Cross-border integration

The concept of cross-border integration has gradually become one of the key paradigms of the Cohesion Policy of the European Union and, in particular, the promotion of cross-border regionalism. The success of this notion in the policy field, however, contrasts with its complexity put forward by scientific approaches that emphasize the polysemy of the concept and the ambiguities that characterize its different understandings. The most widespread approach of cross-border integration focuses on exchanges and relationships that link formerly separate border areas. Cross-border integration is seen as a consequence of the emerging opportunities induced by the opening of state borders to free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.