Cross-border Cooperation of Poland after Enlargement. Focus on Eastern Border

The material gathered in this book presents the results of a research project supported by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme - EXLINEA: Lines of Exclusion as Arenas of Co-operation: Reconfiguring the External Borders of Europe: Policies, Practices and Perceptions with the financial support of the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research. The book is devoted to the relations and cooperation in the trans-border region (Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Belarusian). Special attention is given to finding the answer to the question of whether the enlarged EU will emerge as a "Fortress Europe" or as a "Golden Curtain". Considering this, the challenges for the study was to present the role of the trans-border co-operation, the perception of cooperation in the eyes of regional and local stakeholders, the evaluation of established EU-financed programmes and the role of the institutions in promoting cross-border co-operation.

CONTENTS  

Introduction (K.Krok, M. Smetkowski)

I. Background of Polish-Ukrainian cross-border co-operation (K.Krok, M. Smetkowski)

Polish-Ukrainian trans-border-region-general outlook

Polish-Ukrainian trans-border relations-newspaper screening

II. Economic interactions in the Polish-Ukrainian trans-border region

Economic co-operation of companies in the border region (M. Smetkowski, O. Mrinska)

Marketplaces in border region (A.Olechnicka)

Hotel services market in border regions (E.Kozlowska)

General conclusions (M. Smetkowski)

III. Perception of the Polish Ukrainian border and cross-border co-operation

Regional and national problems (K. Krok)

Cross-border co-operation in the region (K. Krok)

Perception of border issues (K. Krok)

Activities (K. Krok, M. Smetkowski)

Policy and institutional conditions of cross-border co-operation (K. Krok)

Expected effects of cross-border co-operation and EU enlargement (K. Krok, A. Olechnicka)

General conclusions (K. Krok)

IV. Polish-Belarusian cross-border co-operation - reflection or discontinuity in comparison to Polish-Ukrainian trans-border (K. Krok, M. Smetkowski)

Context of the cross-border co-opertion

Economic integration in the border region

Cross-border co-operation in the opinion of regional and local stakeholders

Perception of the border and cross-border co-operation

General conclusions.

V. Conclusions and recommendations (G. Gorzelak, K. Krok, M. Smetkowski)

Conclusions from the empirical studies

Policy recommendations