EUBORDERREGIONS EU External Borders and the Immediate Neighbours. Analysing Regional Development Options through Policies and Practices of Cross-Border Co-operation SSH-2010-2.2-1- 266920 Cross-Border Cooperation and Interaction between Southeast Finland and its Neighbouring Russian Regions of Leningrad Oblast’ and St. Petersburg Case Study Report November 2014 Elaborated by: Sarolta Németh Matti Fritsch Heikki Eskelinen (Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu) With contributions from: Elena Nikiforova (CISR, St. Petersburg) The authors of the Report are Sarolta Németh, Matti Fritsch and Heikki Eskelinen (Karelian Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland) and Elena Nikiforova (Centre for Independent Social Research, St. Petersburg). Contributions were received also from Dmitry Zimin (Karelian Institute) for sections 1.3.3, 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 as well as from Ekaterina Mikhailova (graduate student at the Department of Territorial Development and Regional Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics) for section 3.2.5; and Virpi Kaisto (South Karelia Institute, Lappeenranta University of Technology) supported the authors by animating the stakeholder forum held in Lappeenranta on 11th October, 2013. We would like to thank all the Finnish and Russian stakeholder organisations and their representatives who assisted in our field work, providing time for interviews, answering the questionnaire, and/or participating in the stakeholder forum organised within the project. Without their cooperation and interest this report would not have been possible to compile. Authors are fully responsible for the content of this report; EC is not liable for any use that can be made on the information contained herein. Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1. The geographical situation of the case study area ................................................................... 3 1.2. Historical background ................................................................................................................ 4 1.2.1. The origin of the border ..................................................................................................... 4 1.2.2. Cross‐border co‐operation in the shadow of historical legacies ........................................ 7 1.2.3. Minorities and cross‐border migration in the case study area .......................................... 8 1.3. Socio‐economic characteristics of the case study area .......................................................... 10 1.3.1. Main features of the territorial structure ........................................................................ 10 1.3.2. Demographic development of the regions included in the case study ............................ 14 1.3.3. Economic situation and development of the regions included in the case study ........... 15 1.4. Administrative and governance context ................................................................................. 22 1.5. Border traffic, visa regimes and border infrastructure .......................................................... 27 1.5.1. Border traffic and the infrastructure of border‐crossing stations ................................... 27 1.5.2. Border regime, visa applications, border security aspects .............................................. 35 2 THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN CBC ................................................................................. 40 2.1 The role of EU policies and (funding) frameworks ................................................................. 40 2.2 The role of other international funding systems in CBC ........................................................ 43 3 SOCIO‐ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND FLOWS ................................................................................... 44 3.1. Economic co‐operation ............................................................................................................ 44 3.1.1 Trade ................................................................................................................................. 44 3.1.2 Investments and entrepreneurship .................................................................................. 48 3.1.3 Cross‐border commuting and labour market ................................................................... 52 3.1.4 Tourism ............................................................................................................................. 52 3.1.5 Determinants of economic co‐operation ......................................................................... 56 3.2. Institutional and people‐to‐people co‐operation ................................................................... 57 3.2.1 The role of regional/local authorities in CBC ................................................................... 58 3.2.2 Educational exchanges and double‐degrees .................................................................... 59 3.2.3 Project‐based co‐operation in higher education ............................................................. 64 3.2.4 CBC in the fields of culture, sports and youth policy ....................................................... 64 3.2.5 CBC between municipalities: the Imatra‐Svetogorsk town‐twinning agreement ............ 72 3.2.6 Participation and networks in CBC – results from the network analysis ......................... 76 3.2.7 Determinants of institutional and people‐to‐people co‐operation ................................. 84 1 4 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGIES FOR CO‐OPERATION ............................................... 86 4.1. Border location ........................................................................................................................ 86 4.1.1. Border as a division/barrier or bridge: physical and cultural ........................................... 86 4.1.2. The main negative and positive aspects of border location ............................................ 89 4.1.3. Perception of the border and the border location – results of the Media Analysis ........ 92 4.2. Future orientations , strategies and the role of regional and local authorities .................... 95 4.2.1. Local‐regional perceptions of desirable development scenarios in light of perceived future opportunities and threats from the border location ............................................................ 95 4.2.2. Regional strategies versus geopolitics – a note on events in 2014 .................................. 98 5 POLICY OPTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 99 5.1. Dilemmas regarding CBC policies ............................................................................................ 99 5.1.1. Security of the border vs. efficiency of cross‐border co‐operation ................................. 99 5.1.2. Transborder co‐operation opportunities vs. enhancing global economic ties .............. 100 5.1.3. CBC programmes and other policies: integration vs. clear separation .......................... 101 5.1.4. Orientation of CBC programmes in terms of their goal setting: broad or focussed, hard infrastructural or ‘soft’ investments .............................................................................................. 102 5.1.5. Comments on ways to improve EU CBC programmes / projects ................................... 102 5.2. Integration or co‐existence? .................................................................................................. 103 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix 1. List of Interviewees and participants in the stakeholder forum ..................................... 111 Appendix 2. Newspapers selected from Southeast Finland and revised for the Media Analysis ...... 114 2 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. The geographical situation of the case study area The Finnish‐Russian case study area (CSA) is located at the north‐eastern edge of the European Union territory and includes the NUTS 3 regions of Kymenlaakso and Etelä‐Karjala on the Finnish side and the City of St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast (Leningrad region) on the Russian side (see the map in Figure 1). Kymenlaakso and Etelä‐Karjala are both part of the NUTS 2 region of South Finland (Etelä‐ Suomi, FI1C) whereas Leningrad region and St. Petersburg are part of the Northwestern Federal District of Russia1. In 2012, the two Finnish regions represent approximately 5.8 per cent (pop. 313 776) of the Finnish population and about 3.8 per cent of the country’s area. The Russian part of the case study area contains approximately 5.1 per cent of the country’s total population (including the second largest city of Russia) and represents only 0.5 per cent of the country’s total area. Figure 1. Map of the case study region The border region contains the southernmost stretch of the 1 340 km long Finnish‐Russian border. The land border located within the region is approximately 135 km long. Etelä‐Karjala shares an additional 80 km long border with the more northern Karelian Republic. 4 out of the 9 international border‐ crossing points along the Finnish‐Russian border can be found in the CSA, which also deal with the 1 The Northwestern Federal