Governance – Power – Cooperation

The aim of this contribution was to analyse the effects of travel measures taken in light of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Free Movement, specifically concerning cross-border regions. The report provided an in-depth examination of the principle of proportionality as well as case studies on several cross-border regions were conducted.  Due to the specificalities of border regions and the great importance and habit of cross-border mobility within daily life, it was found that discoordination of national COVID-19 measures and (disproportionate) travel restrictions particularly impacted border regions.

This article proposes a systematic analysis of the Interreg IV A projects related to cross-border territorial development which were conducted along Europe's internal borders between 2007 and 2013. It reveals the diversity of the initiatives and shows that they can be separated into different categories according to whether they aim to (1) create or improve networks between actors, (2) produce territorial observations, (3) develop strategies or, finally, (4) produce tangible for the public at cross-border level.

This Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration takes up the challenge to answer these questions. It is the first encyclopedia, which combines two so far not well-interconnected interdisciplinary research fields, i.e. Border Studies and European Studies. Organized in an alphabetical order, it contains 209 articles written by 124 authors from different countries and scientific disciplines, which are accompanied by 66 maps. The articles deal with theory, terminology, concepts, actors, themes and spaces of cross-border cooperation at European borders and in borderlands of and around the European Union (EU).

Cross-border working is a phenomenon that has concerned a growing number of people in Europe since the beginning of the 2000s. Lorraine, which constitutes a large labour pool and until the recent territorial reform was the only French region with borders with three countries, is concerned by large-scale flows into Luxembourg and to a lesser extent into Germany, and therefore represents a pertinent area to study to identify the geographical and economic dimensions of cross-border working. Cross-border working is analysed as a factor in regulating the job market through its heterogeneity, but also the legal standardisation of the status of the cross-border worker.

In the face of current environmental challenges, the article analyzes the interrelated processes of commoning and b/ordering in relation to transboundary environmental commons. The author suggests a multi-scalar approach to the governance of transboundary resources and points to power relations, distribution conflicts and questions of costs and benefits for different stakeholders at intersecting scales. She emphasizes that borders are not static (geo)political configurations but administrative categories that change in relation to commoning practices performed by transboundary communities of commoning.

The objective of this detailed study on cross-border mobility between France and Belgium and more particularly between the Department of Ardennes and Wallonia was, first of all, to provide the French and Walloon public employment services with knowledge of workers' movements between the border areas of the Department of Ardennes and the provinces of Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg.

This information was intended to allow actions plans to be drawn up that would be better adapted to the characteristics and specificities of the Ardennes and Walloon employment areas in order to facilitate the geographical and professional mobility of cross-border workers, in terms of both information and advice and assistance, service provision and recruitment.

Accordingly, this work is intended, in an initial stage, to enable local stakeholders and professionals in the employment sector to have  socio-economic analysis of the Ardennes/Hainaut-Namur-Luxembourg cross-border territory, presenting the demographic specificities of the population (age, gender, educational level, level of qualification, socio-professional category, etc.) and the nature of the activity engaged in (salaried employee, employer, type of employment contract, length of contract, branch).

Secondly, the intention is to explore the issues relating to the labour market, in both its border and cross-border dimensions (characteristics, actors, demand, etc.) and in particular the question of the flows of cross-border workers, about which little was known until now on this portion of the Franco-Belgian border. The flows researched correspond to the movements of cross-border workers within the Department of Ardennes and the three Belgian province of Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg. The cross-border flows into the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are also presented in a complementary analysis.

The work then addresses the comparative study of the public employment services on either side of the border, looking at the points they have in common and their differences and taking into account the recent changes they have undergone. The question of vocational training, a corollary to the issue of job seeking, is also dealt with.
Finally, the study endeavours to review the situation with regard to the cross-border cooperation initiatives that exist on this segment of the Franco-Belgian border, focusing the analysis on employment-related projects in particular, with their successes and their limitations.

The article theorizes border-making in the context of urban development in Berlin (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary). It interprets urban borders as social institutions that emerge locally out of social relations and transform urban spaces. These bordered urban spaces serve as markers of socio-spatial distinction and are constantly (re)created and negotiated over time. Urban borders contribute to the construction of a sense of place and are created in the processes of place-making that relate to the bordering mechanism of attribution, appropriation and representation of places.