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The Maas-Rhine Euroregion: A Laboratory for European Integration?

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14650040490478675

1557-3028

Hans Knippenberg,

European Socioeconomic and Political Studies

Abstract The transborder and trilingual Maas–Rhine Euroregion is often presented as a laboratory for European integration. The authorities in the region promote the image of a region that has 'always' been a unity, but which is divided by artificial boundaries – 'scars of history' – as a result of power politics. In this essay this image is confronted with the reality of the cross-border interactions and identities of the people involved. This confrontation leads to the conclusion that although there is political, economic and cultural cooperation in the region, the region is not at all politically, economically and culturally integrated. The national border as a physical barrier may have been removed, but the economic, social, juridical and cultural barriers are still there. The unification and integration of the citizens living in the region is being impeded by conflicting national systems of law and regulations, by communication and information media focused on national issues, by nationally oriented infrastructure, and especially by strongly different national cultures and identities. The consequences for European integration in general are analysed by comparing this regional integration with the national integration and nation-building policies of the past. Notes 1 Europa concreet 2000. Flyer Stichting Euregio Maas-Rijn. Maastricht (www.euregio-mr.org). 2 G. Kockelkorn, 'ALMA – een grensoverschrijdend universitair netwerk in de (EU)regio van Karel de Grote', in H.C.G. Spoormans, E.A. Reichenbach and A.F.A. Korsten (eds), Grenzen over. Aspecten van grensoverschrijdende samenwerking (Bussum: Coutinho 1999) p.231; R.W.J.M. Uijen, 'Euregio's – van idealistische organisaties tot spelers op de bestuurlijke kaart van Europa', in Spoormans, Reichenbach and Korsten, p.86. 3 C. van Beek, Samenwerking? Er zijn grenzen! Onderzoek naar de invloed van de culturele factor op het proces van economische en politiek-bestuurlijke integratie in de euregio Maas–Rijn (Rotterdam/Tilburg: Barjesteh, Meeuwes/Syntax Publishers 1996) p.37. 4 Cited in: A.A.L.G.M. Kessen, 'Grensoverschrijdende samenwerking vanuit historisch perspectief', in Spoormans, Reichenbach and Korsten (note 2) p.31. 5 G. Dijkink and C. Winnips, 'Alternative States: Regions and Postfordism Rhetoric on the Internet', GeoJournal 48/4 (2000) pp.323–35. 6 N. Brenner, 'Beyond State-centrism? Space, Territoriality, and Geographical Scale in Globalization Studies', Theory and Society 28 (1999) pp.39–78. 7 E. Swyngedouw, 'Neither Global nor Local: 'Glocalization' and the Politics of Scale', in K. Cox (ed.), Spaces of Globalization (New York: Guilford Press 1997) pp.137–66. 8 B. Jessop, 'Fordism and post-Fordism: A Critical Reformulation', in M. Storper and A.J. Scott (eds), Pathways to Industrialization and Regional Development (London: Routledge 1992) pp.46–69; A. Amin (ed.), Post-Fordism: A Reader (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell 1994). 9 Dijkink and Winnips (note 5) p.324. 10 See for an overview R. Rhodes, Understanding Governance (Buckingham: Open University Press 1997). 11 L. Hooghe (ed.), Cohesion Policy and European Integration: Building Multi-level Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1996); B. Kohler-Koch and R Eising (eds), The Transformation of Governance in the European Union (London and New York: Routledge 1999). 12 M. Keating, The New Regionalism in Western Europe. Territorial Restructuring and Political Change (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 1998) p.181. 13 See for instance L. O'Dowd, 'The Changing Significance of European Borders', Regional and Federal Studies 12/4 (2002) pp.13–36. 14 www.euregio-mr.org/; O.T. Kramsch, 'Re-imaging the 'Scalar-Fix' of Transborder Governance: The Case of the Maas–Rhein Euregio', in: E. Berg and H. van Houtum, Routing Borders between Territories, Discourses and Practices (Aldershot: Ashgate 2003) pp.220–28. 15 W. Jappe Alberts, Geschiedenis van de beide Limburgen, Deel II (Assen: Van Gorcum 1974). 16 L.J. Rogier and M.G. Spiertz, 'Limburg in de Franse Tijd', in E.C.M.A. Batta et al. (eds), Limburgs Verleden. Geschiedenis van Nederlands Limburg tot 1815 (Maastricht: Limburgs Geschied- en Oudheidkundig Genootschap 1967) p.678. 17 Jappe Alberts (note 15) p.155; R. op den Camp, ' "Niet gansch van vreemde smetten vrij": Limburg en het Nederlandse vaderland in de 19 eeeuw', Beleid & Maatschappij 1995/2, pp.98–99. 18 J.C. Boogman, Limburg en de Duitse Bond 1815–1851, Deel I (Groningen: Wolters 1955) pp.14–61. 19 J. Markusse, 'Duitstalige Belgen: Duitsers, Belgen of Walen?', Geografie 9/1 (2000) pp.38–40. 20 N. Ehlers, 'De "Muur" van Kerkrade. De geschiedenis van een straat', Geografie 9/6 (2000) pp.5–7; R. Frensch, 'Eurode – van vriendschapsverdrag tot intergemeentelijk samenwerkingsverband', in Spoormans, Reichenbach and Korsten (note 2) pp.121–31. 21 H. Knippenberg and J. Markusse (eds), Nationalising and Denationalising European Border Regions, 1800–2000. Views from Geography and History (Dordrecht, Boston and London: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1999). 22 N.P. Passchier and J.M.M. van Amersfoort, 'De sociale betekenis van de Nederlandse nationale grenzen. Twee onderzoekingen in Midden-Limburg en de aanliggende Duitse en Belgische grensgebieden', KNAG Geografisch Tijdschrift 15 (1981) pp.119–30. 23 J.W. van Dam and A. de Grip, De euregionale arbeidsmarkt: van fictie naar werkelijkheid (Maastricht: Researchcentrum voor Onderwijs en Arbeidsmarkt, Rijksuniversiteit Limburg 1991). 24 O. Kramsch, 'Navigating the Spaces of Kantian Reason: Notes on Cosmopolitical Governance within the Cross-border Euregions of the European Union', Geopolitics 6/2 (2001) pp.40–41; Kramsch (note 14) pp.225–8. 25 F. Corvers, B. Dankbaar and R. Hassink, 'Bedrijven in de euregio Maas-Rijn kijken amper over de grens', Geografie 3/2 (1994) pp.24–5. 26 J. de Vries, Grenzen verkend. Internationalisering van de ruimtelijke planning in de Benelux (Delft: DUP Science 2002). 27 Kramsch (note 24) pp.28–9. 28 G. Hofstede, M. van Twuyver, B. Kapp, H. de Vries, M. Faure, F. Claus and J. van der Wel, Grensoverschrijdende politiesamenwerking tussen België, Duitsland en Nederland met speciale aandacht voor de Euregio Maas-Rijn (Maastricht: Universiteit Maastricht 1993); see also J. Soeters, G. Hofstede and M. van Twuyver, 'Culture's Consequences and the Police: Cross-border Cooperation between Police Forces in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands', Policing and Society 5 (1995) pp.1–14; M. van Twuyver and J.M.L.M. Soeters, 'Internationalisering bij de politie – politiesamenwerking binnen de Euregio Maas-Rijn', in Spoormans, Reichenbach and Korsten (note 2) pp.145–55. 29 G. Hofstede, Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values (Beverley Hills, CA: Sage 1980); see also G. Hofstede et al., Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 1998). 30 Soeters et al. (note 28) pp.5–7. 31 Ibid., pp.7–10. 32 van Beek (note 3). 33 Ibid., pp.77–111; see also J. van Beek, 'Euregio Maas-Rijn – grenzen aan integratie', Spoormans, Reichenbach and Korsten (note 2) pp.257–70. 34 It should be noted here that there were no respondents in the survey from the German-speaking parts of Belgium. 35 van Beek (note 3) p.141. 36 Ibid., p.145. 37 O.J. Martinez, 'The Dynamics of Border Interaction. New Approaches to Border Analysis', in C.H. Schofield (ed.), Global Boundaries. World Boundaries, Volume I (London and New York: Routledge 1994) pp.1–15. 38 R. Schobben, Politieke Regio en Europese Unie (Delft: Eburon 2000). 39 A. Paasi, 'The Institutionalisation of Regions: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding the Emergence of Regions and the Constitution of Regional Identity', Fennia 164 (1986) pp.105–46; A. Paasi, 'Deconstructing Regions: Notes on the Scales of Spatial Life', Environment and Planning A 23 (1991) pp.239–54; A. Paasi, Territories, Boundaries and Consciousness: The Changing Geographies of the Finnish–Russian Border (Chichester: Wiley 1996); A. Paasi, 'Bounded Spaces in the Mobile World: Deconstructing "Regional Identity" ', Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 93 (2002) pp.137–48. 40 P. Rietveld, 'Obstacles to Openness of Border Regions in Europe', in M. van Geenhuizen and R. Ratti (eds), Gaining Advantage from Open Borders (Aldershot: Ashgate 2001) pp.79–97; E. Wever, De verdwenen grens: economische interactie in een euregio. Inaugural lecture (Nijmegen: Catholic University Nijmegen 2003); H. van Houtum, The Development of Cross-border Economic Relations (Tilburg: Center for Economic Research 1998). 41 L.E. Cederman, Nationalism and Bounded Integration: What it would Take to Construct a European Demos. EUI Working Paper RSC No.2000/34 (Florence: European University Institute 2000) p.22. 42 See also the classic texts of K.W. Deutsch, Nationalism and Social Communication: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Nationality (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press 1953); E. Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Oxford: Blackwell 1983). 43 Cederman (note 41) p.22. 44 Gebieden in perspectief. Rapport van de KNAG commissie Aardrijkskunde Tweede Fase (Utrecht: KNAG 2003). 45 Cederman (note 41) p.23. 46 V. Mamadouh, 'Dealing with Multilingualism in the European Union: Cultural Theory Rationalities and Language Policies', Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 4 (2002) p.332. 47 Cederman (note 41) pp.23–4. 48 O. Niedermayer and R. Sinnott, Public Opinion and International Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995). 49 Cederman (note 41) p.26. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid. 52 Mamadouh (note 44) pp.330–33; see also V. Mamadouh, 'Beyond Nationalism: Three Visions of the European Union and their Implications for the Linguistic Regime of its Institutions', GeoJournal 48/2 (1999) pp.133–44. 53 Cited in A.G. Harryvan, 'De historiografie van de Europese integratie, 1945–1985', in W.A.F. Camphuis and C.G.J. Wildeboer Schut (eds), Europese eenwording in historisch perspectief (Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek 1991) pp.22–45. More generally attributed to Monnet is: 'Si c'était à refaire, je commencerais par la culture'. However, there is some doubt that Monnet has used one of these quotes at all (see www.revue-lebanquet.com/fr/art/1996/143.htm). There is no doubt that these quotes reflect his opinion at the end of his life.