Dissolution of boundaries in border regions - European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs) as an Instrument of Territorial Cooperation between Municipalities in Europe

Project lead:

• Prof Dr Matthias Pechstein (European University Viadrina)
• Prof Dr Jürgen Neyer (European University Viadrina)
• Prof Dr Carsten Nowak (European University Viadrina)
• Dr Marcin Krzymuski (European University Viadrina)

Research team:

• Dr Peter Ulrich (Scientific Managing Director, University of Potsdam)
• Ass. iur. Philipp Kubicki

Cooperation partners:

• Frankfurt Institute for European Union Law (FIREU)
• German-Polish Research Institute at the Collegium Polonicum (PNIB-DPFI)
• Dr Magdalena Musiał-Karg (Faculty of Political Science at Adam Mickiewicz University (Collegium Polonicum)
• Centre for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies (ZIP)
• Dr Jarosław Jańczak (European Studies at the EUV and Faculty of Political Science of the Adam Mickiewicz University (Collegium Polonicum)
• Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) (Jens Kurnol and Dr Wilfried Görmar)
• Dr Renata Kusiak-Winter (University of Wrocław - Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics)
• Dr Robert Knippschild (Professorship of Spatial Planning - Institute of Geography - Dresden University of Technology)
• Prof. Dr Wojciech Lisiewicz (Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences)

Funding institution:

European University Viadrina

Project duration:

January 2014 - December 2016

Publications

Books:

• Ulrich, Peter: "Participatory Governance in the Europe of Cross-Border Regions. Cooperation – Boundaries – Civil Society", Border Studies. Cultures, Spaces, Orders Vol. 4, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2021.
• Krzymuski, Marcin / Kubicki, Philipp / Ulrich, Peter (Hrsg.): „Der Europäische Verbund für territoriale Zusammenarbeit. Instrument der grenzübergreifenden Zusammenarbeit nationaler öffentlicher Einrichtungen in der Europäischen Union“, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2017.
• Banaszak, Bogusław / von Brünneck, Alexander / der Vries, Tina / Krzymuski, Marcin (Hrsg.):„Rechts- und Wirtschaftswörterbuch. Słownik prawa i gospodarki“, Warszawa: C.H. Beck, 2015 (3. Aufl.).
• Krzymuski, Marcin / Margoński, Marcin (Hrsg.):„Znad granicy ponad granicami. Księga Dedykowana Profesorowi Dieterowi Martiny“, Warszawa: C.H.Beck, 2014.

Essays:

• Ulrich, Peter/Scott, James W. (2021): Cross-Border Governance in europäischer Regionalkooperation. in D. Gerst, M. Klessmann, & H. Krämer (Hrsg.), Grenzforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium (S. 156–174). (Border Studies. Cultures, Spaces, Orders; Band 3). Baden-Baden: Nomos.Ulrich, Peter (2020): Territorial Cooperation, Supra-regionalist Institution-building and National Boundaries: The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) at the Eastern and Western German borders. European Planning Studies, 28(1), 57-80.
• Krzymuski, Marcin/Ulrich, Peter (2019): The diffusion of legal systems in the cooperation of cross-border public entities. in J. Beck (Hrsg.), Transdisciplinary Discourses on Cross-Border Cooperation in Europe (S. 213-231). Brüssel: Peter Lang.
• Ulrich, Peter/Krzymuski, Marcin (2018): Actor´s participation in cross-border governance structures at the German-Polish border. Case Studies from the Viadrina region. in B. Wassenberg (Hrsg.), Castle Talks on Cross-Border Cooperation. Fear of Integration? The Pertinence of the Border (S. 153-183). Stuttgart: Steiner.
• Ulrich, Peter/ Krzymuski, Marcin (2017): Zarządzanie terytorialne na obszarze polsko-niemieckiego pogranicza na przykładzie planowanego EUWT TransOderana – podmioty, strategie, instytucje. in Z. Kurcz (Hrsg.), Polskie pogranicza w procesie przemian: Tom IV (S. 305-335). Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
• Krzymuski, Marcin/Kubicki, Philipp (2015): EUWT 2.0? Reforma rozporządzenia o europejskich ugrupowaniach współpracy terytorialnej szansą na ożywienie współpracy transgranicznej podmiotów publicznych, Samorząd Terytorialny 2015, Nr. 6, S. 23-37
• Krzymuski, Marcin/Kubicki, Philipp (2014): EVTZ-2.0 – Neue Chance für die grenzübergreifende Zusammenarbeit öffentlicher Einrichtungen?, Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht 2014, S. 1338-1344

The project "Dissolution of boundaries in border regions - European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs) as an Instrument of Territorial Cooperation between Municipalities in Europe" has set itself the task of analysing a special European legal instrument for cross-border cooperation between public institutions, namely the European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs) mentioned in the title, from a legal and political science perspective. The project thus tied in directly with the idea of the Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION to bring interdisciplinary border research to the forefront of scientific activity.

The legal issues primarily related to the legal nature of the network. It was found that, despite the harmonisation envisaged by the European legislator, the network is treated very differently in the member states. The resulting difficulties can also be felt locally - at the Viadrina University research centre. Due to considerable divergences and a lack of coordination between member states and federal states in the implementation of EGTC law, institutionalised cooperation between German and Polish public institutions is hardly possible. This also calls into question the objective associated with the introduction of the EGTCs of facilitating and promoting cross-border, transnational and/or interregional cooperation between its members - public bodies from the EU Member States. This means that only cooperation instruments under private law are used in the German-Polish constellations and only to a very limited extent, as there is no corresponding agreement between Germany and Poland that would make the existing instruments under private law, such as limited liability companies or associations, usable for cross-border cooperation.

The EGTC's operation is also not facilitated by the competences with which it has been endowed. On the one hand, the association has no sovereign powers, meaning that it cannot be used effectively in the area of cross-border spatial planning or transport planning, for example. In addition, there are also differences in national law and legal policy objectives in the area of public tasks. Particularly in the German-Polish legal relationship, this means that the association cannot offer its members any real added value. Furthermore, the restriction of tasks to the area of competence common to all members means that cooperation focussed on infrastructural projects is impossible if competences are allocated differently in the member states. This means that the EGTCs is primarily used in the "soft" areas of public administration, which relate to the coordination, promotion and support of cross-border measures. It can therefore be stated that the potential of the EGTC cannot yet be fully utilised. Against this backdrop, it is proposed that Union EGTCs law be developed and that the EGTCs be equipped throughout Europe as a cooperation instrument with a uniform legal personality under public law and with corresponding powers of action - including sovereign powers.

The EGTCs has also proven to be an exciting phenomenon from a political science perspective. It offers a resilient platform for the implementation of governance ideas. Nevertheless, national administrations see the alliance as a threat due to an - imaginary - loss of power and competences. Furthermore, the EGTCs is accused of a lack of democratic control in the exercise of - already limited - competences. The political science questions centred primarily on the question of which actors are endowed with which powers and which strategies they pursue. As the EGTCs is a supra-regional legal form that is embedded in a multi-level European system, it is interesting on the one hand what form of options for action exist through such an instrument and how decisions are made or how decision-making is controlled in this network of actors ("governance"). Another question is the added value of setting up such an instrument for the stakeholders involved. What form of access to resources or increased expertise can be generated through the application of such a legal form? What new legal possibilities exist through this legal form? The analysis and examination of several case studies, which have been analysed in a doctoral thesis and several articles, show that the EGTCs is a European legal instrument, but is nevertheless based on national law. This means that the application of this legal form can certainly lead to legal and administrative complications. In some cases, these complications have led to cooperation efforts coming to a standstill after initial enthusiasm.

As a result, the initially assumed permeability of public legal systems is currently more of an illusion or - better - a future goal. This confirms that the border continues to have a separating effect in legal terms. However, further research in this area is necessary in order to develop the foundations for the development of a coherent and stable set of instruments for the joint performance of public tasks, particularly in the provision of services of general interest, and to provide them to practitioners.