I examined the cross-border micro-regional level to see whether CBC governance is characterized by the kind of decision-making that transcends the different and particularistic interests of member states for the common good, hence realizing a well-functioning CBC ethical governance. Through CBC-ETHOS I argued that to achieve this aim it is necessary to focus not only on the economic dimension of CBC but also on the ethical side of it. A preliminary general finding of my project is that cross-border actors need to face considerable constraints that at times, hamper the operationalization of ethical values.
I found that official EU CBC documentation, supported by the data collected through qualitative research (fieldwork research based on face-to-face interviews) has highlighted the importance of ethical values in creating an efficient CBC governance. Hence the focus was to define and implement values such as subsidiarity, responsibility, gratuiteness, consensus linked to obedience and trust, promoted by a feeling of empathy among the actors that are engaged in CBC. My analysis has provided evidence that though there are rules for responding to a particular grammar of conduct, CBC is often dominated by conflicts of interests among the actors involved in CBC, which can lead to the predominance of particularistic interests. Hence, the fundamental ethical value to promote the common good of the CBR as a whole is hampered.
The questions addressed in this research contribute to clarifying whether CBC values lead to transnationalism. Transnationalism has been theorized as a specific kind of governance network that is underpinned by central ethical values such as sincerity in efficiently implementing joint action for the CBR as a whole; openness in pursuing common goals for the common good; responsibility for operationalizing EU CBC rules and trust among actors at different governmental and non-governmental levels. It has emerged that this trust is based on an awareness that national interests should be transcended in the name of a cross-border regional good (Eberlein and Kerwer, 2004; Hakli, 2009; Hall, 2008).
However, my analysis of both Interreg activities and the EGTC-GO shows that CBC is still perceived and pursued as an international and intergovernmental activity that mainly involves national entities or their representatives. Accordingly, it still mainly responds to national political aims and benefits, rather than the overall common good of the CBR. Hence, member states’ interests are placed in front of joint cross-border aims. As this international approach is predominant in CBC, a top-down process leads these activities. Cross-border governance addresses residents of cross-border regions as mainly consumers of CBC outcomes, not active agents who participate in these activities. It has also emerged that one of the main problems for the operationalization of an effective CBC ethical governance is the change in the composition of CBC actors (who are mainly political actors that generally take nationalist political decisions rather than cross-border ones). Nevertheless, we can see a slow process of change, thanks to new legal bodies like the EGTC, which provides alternative ways to approach CBC that could respond to expectations for CBC ethical governance. However, there is a need to evaluate these new legal bodies which are still in the experimental phase.
