Estelle Evrard
Fonction
Collaboratrice de recherche
Organisation
Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg
La Grande Région Saar-Lor-Lux : Vers une suprarégionalisation transfrontalière ?
La Grande Région Saar-Lor-Lux : Vers une suprarégionalisation transfrontalière ?
Border Region
Greater Region
Language(s)
Français
Main Category
Introduction
There are three major areas of concern in relation to border areas: governance, their integration in a regionalized system (e.g. the EU), and the development of territoriality. By analyzing a border area, we are able to put forward a theoretical and empirical framework which in turn enables us to characterize the interaction of these factors.
Summary
Border areas are often posited as “laboratories of European integration.” But what is the significance of the notion of the cross-border region beyond such discourses and symbols? By defining a region as a construct which is at once the construction of an identity, a territory, and an institution which is perpetuated over time, this text identifies and questions the particularities of this process within the cross-border context. The study is based on a discourse analysis, the operational use of the concepts of cross-border territoriality, and the supraregional institution. The legal framework for cooperation, provided by the EGTC (The European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation) in its role as the judicial instrument of the EU, is analyzed in detail.
Content
Their geographical contours constantly under question, border areas exemplify issues including regionalization and territoriality. These areas are the stage on which we see the integration of the single European market being played out. They are areas which are thus strongly affected by the relationships of functional interdependence which exist between the differentiated economic, fiscal or social regimes operated within different states. At the same time, European regional policy means that these border areas participate directly in the multi-level system of governance. This results in a series of interconnected issues, both horizontal and vertical. The objective of constructing a so-called "Région Métropolitaine Polycentrique Transfrontalière" (RMPT), or a cross-border polycentric metropolitan region at the heart of the Greater Region, is considered symptomatic of the reterritorialization of regional questions at the cross-border level. Analysis of this political project in view of the definition of the region as a construct, highlights the structural motivations for this process. In this context, the region is perceived as a social construct born of a spatial and temporal process.
A proportion of the empirical material used in this study has been collected as part of the Metroborder project, financed by the ESPON program2007-2013.
General introduction
Chapter 1: Imagining the border area in view of the definition of the region as a construct [Penser l’espace frontalier à l’aune de la construction d’une région]
- 1. Regionalization, frame of reference for concerns relating to border areas [La régionalisation, grille de lecture des enjeux frontaliers]
- 2. Territoriality, governance and regionalization, keys to understanding cross-border strategies [Territorialité, gouvernance et régionalisation, clés de lecture des stratégies transfrontalières]
- 3. The border area, a region under construction [L’espace frontalier, région en construction]
Chapter 2 : From the "Coal and Steel Triangle SaarLorLux" to the "Cross-border Polycentric Metropolitan Region " [Du « Triangle du charbon et de l’acier SaarLorLux » à la « Région métropolitaine polycentrique transfrontalière »]
- 1. The progressive structuring of institutions involved in cross-border cooperation [La progressive structuration d’institutions de coopération transfrontalière]
- 2. The functional and identifying characteristics of the Greater Region [Caractéristiques fonctionnelles et identitaires de la Grande Région]
- 3. Towards a "Cross-border Polycentric Metropolitan Region" in the Greater Region? [Vers une région métropolitaine polycentrique transfrontalière en Grande Région ?]
Chapter 3: How to study a political strategy aimed at structuration? [Comment étudier une stratégie politique en structuration ?]
- 1. Issues relating to research involving practitioner interviews [Les enjeux d’un contexte de recherche riche en interactions avec les praticiens]
- 2. Defining the object, the area, the institutions and the actors involved in cooperation using research documentation [Circonscrire l’objet, l’espace ainsi que les institutions et les acteurs de la coopération à travers une recherche documentaire]
- 3. Refining research questions with the help of expert interviews [Affiner les questions de recherche par le biais d’entretiens d’experts]
- 4. Identifying possible futures for the governance of the Greater Region using the Delphi method [Identifier les futurs possibles pour la gouvernance de la Grande Région à travers la méthode Delphi]
Chapter 4: The construction of a metropolitan leitmotif for a double cross-border ambition [La construction d’un leitmotiv métropolitain pour une double ambition transfrontalière]
- 1. The metropolis: elements of a scientific definition [La métropole : éléments de définition scientifique]
- 2. The metropolis, political and institutional concerns [La métropole, enjeu politique et institutionnel]
- 3. The discursive construction of a metropolitan ambition at cross-border level [La construction discursive d’une ambition métropolitaine à l’échelle transfrontalière]
Chapter 5: Cross-border territoriality? [Une territorialité transfrontalière?]
- 1. The emergence of a double process of "delimitation" [L’émergence d’un double processus de « délimitation »]
- 2. From cross-border area to cross-border territoriality? [De l'espace à la territorialité transfrontalière?]
Chapter 6: Supraregional institutionalization? [Une institutionnalisation suprarégionale ?]
- 1. Cross-border institutions in the Greater Region: diagnostic and perspectives [Les institutions transfrontalières en Grande Région: Diagnostic et perspectives]
- 2. The EGTC, an instrument of supraregional institutionalization? [Le GECT, outil d’institutionnalisation suprarégionale ?]
- 3. Towards the development of supraregional institutions in the Greater Region? [Vers le développement d’institutions suprarégionales en GR?]
General conclusion
Conclusions
Cross-border cooperation in the Greater Region is designed in part to support the objective of constructing a "Cross-border Polycentric Metropolitan Region" (RMPT). Having said this, the ambition of developing a metropolitan region is far from being shared by all stakeholders. The challenge remains to establish a balanced and sustainable strategy for the development of cross-border territories.
The RMPT strategy has triggered a process by which the mandated area, or the cross-border area in which operational procedures are actioned in a differentiated manner, is delimited according to the different aspects of cooperation (e.g. transport, cross-border infrastructure, education and research). Institutional spaces and those covered by a complementary mandate; the institutional perimeter facilitating the orchestration of cooperation; and the second serving as the spatial manifestation of a cross-border strategy. This is a flexible form of delimitation; it results in idealistic representations which are subjective and which evolve over time and space, being constantly renegotiated by the partners involved. Presently, this shared territorial appropriation of the cross-border area remains idealistic and cognitive; notably taking the form of a geographic cross-border system of information. The material appropriation of cross-border territories is currently envisaged only by the intervention of each of the institutional members and therefore remains interregional.
Since 2008, the EGTC has established itself as a judicial instrument largely mobilized within the EU to facilitate cross-border cooperation. The EGTC serves as a unique, normative foundation in the Greater Region: it brings together both infranational and national cases. The proposed theoretical framework illustrates that the EGTC constitutes a strategical tool which enables local, regional and/or national institutions to limit the implementation of certain activities (e.g the implementation of a strategy) to a local, autonomous municipality ("supramunicipal" or "supraregional"). Yet until now, the potential of the EGTC has remained largely unexploited. Numerous EGTC serve primarily as an interface between their members, facilitating the implementation of decisions or managing shared projects, thereby acting more as interregional rather than supraregional structures.
Lead
Estelle Evrard
Keywords
Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2018
Date
Publisher
Rennes : Presses Universitaires de Rennes
Identifier
ISBN: 978-2-7535-6521-0