Cross-border co-operation, institutionalization and political space across the English Channel

Cross-border initiatives are based on flexible co-operative networks and have many of the characteristics which the institutionalist perspective argues are often present in regions that have developed effective institutional forms. Transfrontier programmes involving local authorities in northern France and southern England are examined. The paper explores the significance of cross-border strategies for the development and restructuring of the role of local governance in institutional arrangements and territories. It also considers the interaction between cross-border spaces, the transnational spatial planning regions promoted by the European Commission and the emerging regional politics of South East England.