Martín Guillermo Ramírez

Abstract

The European Union (EU) territorial development and cohesion have been supported by European institutions for decades, but they currently face a critical moment: the COVID-19 pandemic and Europeancoordination gaps have to be added to previously-existing difficulties, such as the growing climate-related and demographic challenges, and the wave of Euroscepticism, nationalism and populism. Viruses donot recognise borders, but the EU is still divided between those thinking that the economy should prevail over politics and those thinking otherwise. European citizens living in border areas know very well that weneed a common approach (and a stronger commitment) to the preservation of our values and rights, as well as to the definitive positioning of the EU as a global player. Integration starts at the bottom and movesacross borders. The legacy of cohesion and territorial stability that the EU leaves for future generations will depend on how it protects and strengthens cross-border cooperation at this stage.

Keywords: cross-border cooperation, cross-border obstacles & challenges, European Territorial Cooperation, ETC, European territorial integration, territorial cohesion

Martín Guillermo Ramírez [m.guillermo@aebr.eu], Association of European Border Regions

Citation

APA: Guillermo Ramírez, M. (2020). Debating real integrated territorial cooperation approaches to post-2020 EU policies: the challenges arising from COVID-19 from the perspective of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR). Europa XXI, 38, 119-137. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.7
MLA: Guillermo Ramírez, Martín. "Debating real integrated territorial cooperation approaches to post-2020 EU policies: the challenges arising from COVID-19 from the perspective of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)". Europa XXI, vol. 38, 2020, pp. 119-137. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.7
Chicago: Guillermo Ramírez, Martín. "Debating real integrated territorial cooperation approaches to post-2020 EU policies: the challenges arising from COVID-19 from the perspective of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)". Europa XXI 38 (2020): 119-137. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.7
Harvard: Guillermo Ramírez, M. 2020. "Debating real integrated territorial cooperation approaches to post-2020 EU policies: the challenges arising from COVID-19 from the perspective of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)". Europa XXI, vol. 38, pp. 119-137. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2020.38.7