EU Border Dilemmas: European (de)bordering practices from internal and external regional cross-border cooperation perspectives
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2019-12-08
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en
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European regional Cross Border Cooperation structures (CBCs) or Euroregions have existed across the EU for decades now, but have for the wider public largely remained in obscurity. Drawing inspiration from critical border literature, this thesis attempts to uncover what (de)bordering practices are at play in the policymaking of such cross-border regions. This is done by conducting a Critical Discourse Analysis on the main programme documents of the Euregion Meuse-Rhine (EMR) and Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine (PBU). The former stretches across internal EU borders, while the latter stretches across external EU borders. It is demonstrated that, while on the surface both programmes might seem of a similar nature, there are fundamentally different border logics at work. While the EMR region showcases a strong debordering discourse, PBU policymaking is influenced by the ambiguous nature of the wider policy frame of the European Neighbourhood Policy. This thesis argues that such Cross-Border structures are with its current discourse an extension of the most criticized features of the European Neighbourhood Policy. However, critical border studies might help in providing an answer to this issue.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen