Cross-border Cooperation, Regional Disparities and Integration of Markets in the EU

This paper is a revised empirical chapter of the ex-post evaluation of INTERREG III which was carried out on behalf of the European Commission during 2008 to 2010. One of the tasks was to assess the impact of INTERREG III on harmonious regional development and integration throughout Europe. This paper is focused on INTERREG-Strand A (cross-border cooperation). The empirical analysis, based on a factor with subsequent regression analysis, suggests that the history of cooperation matters predominantly for European Union cross-border economic integration, while the strength of cooperation in terms of strategic partnership or the common understanding of needs for cross-border regional development seems not to matter. Apart from history, the major determinants for cross-border economic integration and cross-border regional disparities are forces outside INTERREG, namely intra-industry trade of the national economies, Economic and Monetary Union and Schengen.