European Border Regions: Opportunities and Obstacles for Cross-Border Interaction
European Border Regions: Opportunities and Obstacles for Cross-Border Interaction

Summary/Abstract: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 revitalized the vision of a borderless Europe and intensified expectations of economic and social integration across national frontiers. While European integration and EU initiatives such as Interreg have significantly expanded opportunities for cross-border cooperation, persistent disparities and obstacles continue to shape interaction between regions. This paper examines the opportunities and constraints of cross-border interaction in Europe through a conceptual and analytical lens centered on borders, networks, and interaction costs. It first situates border-regional research within the broader evolution of European integration, emphasizing the growing importance of governance quality and institutional arrangements. The paper then distinguishes between cooperation among neighboring border regions and network-based cooperation among spatially distant regions, arguing that these forms of interaction follow different logics and require distinct development strategies. The core contribution is a taxonomy of interaction costs as a comprehensive measure of border obstacles. Interaction costs are conceptualized broadly to include technical-logistical, political-administrative, economic-structural, cultural-historical, and geographical-biological factors, each characterized by differing potentials for change over time. The analysis demonstrates how these factors shape both the intensity and sustainability of cross-border cooperation and how governance structures and institutional alignment can mitigate or amplify their effects. Building on this framework, the paper advances the hypothesis that durable cross-border interaction depends on an optimal balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity—captured by the concept of regional affinity. Too much similarity reduces incentives for exchange, while excessive dissimilarity raises interaction costs beyond viable levels. The paper concludes by outlining differentiated development trajectories for European border regions and highlighting the growing relevance of network-based cooperation in an increasingly globalized and digitally connected Europe.

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