EUROBORD | Bordering Europe: Boundary Formation and European Integration

Summary
Integration crises and geopolitical shifts have put the borders of the European Union (EU) in the focus of attention and contestation. Current developments highlight how strongly European integration is affected by outside events and cross-border transactions. Yet theories of European integration focus almost exclusively on the internal boundaries between the member states. EUROBORD therefore develops and tests a novel ‘bordering theory’ aiming to explain how external boundary developments affect the trajectory of integration.

The bordering theory proposes an account of how ‘bordering’ – the making and configuration of the EU’s boundaries – affects ‘ordering’: the structure of politics and institutions in the EU. Specifically, it analyses how ‘debordering’ (the expansion, opening and incongruence of the EU’s boundaries) in the post-Cold War period has generated integration problems and political conflicts, which have triggered a process of ‘rebordering’ (retrenchment or closure) in turn. EUROBORD examines the conditions and mechanisms that lead to alternative configurations of the EU’s boundaries.

EUROBORD introduces innovative conceptual frameworks, automated data collection techniques and new datasets to map the changing configuration of EU borders and study their effects on (i) economic, cultural, political and military transactions across these boundaries, (ii) member state political performance, (iii) European party positions and conflict, and (iv) boundary policies and the trajectory of European integration. This comprehensive data allows EUROBORD to conduct the first systematic empirical study of the effects of external bordering in European integration, using a mix of panel analyses and case studies. EUROBORD will thereby generate a more complete and adequate understanding of the dynamics of European integration and provide insights on the political causes and effects of border design.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101018300
Start date: 01-11-2021
End date: 31-10-2026
Total budget - Public funding: 2 477 206,00 Euro - 2 477 206,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Integration crises and geopolitical shifts have put the borders of the European Union (EU) in the focus of attention and contestation. Current developments highlight how strongly European integration is affected by outside events and cross-border transactions. Yet theories of European integration focus almost exclusively on the internal boundaries between the member states. EUROBORD therefore develops and tests a novel ‘bordering theory’ aiming to explain how external boundary developments affect the trajectory of integration.

The bordering theory proposes an account of how ‘bordering’ – the making and configuration of the EU’s boundaries – affects ‘ordering’: the structure of politics and institutions in the EU. Specifically, it analyses how ‘debordering’ (the expansion, opening and incongruence of the EU’s boundaries) in the post-Cold War period has generated integration problems and political conflicts, which have triggered a process of ‘rebordering’ (retrenchment or closure) in turn. EUROBORD examines the conditions and mechanisms that lead to alternative configurations of the EU’s boundaries.

EUROBORD introduces innovative conceptual frameworks, automated data collection techniques and new datasets to map the changing configuration of EU borders and study their effects on (i) economic, cultural, political and military transactions across these boundaries, (ii) member state political performance, (iii) European party positions and conflict, and (iv) boundary policies and the trajectory of European integration. This comprehensive data allows EUROBORD to conduct the first systematic empirical study of the effects of external bordering in European integration, using a mix of panel analyses and case studies. EUROBORD will thereby generate a more complete and adequate understanding of the dynamics of European integration and provide insights on the political causes and effects of border design.

Status

SIGNED

Call topic

ERC-2020-ADG

Update Date

27-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
ERC-2020
ERC-2020-ADG ERC ADVANCED GRANT