Cross-border cooperation of the European Region
Tyrol - South Tyrol- Trentino
Problem and Project Objective
The EGTC EUREGIO Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino covers the two countries Italy and Austria. The will to cooperate is not just in the economic sense, which seems profitable from the cross-border work of both sides. The historical background, which began in 1918 with the separation of South Tyrol from the rest of Tyrol are probably the most important basis for the development of a European region. In 1998, with the creation of the EGTC Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, cross-border cooperation was launched (Pernthaler, 2008).
The development of community partnerships is a major concern in the development of the European region. On the one hand, they represent a support of solidarity between the regions, on the other hand, the desire for active cooperation on the part of the municipalities and ultimately of the population. Currently, 52 registered municipal partnerships are registered within the EUREGIO Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino. The total number of municipalities in the European region is 572, which is why the idea of promoting partnerships is close (Europaregion Euregio, 2020). Launched on 4 March 2020, the project, in cooperation with the EGTC EUREGIO Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, aims to provide insightful information on community partnerships within these regions.
The municipalities of the three countries and the municipal councils, which are responsible for the decision-making process, are the starting point for the investigation. The question raised in this context relates to possible causes which are in favour of or against the establishment of community partnerships. Possible obstacles to partnership can only be identified. At the same time, however, it is obvious that these are existent, as reported by the above figures on existing community partnerships. The same applies to potential success factors that already exist within the three regions. The lack of information is therefore an obstacle to the further development of the European region. As a result, it is in the great interest of the EGTC EUREGIO to understand the mood and attitude of individual municipalities regarding a partnership. The task of the project group is to identify, evaluate and analyse these factors in the best possible way, providing value to the practical partners, which could be useful for future decisions.
There is no precise explanation of why certain communities are willing to enter into a partnership and some not. Rather, there are influential factors that can make it difficult or easier for a community partnership. These factors may be economic, political, cultural or geographical (Sousa, 2013).
For the EUREGIO, addressing the factors of influence is of great importance due to the relatively few partnerships, as this gives the opportunity for change. Previous studies have already addressed barriers to cross-border cooperation. These include, for example, language barriers or traffic problems. In Trentino and in Tyrol in particular, the population is mono-linguistic and the number of people who speak the language of the other region is low. This is, for example, a factor that negatively affects the formation of new partnerships. Networking with other municipalities can address these barriers, while at the same time benefiting the individual communities from the mutual exchange of experiences and the innovative solutions of the partners (Alber et al., 2019). Another study showed that the population would like to see cross-border cooperation expanded (Traweger & Pallaver, 2018). The political leaders want to follow up on this demand in the current joint government program 2019-2021. Under the heading "Strengthening the Community Partnership", the three state governors intend to work on the strengthening of cooperation between the three municipal associations and on joint communal days (Land Tyrol, 2019). In the process, this project will involve a survey of local councils and municipalities, which will determine the factors of success and the obstacles to success.
The project objective has been defined in consultation with the project partner as follows: "The expectations and moods of municipalities should be assessed and evaluated by 1st July 2020 with regard to a possible or existing community partnership. This survey will take the form of a questionnaire, while highlighting possible success factors, but also obstacles, of such partnerships". The research work, however, is not intended to promote a community partnership or to establish partnerships by the project group.
With regard to the systems involved in the project (persons or groups of persons), an environment analysis was first carried out of which stakeholders were identified in the project. The project group then created a project structure plan by recording a schedule including milestones and distributing individual project tasks in order to work as effectively as possible. After a literature search and discussion, the theory was used to derive the question of research and the hypotheses to be investigated, which were finally reviewed after the survey and evaluation. This research is a standardized, quantitative research, carried out according to the objectivity, reliability and validity criteria (Flick, 2015).
Literature:
Sousa, L. D. (2013). Understanding European cross-border cooperation: A framework for analysis. Journal of European Integration, 35(6), 669-687.
Flick, Uwe (2015): Introducing research methodology. A beginner`s guide to doing a research project. 2nd ed., Los Angeles: Sage. p. 5, p. 49ff.m edited by NM.
Land Tirol (2019). Gemeinsames Regierungsprogramm. Euregio-Regierungsprogramms 2019-2021.
Pernthaler, P. (2008). Das Problem einer demokratischen Legitimation der Europaregion Tirol. In Recht Politik Wirtschaft Dynamische Perspektiven (pp. 477-493). Springer, Vienna.
Sousa, L. D. (2013). Understanding European cross-border cooperation: A framework for analysis. Journal of European Integration, 35(6), 669-687.
Traweger, C., & Pallaver, G. (2018). Die Europaregion Tirol-Südtirol-Trentino - Erwartungen und Potentiale. EVTZ Europaregion Tirol-Südtirol-Trentino. http://www.europaregion.info/downloads/181119_Buch_Euregio_DEU_print.pdf.