Borders, visions and regions The cross-border governance capacity of the Øresund Region How to improve the influence of cross-border regions Jens Bjørn Gefke Grelck Department of Human Geography Supervisor: Teis Hansen Course code SGEMO8 Examiner: Markus Grillitsch Semester/year: HT/2020 Abstract In recent years, cross-border regions have been challenged by multiple levels governance creating barriers rather than solutions to support cross-border spaces. This study aims at inquiring how the role of cross-border regions is changing in relation to their governance capacity. Governance capacity relates to actions, practices and visions of such regions. Through investigating a case study in the Øresund Region, the study analyses how the reorganisation of a cross-border institution leads to a new type of governance capacity. The empirical insights of the thesis were collected through stakeholder interviews and desktop research. In this case study, I challenge traditional state-centred views of space, and instead suggest that there is a need to change the national political discourse in order to benefit from cross-border regions. Key words: Cross-border regions, governance capacity, Øresund, Greater Copenhagen, rescaling, institutional reorganization Word count: 18.519 ii Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge gratefully the help of all contributors of this thesis. This includes my supervisor Teis Hansen, thank you for your guidance, for giving me new insights and for your support when I was having trouble making decisions. These COVID-times have been difficult. I would also like to thank Thea Wiborg and Johan Wessman at Øresundsinstituttet, who helped me find contacts and fresh perspectives to cross-border issues in Øresund I didn’t have the slightest clue existed. Of course, I also have to give thanks to all the participants of the study. Without you, this thesis wouldn’t have been possible. In addition, I would also like to thank the following people for your critique and positive feedback when I needed it the most: Lucas, Søren, Maïwenn, Sofie and Hanna. Copenhagen, 11 January 2021 Jens Bjørn Gefke Grelck iii Borders What’s up with that? Politics M.I.A Borders, from the album AIM, 2015 iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents v List of Figures and Tables vii List of Abbreviations viii 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research questions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Statement of research question.................................................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Unit of analysis ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.4 Thesis structure ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4 2. The political space of the Øresund Region: .................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 The Øresund Committee ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 The Greater Copenhagen Committee ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 The actors of the Øresund Committee and the Greater Copenhagen Committee ............................................................. 8 3. Theoretical framework..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Borders ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Cross-border regions ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 3.3 The Europe of Regions and the political rescaling ............................................................................................................... 12 3.4 Governance in cross-border institutions: ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.5 Cross-border governance capacity .......................................................................................................................................... 14 3.6 The operationalisation of cross-border governance capacity ............................................................................................... 15 4. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 4.1 Philosophical reflections: A critical realist perspective ......................................................................................................... 18 4.2 Research design: Case-study research ..................................................................................................................................... 19 4.3 Research methods ..................................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.4 Limitations ................................................................................................................................................................................. 23 5. Analysis - Part I. The case of the Øresund Committee ............................................................................................................... 25 5.1 The birth of the committee ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 5.2 The amalgamation and the financial crisis - the breaking point for the committee .......................................................... 25 5.3 The secretariat ........................................................................................................................................................................... 26 5.4 The new strategy ....................................................................................................................................................................... 27 5.5 The demise of the committee .................................................................................................................................................. 30 6. Analysis - Part II. The reorganisation from the Øresund Committee to the Greater Copenhagen Committee ................... 31 6.1 Towards a renewed strategy for growth ................................................................................................................................. 31 v 7. Analysis - Part III. The case of the Greater Copenhagen Committee ....................................................................................... 37 7.1 The secretariat ........................................................................................................................................................................... 38 7.2 The Transport Charter and the new role of the politician ................................................................................................... 40 7.3 Halland joins and business leaves ............................................................................................................................................ 44 7.4 The current situation with the COVID-19 outbreak ............................................................................................................ 45 7.5 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................................................................................. 47 8. Discussion - the role of cross-border regions ............................................................................................................................... 51 8.1 Rescaling: an opening for CBRs? ............................................................................................................................................ 54 9. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 56 10. References ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 59 11. Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 70 vi List of Figures Figure 1.