City-Networking and Bottom-Up Development by Transborder Co-Operation: The Influence of Local Authorities in the Saar-Lor-Lux-Region

Abstract

The border regions are considered as ‘test beds for the construction of Europe’ by the European Commission (1995) and their development is one of the main issues of the actual integration process of the EU and its spatial rearrangement. Development and competitive strength of border regions in the peripheries of the member states can be fostered by cross border co-operation and integration with adjacent regions in neighbouring countries. These projects are well-known as so-called Euroregions. The Saar-Lor-Lux-Region (Figures 11.1 and 11.2) is part of the ‘first generation’ of Euroregions which arose between the 1950s and the 1970s in several parts of Western Europe, in particular on the Dutch-German border (i.e. EUREGIO Gronau-Enschede). Long before the implementation of the Common Market and the European Union, these regions established and institutionalised cross border relationships on different levels due to a growing necessity to manage existing transborder interaction (i.e. commuter flows) or to solve common problems (i.e. environmental pollution). These initiatives were encouraged by a positive political climate and the support of the national authorities. Nowadays they are also supported by the European Union and its financial instruments. Nevertheless the most important factor or even the precondition for these activities has often been the existence of historical, cultural, spatial and economic similarities between the different parts of these border regions.