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Cross-border
economic
development 11
Practical guide : building partnerships
The objective is to overcome the
instability resulting from frequent
reforms of public policy and
clarify each partner’s role. This
also helps to prevent duplication
of cross-border structures,
partnerships and projects.
Information on each player’s role
must be constantly updated,
firstly because staff turnover
in the area of cross-border
cooperation is fairly high, and
secondly because cross-border
partnerships depend heavily
on the personal investment of
officials.
E x a m p l e :
The 2011 “Almanach
Benelux” provides an overview
of public-sector players, cross-
border initiatives and cooperation
structures in several areas including
economic development. The
almanac also explains government
structures and the distribution
of competences in Belgium, the
Netherlands, Luxemburg, France
and Germany.
In complex governance
configurations such as those
for cross-border economic
development, it is useful to
identify the coordinator
or lead partner of the
partnership. There are two main
options:
• A more hierarchical structure,
in which one type of player
acts as the lead partner or
coordinator, especially with
regard to drawing up a cross-
border economic development
strategy. The recent reforms
in France tend towards the
strengthening of the role of a
regional lead partner or a region/
conurbation tandem.
• A more collegial network
structure, in which one player
acts as a neutral coordinator
of the partnership, charged,
in particular, with facilitating
the collective work of the
players. This role is closer to
that of cross-border structures
(Euroregions, Eurodistricts and
cross-border conurbations).
Connecting the different territorial levels and
thematic components of economic development
Identifying the value added
of cross-border economic
development consists also in
defining the right territorial
level depending on the issue,
while maintaining some flexibility
in the definition of scope.
• The employment area
level – cross-border cities and
conurbations, Eurodistricts,
cross-border nature parks, etc.
– is relevant for spatial policy
and planning: urban transport,
land use, business areas and
ordinary public services.
• The regional level –
Euroregions (Greater Region,
Aquitaine-Euskadi) is especially
relevant for innovation and
research, clusters, major
transport infrastructures (e.g.
airports or regional transport).
Euroregional strategies for
innovation or economic and
territorial development may be
defined at this level.
• The national and European
levels are where the main
structures for laws, cohesion,
redistribution, etc. may be
found. For cross-border
economic development
purposes, what is important is
inter-governmental coordination
(coordination of tax laws, major
transport infrastructures, TEN-T,
and energy, TEN-E, etc.).
The relevant cooperation level
may differ depending on the
economic sector and actual
conditions in the cross-border
territory. In general, cooperation
levels are broader (regional
to global) in more technology
intensive areas. However, a
more localised approach may
be more appropriate for rural or
presential economic sectors,
which are typical in some less
easily accessible border areas
(e.g. mountain regions) where
there is often a predominance of
small SMEs.
Given the large number
of public and private-sector
partners potentially involved
in economic development, it
is more pragmatic to create
flexible and adaptable
partnerships, to avoid
overly complex governance
configurations.
When drawing up economic
strategies or action plans for
a particular sector or area, for
example, it is more efficient
to start from a broad scope
of possible cooperation, with
informal governance, and from
there form smaller partnerships.
E x a m p l e :
The TTR-ELAt (Top Technology
Region/Eindhoven-Leuven-
Aachen triangle) cross-border
region was created in 2009 from
the merger of TTR and ELAt, two
economic projects in a region
considered by the OECD to be an
“innovation leader”. It spans three
countries (B/NL/D), six regions and
six cities that collaborate to develop
cross-border connections in three
sectors: chemicals and innovative
materials, high-tech systems and
life sciences. This collaboration
is more pragmatic than formal,
leading notably to the set-up of
ad-hoc sub-groups or bilateral
cooperation on specific issues. It is
“à la carte” cooperation, based on
voluntary participation and smart
specialisation.