Abstract
This chapter explores the various ways in which borders act as barriers and obstacles in the European Union, and why borders maintain this function even in a context of openness. While most formal barriers to the mobility of goods, capital, services, and labour (i.e. the “four freedoms”) have by now been removed within the European Union, the effects of borders persist. For people living close to borders, these function as obstacles that are related to communication and infrastructure, legal and administrative differences, as well as language and culture. Opinion polls and consultations with European stakeholders witness the importance of addressing regulatory (legal and administrative) obstacles, especially in the fields of labour and education, while language is an important obstacle where more could be done. The chapter finishes with policy recommendations to practitioners seeking to conduct and/or improve systematic policy work to remove border obstacles for enhanced territorial cohesion and regional development.
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Notes
- 1.
This sentence can be seen on t-shirts and bumper stickers, pops up at art exhibitions and was included in the Grammy-winning Somos mas Americanos performed by Los Tigres del Norte: “A thousand times they have shouted at me/‘Go home, you don’t belong here’/Let me remind the Gringo/That I didn’t cross the border, the border crossed me /America was born free—Man divided her.”
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Acknowledgements
In the case of author Péter Balogh, research for this publication has been supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office—NKFIH grant #NN 114468 (Change and Continuity in Hungarian Spatial Imaginaries: Nationality, Territoriality, Development and the Politics of Borders).
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Svensson, S., Balogh, P. (2018). Limits to Integration: Persisting Border Obstacles in the EU. In: Medeiros, E. (eds) European Territorial Cooperation. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74887-0_7
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