Opportunities for Democracy in Cross-border Regions? Lessons from the Øresund Region

Abstract

Hall P. Opportunities for democracy in cross-border regions? Lessons from the Øresund Region, Regional Studies. This article critically assesses the democratic character of cross-border regions within the European Union. Cross-border cooperation could be an experimental field for the project of making the Union more democratic through transnational partnerships, especially since large parts of cross-border policy formation are done by the local and regional authorities. The article analyses the democratic state of the Øresund Region around the Sound between Sweden and Denmark. The study demonstrates that, rather than bringing spearhead ideas of democratic organization, cross-border cooperation in the Øresund Region tends to perpetuate the problem of citizen participation within the Union. The Øresund project – and comparative evidence suggests the same pattern in other cross-border cooperations within the EU – is characterized by a relatively closed network of public agencies, chaired by a few leading politicians and senior public officials. Their strategies of regional integration emphasize individual consumption instead of public participation, and their formal representative position is unsettled. Hall P. La possibilité de relations démocratiques transfrontalières? Des leçons à tirer de la région d'Øresund, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à faire la critique du caractère démocratique des régions transfrontalières de l'Union européenne. La coopération transfrontalière pourrait s'avérer un domaine expérimental pour le projet qui cherche à rendre l'Union plus démocratique par moyen des partenariats transnationaux, surtout donné que la mise au point de la politique transfrontalière relève dans une large mesure des administrations locales et régionales. L'article analyse l'état démocratique de la région d'Øresund, délimitée par le détroit entre la Suède et le Danemark. L'étude démontre que, plutôt que d'apporter de nouvelles idées sur l'organisation démocratique, la coopération transfrontalière dans la région d'Øresund a tendance à perpétuer la question du civisme au sein de l'Union. Le projet Øresund se caractérise par un réseau relativement fermé d'agences publiques, présidées par quelques éminents hommes politiques et des hauts fonctionnaires - des preuves comparatives laissent supposer que cette même situation persiste suite à d'autres coopérations transfrontalières au sein de l'Ue. Leurs stratégies d'intégration régionale mettent l'accent sur la participation individuelle plutôt que collective, et leur position représentative officielle est instable. Démocratie Responsabilité Régions transfrontalières Région d'Øresund Interrégional Hall P. Chancen für Demokratie in grenzübergreifenden Regionen? Lektionen aus der Öresund-Region, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag werden die demokratischen Eigenschaften der grenzübergreifenden Regionen innerhalb der Europäischen Union kritisch bewertet. Eine grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit könnte ein Experimentierfeld für das Projekt bilden, die Europäische Union durc...

Disclosing the Relational Structure of Institutional Cross-border Cooperation in Two Cross-border Regions in Europe

“…In this terrain of flexible governance, cross-border cooperation arises as an exemplary multilevel policy whereby F o r P e e r R e v i e w O n l y 3 local and regional institutions use social and institutional relationships as a form of governance. But cross-border cooperation is also considered to be an experiment in European Union democracy-making (Hall, 2008) and, consequently, a laboratory for top-level governance through networks between governmental levels, citizenship and institutions. Thus, trans-boundary networks in the European Union-and even more through cross-border cooperation instruments-are of great interest in the scholarly debate and are of great relevance to policy practice (Church and Reid, 1996;Enokido, 2007;Dörryand Decoville, 2016;Dörry and Walther, 2015;Fricke, 2015;Sohn and Giffinger, 2015;Frątczak-Müller and Mielczarek-Żejmo, 2016).…”

Research Methods in European Union Studies

“…The supporting INTERREG funding-mechanism is based on a functional spill-over argument where the underlying thought is that new institutions can promote further integration in Europe and create a borderless union (EU Council regulation 1260/1999). Whereas many other Euro-regions are based on historical connections (such as, for example, the cross-border region between Romania and Moldova (Boman and Berg, 2007), or the Øresundregion (Hall, 2008)) or infrastructural interdependence (such as the regions around the Rhine), the Femern Belt region lacks these 'natural' ties and is solely based on the establishment of a combined motorway/train bridge. Moreover, the region is also characterised by encompassing two peripheral rural areas in the economic backwater of the growth regions of Europe.…”

Borders in Metropolitan Development: The Case of Vienna

“…Along with these processes, new opportunities and perspectives have emerged for economic activities and for local and regional policy actors, who try to escape the narrow confines of national policy-making. Beside other strategic endeavors, cross-border cooperation has become a crucial issue for urban-metropolitan strategies handling borders not anymore as obstacles but as chances for future development (Hall and Pain 2006;Hall 2008).…”

“…Empirical research often concentrates on cross-border situations at the regional level (Leibenath 2008;Haselsberger 2010), even for metropolitan regions (Hall and Pain 2006). However, questions about borders have gained political importance and now have received increasing attention in the respective scientific literature (Giffinger and Wimmer 2005;Hall 2008;Tatzberger 2008;Jasso 2008).…”