cooperation still persist. Cross-border cooperation in spatial planning is often discontinuous and does not meet the expectations of the concerned parties. At the same time, the political pressure to cooperate is high and considerable financial means are available for territorial cooperation in the EU Structural Funds period of 2007-2013. On the basis of three case studies in the area of the German-Polish border, the paper illustrates that there is a lack of knowledge and deficient competences for cross-border cooperation in municipalities and regional administrations. Impeding and supporting factors for cooperation have been identified. It has been proven that institutional capacity among the cooperating partners is crucial. The paper presents recommendations on how to design and manage cross-border communications to achieve transboundary strategy development for efficient and sustainable regional development in Central Europe's border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper formulates the necessity of developing a new territorial culture, built from the complex and dynamic concept of landscape and geared towards the formulation of strategies for development and feasibility. This approach, based on the European Landscape Convention, requires a transdisciplinary perspective, and even though it's still novel, it's not only appropriate, but can be considered essential for some European rural cross-border territories marked by important economic and demographic problems, whose viability, in a globalization context, depends on the search for developmental alternatives and the creation of new territorial networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border cooperation, border regions, soft spaces? This special issue approaches cross-border informal planning processes in cross-border regions by analysing them from a perspective that combines networks, governance and territorialization. Such a relational perspective will be developed by papers which deal with a variety of European cross-border regions and empirical evidence related to the nexus of networks, governance and territorialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to structurally analyse the role of tourism in regional development processes in European cross-border regions with different historical development paths. Departing from an institutional perspective, the research is based on comparison of the position of tourism in region-building processes in the newly developing German–Czech cross-border region and the more ‘mature’ German–Belgian borderlands. Results indicate that the development of local cross-border tourism projects is no guarantee for positive destination-wide regional development impacts. In some cases, these projects may even reinforce asymmetrical socio-economic development directions of neighbouring borderlands. Rather, the socio-spatially equitable distribution of tourism benefits in cross-border contexts depends on several process-based aspects. These include the presence of ‘thick’ (cross-border) institutional arrangements, multi-scalar representation of tourism stakeholders in decision-making processes and a transversal position of tourism in regional development strategies. However, both with cross-border institutional ‘under-mobilization’ (Germany–Czech Republic) and with institutional ‘over-mobilization’ (Germany–Belgium), the informal network position of institutional brokers proved key for safeguarding the integrative character of tourism in the inevitably complex cross-border region-building process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010 and the launch of the METROBORDER project, funded by ESPON, Luxembourg and the neighbouring regions in Belgium, France and Germany have pursued the objective of creating a cross-border polycentric metropolitan region. In order to achieve this goal, the political actors have decided to elaborate a cross-border territorial strategy to bring more coherence and cohesion to a cross-border region characterized by its strong functional integration, due to the very high number of cross-border commuters. This paper reflects the approach that we have followed, as external advisors, to animate the debate between the stakeholders and to provide evidence for the decision-making process. Its objective is to examine the content of this cross-border territorial strategy and to question whether such a strategy between four countries is at all possible, efficient and able to answer to challenges of cross-border integration. An analytical framework has been designed, taking into consideration different approaches of cross-border integration, in order to examine, in a critical way, the content of the cross-border strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Border regions have multi-layered and complex network structures consisting of transnational flows with spatial, social and administrative constraints. Despite these constraints, the cross-border relationships formed by the actors of these regions for different purposes create multiplex networks. This study conducts a comparative analysis of flows in border regions by extending the single network approach to a multiplex network approach and carries the subject of the border regions to an interdisciplinary perspective since it covers international relations, governance, local policy, regional concepts, as well as socio-spatial analysis. It contributes to a better understanding of these spatially and administratively bounded regions by developing a framework with two main dimensions: structure of relations and relational patterns. The socio-spatial relations in the external border of the European Union (Greece and Bulgaria) with Turkey are analyzed and the structural features as complex systems are discovered by topological and morphological understanding of complex networks. The findings highlight the significance of the multiplex dynamics of border region networks, which are more than the sum of single layer dynamics and help to better understand complex relations at the aggregate network level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border commuters were faced with several problems during the Covid-19 pandemic. Borders were closed, strict checks were introduced thereon and their commuting and often working realities changed. This study focuses on how closed borders and border restrictions affected cross-border workers and their day-to-day work during the Covid-19 pandemic, how their trust in governments and regional municipalities in Czechia and Germany has changed as a result of covidfencing, and how measures during the Covid-19 pandemic changed commuters' attitudes towards the EU, freedoms and the European single market. Theoretically, the study is rooted in the concept of cross-border integration and the research itself was conducted this spring in the form of semi-structured interviews among cross-border commuters. Research shows a criticism expressed by cross-border commuters towards the attitude of the Czech government and regional municipalities. The commuters argue that they merely use open borders and the opportunity to work within the EU, but that the Czech government and regions have disproportionately prevented them from doing so while turning public sentiment against them. According to them, it is disappointing that Czechia in particular has ignored the fact that they have valid employment contracts within the EU and are obliged to abide by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycentricity describes a certain region by the relationship of a selection of its most central spatial entities. We identify two sources of shortcomings in measures of polycentricity: the delineation of the region under study and the number of units considered within it. Both bear the risk of manufacturing polycentricity before measuring it, the first by setting borders between regions, the latter by distinguishing 'central' and 'peripheral.' Building on a literature review, which traces these challenges in debates on polycentricity, we empirically investigate their impact for two German cases. The study utilizes rank-size analysis based on employment (morphological) and commuting (functional), to assess polycentricity and compare it over cases and dimensions. By varying scales and units considered, we extend the regular scope of analysis and uncover differences strengthening an interpretation of polycentricity as an ambiguous concept. This challenges descriptions and comparisons resting on clear-cut borders and 'center' definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the interplay of territorial cooperation, national boundaries and supraregionalist institution-building with special focus on the EU legal instrument of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC). After its introduction in 2006, the EGTC triggered a new push for a post-national Europe of the (cross-border) regions under a supranational roof. As a supraregionalist institution it pledged to provide competences to territorial authorities underneath the nation-state for autonomous territorial governance. Yet, despite the fact that the EGTC relies on an EU regulation, the applicable law in practice is still very much based on national jurisdiction. Moreover, recent renationalization processes also contribute to further rebordering so that national boundaries could be felt in different aspects of territorial governance. The research article, thence, investigates which specific boundaries that occur on national level between EU member states are 'down-scaled'/'downloaded' towards the subnational (regional or local) level in the field of territorial governance. For this purpose, two EGTC projects with German participation will be scrutinized: the German–French EGTC Eurodistrict SaarMoselle and the German–Polish EGTC TransOderana. The analysis discloses the specific boundaries that either intentionally or unintentionally hinder cross-border governance processes and even impede successful EGTC foundation like in the case of the TransOderana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article debates the concept of border area and identifies a number of factors which should be considered when delimiting cross-border areas for policy implementation (CBAPI). These include historical, spatial, demographic, cultural, data, institutional, economic, infrastructural and environmental factors. The relevance of this debate for the border studies is twofold. Firstly, it covers a void in existing literatures, thus adding a valuable conceptual contribution to the delimitation of cross-border areas. Secondly, it provides a concrete theoretical platform for interested entities such as the European Commission to appropriately delimit CBAPI, for programmes like the INTERREG-A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border cooperation (CBC) serves as a tool to combat peripherality of border regions and integrate formerly disconnected borderlands. Resting on the principles of partnership and multi-level governance, CBC activities are deemed by the European Union (EU) to include local/regional authorities, economic and social partners at various stages of the cooperation process. Even at the EU's external borders, where EU regional development principles of CBC are endorsed in an often uneasy combination with external policy principles, joint cross-border administrative arrangements and regional programme designs have been introduced through successive administrative reforms. Analysing the preparations for the European Neighbourhood Instrument Karelia CBC (2014–2020), it is argued that in order to promote regional development goals the priorities of CBC programmes should be in line with the aims of local/regional stakeholders, which requires resilient consultation and participatory processes throughout the programming cycle. Participant observation of the Finnish–Russian Karelia CBC programme preparations helped the authors pinpoint achievements and weaknesses of current joint programming solutions and investigate ways in which the partnership principle is put into practice in the preparatory processes. In the current political climate, it is interesting to note that CBC was not included by the EU or Russia in sanctions/countersanctions that were the result of the crisis in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]