Thinking Across the Border CBC and the regional

Thinking Across the Border: CBC and the regional dimension Dr Anthony Soares The Centre for Cross Border Studies Email: a. soares@qub. ac. uk Twitter: @antsoares 67

An example to Europe

But why engage in cross-border cooperation? Ø The maths of CBC: 1 + 1 = > 2 ‐ additional economic revenue (increased activity) ‐ improved delivery of public services to citizens ‐ budgetary savings (shared services) ‐ more sustainable development of cross‐border territory (but from what level? National? Regional? Local? )

Cross-Border Territorial Development

The INTERREG effect… in Europe Ø Concrete projects instead of nice ideas… Ø Real partnerships with shared co‐financing instead of nice meetings… Ø Integrated programmes instead of stand‐alone approaches… Ø Innovative structures instead of institutional sclerosis…

CBC and Cohesion Policy 2014 -2020 � CB territories seen from a 360° perspective � From selective problem perception to a joint development of integrated potentials � Thematic concentration � Evidence based policy‐making

Towards Territorial Cohesion: Ideal types of different levels of cross-border cooperation (Lundquist and Trippl, 2009)

CBC in Europe (and the island of Ireland? ) today: semi-integrated Ø Predominance of public actors (institutional partners of CBC) Ø No specific competence for CBC bodies and institutions Ø Policy implementation through projects (sectoral fragmentation, time‐limited) Ø Knowledge deficit of the CBC territory (due to lack at local and national levels of detailed knowledge of regional potentialities)

The European vs national vs regional vs local dimensions: Subsidiarity European National Regional Local

The European vs national vs regional vs local dimensions: Subsidiarity Ø “Vertical subsidiarity” – division of labour between levels of governance (as per art. 5. 3 of the TEU) Ø “Horizontal subsidiarity” – division of labour between sectors (public, private, civic society) Ø Enacting the principles of vertical and horizontal subsidiarity in the cross‐border territory

The Partnership Principle Ø “The partnership principle implies close cooperation between public authorities at national, regional and local levels in the Member States and with the private and other sectors”. Ø “Partnership must be seen in close connection with a multi-level governance approach and the subsidiarity and proportionality principles: each level of government should play its role, and action should be taken at the right level and be proportionate to the objectives”.

Conclusions Ø An integrated approach to CBC results in optimal interventions Ø A regional dimension to CBC can exploit EU policy of concentration Ø Adoption of the principle of subsidiarity to CBC finds the correct level of intervention (regional or local) Ø Whatever the level of intervention, implementation of the Partnership Principle will ensure adoption of solutions with vertical and horizontal participation

Thank you! (a. soares@qub. ac. uk)