Political commitment and transparency as a critical factor to achieve territorial cohesion and sustainable growth. European cross‐border projects and strategies

Abstract

Political commitment and transparency have been previously identified as critical factors for territorial success, as well as factors which allow the achievement of stronger cohesion and sustainable growth of cross-border cooperation projects and strategies. The present study is aimed at a more thorough analysis of these factors. Throughout the analysis and assessment of the European CBC case studies, where political commitment has been defined as a critical factor, political and economic transparency plays a key role. This analysis, which incorporates public and technical opinions, provides a better comprehension on how these factors influence the European panorama. It includes the key messages for policy-makers when designing and implementing development strategies specifically tailored to the needs of these places.

Identifying Processes of Smart Planning, Governance and Management in European Border Cities. Learning from City-to-City Cooperation (C2C)

“…Interest in the work of these commissions was increased by participating in the EC Interreg program and by abolishing border controls at the Rhine border". Besides, in this specific case, some other factors also played a key role, as the example of the political commitment factor [59,60].…”

Effectiveness and impact of cross‐border cooperation programmes in the perception of beneficiaries. Investigation of 2007–2013 Romania–Ukraine–Moldova programmes

“…Through ENPI, the cross‐border co‐operation was framed on the principles of the EU’s territorial co‐operation model adapted to EU’s external co‐operation. Subsequently, the CBC programmes represent an unique co‐operation mechanism between the EU and its neighbours, based on: balanced partnership on both sides of the border, thus the EU and the partner having an equal say in the programme decisions and projects receive funding only if they are implemented by partners on both sides; management entrusted to a local—or national—authority in a member state, jointly selected by all countries participating in the programme; and a common legal framework and implementation rules (Bechev & Nicolaidis, 2010; Castanho, Vulevic, Cabezas, Loures, & Kurowska‐Pysz, 2019; Way, 2005).…”

Borderlands from the resilience perspective: Diversification of state borders in former Austrian Galicia

“…We argue that the regional data does not need to reflect the situation of the borderland itself since it does not include (and cannot because of the difference in data organization) the context of transnational links (cf. Castanho et al, 2019;Prokkola, 2019). Even though we assume that economic or disaster resilience is something different from cultural resilience all those phenomena are cultural reactions to different kinds of risks and dangers.…”