Many of the newly established "Euroregions" in the central and eastern European countries seem to be in fact working communities and communities of interest which are forums for informal transfrontier information and consultation.
From the Council of Europe (www.coe.int)
Euroregion conformed along the Salzach river in Austria
The EUREGIO was founded in 1994 as trilateral local association. The objective was in this case particularly to coordinate the mutual transborder sociocultural contacts.The field of the EUREGIO Bavarian wald grasps boehmerwald on Czech side the four rural districts Ceský Krumlov, Prachatice, Domazlice and Klatovy, on Bavarian side the rural districts Cham, rain, Freyung-Grafenau, Deggendorf, Straubing, Straubing city, Passau and Passau-Stadt
Euregio Salzburg-Berchtesgadener Land/Traunstein
As a voluntary and cooperative alliance of municipalities from the Salzburg country and country Berchtesgadener from the rural districts and Traunstein the EuRegio wants to perceive the possibilities which offer themselves through the effort of the boundary. In the interest and to the benefit of their members, population and economy the EuRegio bases itself on their concept which consists of following equal leading-ideas
European Region of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino
The region has long been - and still is - characterized by a strong attachment to the land of the fathers and a wish for self-government. This common background is the main reason for the friendly relations between the provincial governments of Tirol, Südtirol/Alto Adige and Trentino, which go far beyond good formal relationships of neighbouring regions.
Euregio Zugspitze-Wetterstein-Karwendel
The associations of REGIO Werdenfels of e.V., ERA/REGIO Ausserfern and lake fields plateau (SEP) founded in the June 1998 the EUREGIO with the objective to support the regional transborder cooperation of their members. The EUREGIO advises members, citizens, Unternehemn, associations, authorities and other institutions in transborder questions and wants to strengthen the mutual understanding and the consciousness of the mutual space in the spirit of good neighborhood and friendly cooperation.
Internationale Bodenseekonferenz
The International Lake Constance conference (IBK) is a cooperative alliance of the countries bordering on Lake Constance and the cantons Baden-Wuerttemberg, tub beluga, Zurich, Thurgau, St.Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Principality of Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg and Bavaria. The IBK objective is to promote the Lake Constance as an area to receive natural, culture and economy space and to support and to strengthen the regional relation.
The area incorporates Burgenland from Austria and three Hungarian counties, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Vas, Zala. This region is older than any other in Europe. In its area of 15 thousand km2-s, you can find mountain ranges, hills and plains as well. Its beautiful natural values are being protected in a unique cooperation for Central-Eastern-Europe, that reaches beyond country borders. The results of the joint effort are the Ferto-Hansag Natural Park, and the Orseg and Irottko Nature Reserves.
The borders are the scars of the history and comprise in particular for the frontier regions of serious drawbacks. Indeed, the frontier zones have often been the toy of the nations. That is worth also - or especially - for the five partner regions of the EUREGIO MEUSE-RHINE that often have had to change territorial membership against their liking.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Danube-Drava-Sava
Presentation in PDF
The Danube-Drava-Sava Euroregional Cooperation is an international organization of counties and cantons, their county or cantonal seats, and chambers of commerce from the territories of the Republic of Hungary, Republic of Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, established upon the signature of the Statute in Pécs on November 28, 1998.
The objectives and tasks of the Association are
- to organise and co-ordinate the activities that promote the co-operation between the members on the fields of economy, ecology, culture, science and education;
- to help and assist in elaborating concrete projects and plans concerning common interests;
- to promote and facilitate contacts between the people living in the area of the Association including the relationship between experts in different fields;
- to promote good neighbourly relations between its members;
- to identify potential fields of multilateral co-operation among the members;
- to mediate and facilitate co-operation of its members with international organisations, agencies and institutions.
The euro area Egrensis is the field between Germany and Tschechien along the Bavarian and saechsischen boundary of Germany.
Euroregion Krušnohoří/Erzgebirge
The Krušnohoří Euroregion is located in the border area of the northwestern part of the Czech Republic and southern Saxony. It was created in 1995 in response to popular demand from both sides of the border.
A voluntary transborder community which arose through the initiative of the regional local communities is Elbe/rennet euro area. It was founded on the 24th June 1992 in Hstn nad rennets.
Euroregion Neisse-Nisa-Nysa
To read the OECD report
The Neisse - Nisa - Nysa Euroregion (ERN) is a municipal partnership of three border territories at the outer border of the EU. It involves the Czech Republic and Republic of Poland, which are associated with the EU, as well as the EU Member country, the Federal Republic of Germany. This fact is important to the comparison of this Euroregion with other Euroregions formed along the internal boundaries of the EU, such as that at the German-Dutch border.
In mid-2002, the Kvarken Council was working on eight separate projects with a combined budget of SEK 45 million. Apart from project work, the emphasis is on promoting the interests of border regions, information activities and networking. In addition, the Kvarken Council provides the secretariat for the Steering Committee for Interreg IIIA Kvarken-MittSkandia. All activities must be concrete, useful and appropriate to border regions.
Euregio Karelia is the first Euregio- region on the land border between the EU and Russia. Euregio Karelia is based on the regions' long, common cultural and cooperation traditions, as well as on experiences gained on both sides of the border on the EU programmes and reconciliation between different programmes.
The Ems Dollard Region (EDR) is a cross-border organisation in the northern Dutch-German border area. Its aim is to establish and improve contacts between people, companies and organisations within the border region. This website gives you an overview of the EDR, its members and its varied activities.
The euregio rhein-maas-nord supports the coexistence of Netherlanders and German in the common boundary space with approx. 2 Mio. inhabitants. The European Union, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the North Rhine-Westphalia country support these attempts through different supporting-programs.
At the heart of Europe, the Great Region is a cross-border space in which, since the years sixty, five countries and regions are built a common future surmounting for that the numerous kilometers of borders that have shaped it for decades. In the course of the years, the cross-border cooperation is institutionalized itself around several poles. In this process, the towns are not absent. In numerous domains (tourism, culture, education, conversion of the territory, urbanism etc...), the cross-border cooperation can not be translated on the ground without the participation of the towns.
Under auspices of the RegioGesellschaft the project " Council of the RegioTriRhena" was prepared in the coordination committee of the three RegioGesellschaften and lifted in January 1995 from the baptism. The RegioTriRhena- council is a trinational cooperation platform for communes, regional authorities, associations as well as economy and science rings. In the spring 2003 the council gave a fixed legal foundation to his trinational activities under the new e.V. RegioTriRhena- council name.
EuroRegion PRO EUROPA VIADRINA
Euroregion "Pro Europa Viadrina" is situated right within the dynamic East-to-West trade and traffic corridor Rotterdam-Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow. The cities of Frankfurt-on-Oder, Ei-senhuettenstadt, Gorzow and Slubice are centres of econo-mic activity. To the West Euro-region borders with Berlin and it offers direct access to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, highly-educated labour, developed estates for manufacturing and industrial production.
The five countries Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine all meet in the Center of Europe, a rural mountainous area centering on the Carpathian Mountain range and the Tisa River basin. The region can be characterised by economic under-development resulting from its peripheral location and complex history of inter-state and inter-ethnic relations.
Danube-Kris-Mures-Tizsa (DKMT)
The Euroregion Danube - Kris - Mures - Tisza was founded in 1997 and operates on the basis of a Cooperation Protocol signed by nine local authority presidents (eight county councils and an autonomous region) from Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia. As a true historical document, the Protocol proved strong support towards the creation of the first cross border institutions and developed intense relations between local administrations situated on different sides of the borders.
La Comunità di lavoro Regio Insubrica è stata costituita nel 1995 a Varese,dal Cantone Ticino (Svizzera) e dalle Province di Como, di Varese e del Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (Italia), allo scopo di promuovere la cooperazione tranfrontaliera nella regione italo-svizzera dei Tre Laghi Prealpini e di favorire la presa di coscienza dell’appartenenza ad un territorio che è iscritto, al di là dei confini istituzionali, nella geografia, nella storia, nella cultura e nella lingua.
Euroregion Baltic (ERB) was established in February 1998 as a cooperation between nine regions of Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Since its early days ERB has been pursuing the goals of improving life conditions for its inhabitants, promoting bonds and contacts among local communities, and providing measures for a more sustainable development within the region.
The Euregio Rhein-Waal would like to help to keep on reducing the boundaries within Europe. Simultaneously we strive for a strong economic, social and social position of our area. The Euregio Rhein-Waal attempts this through the realization and promotion of transborder cooperation in the border area German-Dutch.
The Euregion Scheldemond includes the Provinces of East and West Flanders in Belgium and the Province of Zealand in the Netherlands. European Cross-border co-operation has developed between these provinces.
The German-Polish boundary area is not center of the European integration process only due to their situation: Here supports the increase from east and west already lastingly. Municipalities and cities work since years together. Infrastructure projects are planned country-extending and realized. A new European spirit arises, through which being able to become from former dividing lines sound combinations of the integration. Just the variety is the fortune of Europe which it is to maintain necessary and this variety meets at the boundaries.
The Cross-Border Association “Tatry” Euroregion is a voluntary community of Polish and Slovak villages cities and powiats (counties) – members of the Association based in Nowy Targ in Poland and in Kiezmark in Slovakia. The highest authority of the euroregion is the Congress gathering at least once a year. It is composed of 70 delagates, 35 from each side. Every two years the Congress appoints the Council - the euroregion’s executive body.
The development of the idea of creating an Euro-region at the junction of Belarus, the Ukraine and Poland was being carried on from 1992. However, the trans-border association “Euroregion “Bug” was founded only in 1995. On the initial stage it included the Volyn region of the Ukraine and the Lublin, Chelm, Tarnobrzeg, and Zamosc provinces of Poland
Euroregion Pomerania was established in December 1995 and is a cooperation between Germany, Poland and Sweden. The regions concerned are mainly peripheral regions compared to their national centres, but important because of their Baltic Sea harbours.The goal of Euroregion Pomerania is to improve regional cooperation, develop SME's, expand industrial areas, joint marketing etc. The Euroregion Pomerania has also cooperation with some Danish counties.
The interborder union Niemen Euroregion was formed on 6 July 1997 on the power of a multilateral understanding concluded by representatives of Poland, Lithuania) and Grodzieńskie Voivodeship (Belarussia). A Euroregion was established with the purpose of intensifying social, economic and political contacts between these areas which are connected by a common geografical, histiorical and cultural inheritance.
Euroregion Bílé-Biele Karpaty (ER BBK) was established by the Memorandum of Cross-border Association dated on July 30, 2000 by the Slovak association Región Biele Karpaty and Czech association Region Bílé Karpaty. It was registered on Slovak side, at regional State Administration in Trenčín, on September 28, 2000 as an association of legal entities where three sectors co-operate, with its seat in Trenčín
The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is the forum for government level co-operation on matters concerning the Barents Region. BEAC was established in 1993 in order to "provide impetus to existing cooperation and consider new initiatives and proposals
Transborder committees support and support the nachbarschaftlichen relationships, contacts help with tying or deepening and so already different trinational projects brought onto the way. Some of these committees are placed in the Maison TRIRHENA Palmrain of the former customs plant between France and Germany. This house which symbolizes the idea of the trinationality became the turntable of the Regio TriRhena.
A Co-operation Agreement was signed between the County of Kent and the Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in April 1987. The aim is to strengthen cross-border understanding and take full advantage of the Channel Tunnel.
The EUROREGION was extended to include Belgium in June 1991. The five regions - Kent, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Brussels, Flanders ad Wallonie, are linked by historic ties, communication networks, common frontiers, economic and commercial flows and population movements.
