A 'Macro-regional' Europe in the Making - Theoretical Approaches and Empirical Evidence

European Union (EU) macro-regional strategies, such as the ones composed for the Adriatic Ionian, Alpine, Baltic Sea and Danube regions, aim to improve transnational cooperation and coordination in a 'territorially defined' setting. These strategies propose an integrated framework for cooperation involving a wide range of EU member states, regional organisations, sub-national authorities, civil society organisations as well as non-EU partner countries. The contributors question whether macro-regional strategies are helpful instruments for improving actor-policy linkages at the European, member/partner countries, and sub-national levels, and whether the objective of social, economic and territorial cohesion can be fulfilled through these strategies.

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Macro-regions, 'Macro-regionalization' and Macro-regional Strategies in the European Union (EU): Toward a New Form of European Governance?; Stefan Gänzle and Kristine Kern PART II: DEVELOPMENT OF EU MACRO-REGIONAL STRATEGIES 2. From Subregionalism to Macro-regionalism in Europe and the European Union; Martin Dangerfield 3. Macro-regions and the EU: The Role of Cohesion Policy; Irene McMaster and Arno van der Zwet PART III: THEORIZING MACRO-REGIONALIZATION AND MACRO-REGIONAL STRATEGIES IN EUROPE 4. Exploring EU Macro-regional Strategies through the Lens of Multilevel Governance; Simona Piattoni 5. Macro-regional Strategies: Agents of Europeanization and Rescaling?; Dominic Stead, Franziska Sielker and Tobias Chilla PART IV: GOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE AND IMPACT OF MACRO-REGIONAL STRATEGIES IN EUROPE 6. The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region; Stefan Gänzle and Kristine Kern 7. The European Union Strategy for the Danube Region; Attila Ágh 8. The European Union Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region; Battistina Cugusi and Andrea Stocchiero 9. The European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region; Jörg Balsiger 10. North Sea Macro-region? Partnerships, Networking and Macro-regional Dimensions; Mike Danson 11. The Atlantic Arc: A Macro-region in the Making?; Mark Wise