Agenda

M
7
14
21
28
T
1
8
15
22
29
W
2
9
16
23
30
T
3
10
17
24
F
4
11
18
25
S
5
12
19
26
S
6
13
20
27

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CoesioNet launches a call for papers to researchers and experts on the cohesion in Europe.

 

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Cross-border dynamics

Cross-border dynamics

“Cross-border dynamics”are the focus of our third group’s attention. The aim of this group is to examine the capacity of various actors, located at various levels of the European edifice, to sustain common places by means of policies that are effective only on condition of reciprocity and adjustment. The territorialized dimension of action is essential here (as is also the case, for that matter, for the first two groups). Examination of cross-border dynamics takes as its object not only cooperation between actors but also synergy between developmental instruments and policies. This raises questions concerning both the relevance of the obstacles that remain within the EU (in particular those of a fiscal nature) and its frontiers. Policy in regards to new neighbors is for this reason privileged, as are relations with its counterpart to the south, the Union for the Mediterranean. The aim here is to assess the EU’s capacity to intervene when it is not able to use the tool of policy conditionality and so must find other means of negotiation to reach original consensus. In addition to its status as a policy objective, economic, social and territorial cohesion is an instrument that needs fine-tuning via harmonization of all available tools.

 

Issues Addressed by the Group

 

  • Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration:

The difficulties encountered in European territorial cooperation (rupture of cohesion along borders, differential treatment in many domains from one country to the next) are indicative of the delays and procrastination bedeviling the project of European integration. How are existing tools (in particular, European territorial cooperation) to be better used in the service of a strategy of integration?

Cross-Border Dynamics as Regards the Knowledge Economy:

The operation of territories featuring business clusters raises the question of how they will be connected together into a network. How (with what tools and form of governance) is this mode of transnational cooperation, whether cross-border or macro-regional in form, to be promoted?

Macro-Regions:

What justifies delimiting a transnational territory (integrating portions of the territories of various states) in order to build a shared development strategy there? Historical, sociological and political reasons? The type and extent of common issues? Which of these considerations triggers a macro-regional dynamic? What are the main ingredients of its success?

  • Cooperation along the Union’s External Borders:

Developmental and cohesion discontinuities along the borders of the Union have important consequences within it (immigration, energy provision, commerce, etc.). What policy should be developed on the basis of the experience of ENPI/cohesion policy if neighboring countries are to be treated on an equal footing in practical terms, thereby avoiding systematically thinking in terms of enlargement?

See the programme of the 2010-2011 workshops of the group in pdf format.