Cross-border cooperation is recognised as an important aspect of regional development and especially EU cohesion policy. Policy effectiveness depends on how well programmes are suited to different border regional contexts. This essay analyses the factors that shape cooperation by comparing the Polish-German and Polish-Slovak border regions. Particular emphasis is placed on the cultural factors that set these two regions apart. The essay reveals that close-knit networks across the Polish-Slovak border promote successful policy definition and implementation. At the same time, the absence of such networks across the Polish-German border has led to a high degree of policy innovation.
CROSS-BORDERCOOPERATION IS WIDELY RECOGNISED AS PLAYING an important role in regional development concepts. Cooperation is useful in coordinating policy and jointly exploiting common development potentials. Some border regions are seen as handicapped by their peripheral location and because national borders tend to hinder flows of trade, information and people (Anderson et al. 2003; Bufon 2003). In such a context, competent cross-border cooperation can help to create synergies, provide networking opportunities and give development impulses. It is for these reasons that cooperation is increasingly important in EU cohesion policy (Mirwaldt et al. 2009); since the start of the 2007-2013 funding period, cross-border cooperation has been funded by the EU as one of the fundamental objectives of cohesion policy, European Territorial Cooperation. Because territorial
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