European border regions are often described as the ‘laboratories’ of Europe and European integration (Bertram et al. 2023a). Indeed, border regions are highly dynamic and stimulating areas that demonstrate the potential of European integration. The removal of border-related barriers fosters economic prosperity, social exchange and political innovation (Capello et al. 2018; Paul et al. 2025). On the other hand, recent crises have shown that the costs of a lack of integration can be very high. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its repercussions in terms of border controls and partial closures, has revealed that border regions are not necessarily the places where European integration functions most effectively (Chilla et al. 2022; Hippe et al. 2022). Rather, border regions act as barometers of European integration, with limited resilience to crises and whose great potential remains to be developed (Medeiros et al. 2021).
Border regions exhibit considerable territorial diversity. They may be peripheral or metropolitan, and the border itself may be a mountain range, a river or a plain. Disparities can be very high even along the same border, as can differences in labour markets and mobility patterns (Hippe et al. 2024). At the same time, political cultures and multi-level governance systems on both sides of the border can be very different, often characterised only by selective cross-border agreements. Territorial diversity in border regions can therefore be highly complex.
A paradoxical situation can be observed: although the importance of cross-border integration is widely recognised, governance solutions are often incremental and analytical insights remain limited (Berzi et al. 2026). It is against this backdrop that the CROSSGOV project was launched, with the aim of achieving a ‘new level’ of analytical understanding and implementing measures to unlock the potential of governance in border regions.
The CROSSGOV project supports EU, national and regional policies in addressing the following key questions:
• How should cross-border functional areas in Europe be defined? How can analytical definitions be aligned with the actual realities of the cross-border functional areas in which people live and work?
• How can we expand our understanding, based on indicators, of how border regions function within a complex data landscape?
• What are the main patterns and dynamics, as well as the challenges and solutions, within border regions and their cross-border functional areas?
• What governance structures are in place in cross-border regions? How can vertical and horizontal policy coherence be ensured in order to harness the potential of cross-border functional areas?
Addressing both the functional and governance aspects of border regions across Europe, the project is organised into three activities. Tasks 1 and 2 focus on the European level and involve a review of academic and policy-relevant literature on border regions, with a particular focus on cross-border functional areas. A further key output is the pan-European database, which will provide cross-border spatial data.
Task 3 provides a complementary analysis of the functional areas and governance structures of the ten study areas, discussing not only the current situation but also exploring future scenarios for cross-border contexts with regional stakeholders.
The FULL centre contributed to the ESPON CROSSGOV project by working on this final report and on the case studies of Espace Mont-Blanc and Kras-Carso-Trieste.
- Official website ESPON featuring all the information and research outputs
- ESPON page for the Final Report and its annexes
- Casi di studio analizzati da FULL: Espace Mont Blanc e Kras-Carso-Trieste
