Enhancing the performance of cross border cooperation governance through legal community instruments: the case of the European Group of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC)

Abstract

Europe has become "Europe of regions" and EU policies and instruments shape new forms of cooperation that determine new ways of territorial scales. The scientific literature in the field of regional studies points out different forms of scaling and rescaling the territory, not only in Europe, but also in North American and Asian continents. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the openness of East European frontiers played an important role in introducing the regionalization on the European agenda. The role of EU policies and programs was very important for increasing the cross border cooperation by developing new legal and financial instruments. In 2006, the EU adopted a new Regulation for a specific community instrument whose objective is to strengthen the social and economic cohesion of the EU: the European Grouping for Territorial Cohesion (EGTC). We will examine, firstly, the recent developments of regional cooperation and then, in this context, the role of the EGTC as an instrument of the European Administrative Space for fostering territorial cooperation within the EU.