European groupings of territorial cooperation: A means to harden spatially dispersed cooperation?

Abstract

In the past decade, over 60 European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs) have emerged, which are intended to help institutionalize cross-border cooperation. This paper analyses how establishing an EGTC contributes to the institutional ‘hardening’ of the spatially dispersed variant of cross-border co-operations and examines the attendant challenges. The research seeks to contribute to current debates concerning ‘soft spaces’ and makes the case that EGTCs represent a flexible tool for the hardening of spatially dispersed cross-border cooperations.