In the light of the Schengen Agreement border checks at the EU internal borders have largely been abolished. Thirty years after the signature of this agreement, Europe faces “refugee crisis” (EC 2016). After recent events such as the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, some countries decided to re-establish border controls. What are the impacts of the reintroduction of these border controls from a spatial perspective? To answer this question, the authors propose a synthetic literature review on conceptual tools for analyzing the reintroduction of border controls and link these with a set of empirical findings. The focus is on the Greater Region, a cross-border region where functional flows are important.
In order to analyze the importance of national borders for spatial identities in border regions, a multidimensional analysis model will be developed. Using the example of the SaarLorLux Greater Region, both the representation of space and the organization of the everyday practices of the residents of the region as well as the spatial projections in political discourses are examined. It becomes clear that, despite cross-border interdependencies, national borders play an important role in the residents’ processes of identification with and identification by/of. However, they are not regarded as rigid categories.
At the heart of the Greater Region Saar-Lor-Lux, the development of a border-crossing labor force has been met with a diversification of its forms, including cross-border temporary labor. Temp-work agencies have begun to play an important role as intermediaries in these cross-border spaces, privileging the development of particular forms of employment and taking advantage of the different social and fiscal legislation characterizing different jurisdictions, all the while contributing to the recruitment of a cross-border labor-force.
