A Statute for Limburg? Exploring the legal and practical possibilities of interregional cross-border cooperation for the Dutch border province.

Contents :

1.    Introduction
1.1.    Objective and background
1.2.    Problem statement
1.3.    Structure of the report
2.    Administrative division of the Netherlands
3.    Regions with legislative power: a look at Limburg’s neighbours
3.1.    Belgian Regions (Gewesten) and Communities (Gemeenschappen)
3.2.    German Regional States (Länder)
3.3.    Typical problems of cross-border cooperation and the complex search for possible solutions
4.    Multilateral instruments that facilitate (interregional) cross-border cooperation
4.1.    European level
4.2.    National and regional level
5.    A model for Limburg to address cross-border problems more efficiently?
5.1.    Setting the scene: The Dutch Government’s position on CBC
5.2.    The innovative potential of the Benelux model – solving cross-border problems for its citizens
5.3.    A comprehensive governance model à la Nordic Free Movement Council?
5.4.    A German-French-Swiss governance model – the Upper Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Region
5.5.    The proposed ECBM as a complementary process – an option for Limburg?
5.6.    Summary multilateral arrangements for enhancing CBC and dealing with cross-border obstacles
6.    Conclusion and recommendations
6.1.    Summary of main findings
6.2.    Recommendations

Given the study’s exploratory nature, the report starts by acquiring a sense of the main problems, which Limburg is (potentially) facing in cross-border mobility and cooperation and where the competences are vested for designing appropriate solutions. Chapter 2 provides a general overview of the administrative division in the Netherlands and more specifically of the distribution of competences between the national government and the regional and local level. It also takes a closer look at the Dutch political constitutional system to assess how much room it offers/allows for tailor-made solutions at local and regional level.

The study aims to determine what kind of (legal) “action potential” exists in a given region to solve cross-border problems. For that purpose, we will try to map out for the Dutch border regions a comparative overview of legislative/regulatory competences for addressing specific cross-border problems per policy field. Having reviewed the competence distribution for the Netherlands in the second chapter, Chapter 3 does the same for the country’s neighbours, Belgium and Germany. On both sides, the Belgian and the German one, we find in fact so-called “regions with legislative power”. On that basis, it follows a comparative overview in a comprehensive matrix.

Chapter 4, then, studies different settings – at European and regional level – where two or more European countries are cooperating systematically and interregionally to solve cross-border issues. More precisely, the analysis examines which (multilateral) governance structures and legal instruments already exist to that effect and what kind of competences and innovative solutions these entail. For illustration, this section also includes text boxes with concrete case study examples.
Chapter 5, furthermore, assesses whether these cooperation arrangements discussed above could possibly provide a model for Limburg and enable the Dutch Province to address cross-border problems more efficiently. The study reviews the more promising initiatives that emanate from the multilateral CBC arrangements discussed in Chapter 4, and sets out for a preliminary evaluation of the applicability, feasibility and functionality of these initiatives.

The final Chapter 6 concludes with a first estimation if the initiatives studied above can be of any use in designing the type of special mandate the Province of Limburg is seeking from the national Government to address cross-border issues. This assessment includes an appreciation of what prospects this initiative may have for being successful (considering the legal and political questions it involves). Consequently, the report provides some final recommendations on the suitability for Limburg to adopt a certain governance structure or to lobby for legAl change in order to realise its ambitions for improving cross-border cooperation and mobility.