Abstract
Administrative boundaries create all sorts of barriers. These include obstacles associated with cross-border mobility. The presence of cross-border transports can be pivotal to reducing the barrier-effect on citizen’s mobility and to increasing territorial integration of the European Union (EU). As recent surveys have revealed, cross-border accessibility is still considered a major barrier across most EU borders. In this context, this paper examines the overall current panorama of cross-border transports in the EU as a crucial barrier, whilst proposing a Cross-border Transport Permeability index to allow comparing this barrier across the EU. The findings indicate that cross-border transports are not yet sufficiently developed in the face of the increasing needs of EU citizens to cross borders, even in the most mature and socio-economically developed EU border areas, and that complex legal and administrative frameworks from both sides of the border make the creation of joint solutions for improving cross-border transportation across EU borders a challenging task.
Highlights
Introduction and methodologyIn round numbers, as of 2016, the European Union (EU) border regions (NUTS 3 - Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics, Level 3) cover around 40% of the EU total population, and 60% of its territory
As possible policy measures to invert this scenario are the need to (i) establish and finance more CB bus and train connections, both at the local/regional and transnational (TEN-T networks) levels; and (ii) finance more detailed studies on the present demand and supply of CB transports in all EU border areas, in order to adequate the demand with the supply when it comes to the expectations of CB commuters in crossing the border
One can point out several potential positive impacts: (i) environmental benefits, as the use of private vehicles is required in a less degree; (ii) tourism benefits, as points of touristic interest destinations would become accessible for all, and namely for tourists not travelling in their private vehicles; (iii) economic benefits, as the use of public transports is far more efficient that the use of private vehicles, and because of potential increasing of more tourists; (iv) social benefits, as public transportation tickets tend to be subsidised, since they are often considered a service of general interest; and (v) cultural benefits, as a potential wider number of visitors across borders
Summary
CBC is a process which requires the collaboration of one or more entities from at least two different sides of an administrative borderline (normally a country), in order to achieve a certain (common) goal (Medeiros, 2015). It has provided a clear institutional, economic and sociocultural added value, as it has led to an increasing involvement and mobilisation of entities and citizens, the mobilisation of the endogenous potential of border regions, and the dissemination of knowledge about the neighbour region (Guillermo-Ramirez, 2018) Despite these contributions, the present political map of Europe still hides a palimpsest of earlier territorial divisions, and reflects differences in housing and job opportunities in adjacent states (Lundén, 2018: 97). Far more recent (1950s) transnational (EU, Nordic Council) and cross border (NL-DE Euregio) institutional experimentations have opened avenues for increasing cross-border collaborations, in nonwestern Europe This explains the higher degree of CB maturity in this part of Europe, when compared with other European territories (Medeiros, 2011). The increasing of this CB maturity process followed closely the successive adhesion processes of EU Member States to southern and eastern Europe, and is closely correlated with the reduction of the border barriers across Europe
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