Border regions represent 40% of the EU territory. Home to a third of the EU’s population, the development of these areas is essential for their competitiveness.

Cross-border territories are key areas within the EU, where both the effects of movement towards European integration as well as the remaining obstacles to integration can best be studied, whether this relates to the mobility of people, services, goods or capital.

This is why border regions are often described as the laboratories for European integration. However, obstacles to cooperation remain because of the lack of knowledge of the ‘other’ (culture, language, judicial-social-political system) and lack of appropriate methodologies for intercultural work. This creates a need for specialised training, counselling and support to be adapted to the specific characteristics of each frontier.