KEY FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL TERRITORIAL COHESION: CROSSBORDER COOPERATION – HOW CAN SOME EU INSTRUMENTS CREATE A NEW GEOGRAPHY?

Abstract

The future of European cohesion policy is about to be prepared and discussed: One of the
main novelties is the concept of territorial cohesion, which can only be achieved by the
effective, integrated development of (inner) peripheral border areas. To serve this territorial
continuity and connection better there are some innovative instruments for planners and
policy-makers. This study describes the cross-border spatial planning possibilities of the
EGTC (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) tool. It estimates how it can
contribute to the regeneration of the spatial connections and local economic development in
border areas. As a result of an innovative and efficient regional policy, the geography of
border areas is changing very dynamically. The study confirms how this social, spatial,
economic and political phenomena can be analysed by geographical methods and confirms
the role and importance of geographers is in this new European “space making” process.