Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai: Cross-border integration with or without the border?
研究了欧盟内部边境开放30年来，里尔-科特赖克-图尔奈跨境区域中利益相关者对边界动态和跨境整合的认知，发现存在“有边界的整合”与“无边界的整合”两种矛盾并存的观点。
For 30 years, the opening of internal borders in the European Union has engendered many cross-border exchanges in borderlands. European cross-border regions created within this context are thus framed and characterized by the simultaneous dynamics of bordering and cross-border integration. This paper examines these two processes and the analysis is based on the representations of stakeholders from the Eurometropolis of Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai. It highlights two main results. First, the representations of stakeholders shed light on bordering dynamics that can be combined even though they can also appear to be contradictory. In particular, the paper unveils the dimension of ‘a-bordering’, which refers to a certain status quo of and about the border. Second, the representations of stakeholders show ambivalent and concomitant visions of a ‘cross-border integration with the border’ and a ‘cross-border integration without the border’. These representations challenge the implementation of cross-border policies and schemes.