Joint International Conference on Long-term Experiments ...

1. GENERAL APPROACH TO EUROREGIONAL PHENOMENA
The moment worth to be symbolically named “1989” and which marks the beginning of
the communist system wane in Europe, is followed by two opposite tendencies:
fragmentation and integration (Neguţ S., 2005). On the one hand the territorial
disintegration is obvious, peaceful (the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, 1993) or
conflicting (e.g. Yugoslavia, 1991-1992, former USSR, 1991). On the other hand, an
economic integration tendency through successive waves of integration in European
Union (2004, 2007) manifested.
One of the dimensions of integration was the regionation or euroregionation,
which has not entailed a fragmentation, but vicinity rather, through the effort to recede
economic, social, cultural discrepancies between territorial units spatially close
together, but which belonged to different states, in an attempt to make the most of
geographical complementarity.
The euroregional model implies the association between local territorial
communities, from two or more neighbouring states, creating a unitary region,
characterized by some common particularities and interests. Euroregions concretize
geographical solidarities, despite state frontiers, making new spaces of decentralized
cooperation.
The territories of these close cross-border spaces could be characterized as
territorial units of a relative homogeneity with regard to the natural background of the
two or more states from the respective Euroregion, which are similar from the point of
view of their features, traditions, activities and preoccupations.
Thus, the collaboration phenomenon within Euroregions consists of establishing
some direct relationships between the regions and communities on both sides of a
state’s frontier, by virtue of the local authorities’ competences, as they are defined in
every country’s national legislation.
The prerequisites for an optimal development of one of these Euroregions,
conditions that the two counties hereof (Bihor – Romania and Hajdú-Bihar - Hungary)
seem to have successfully accomplished, are: a minimal economic equilibrium, relief,
language and culture unity, similar administrative structure and, why not, the same
historical heritage, given the fact that every state has minorities settled in the
neighbouring state. In fact, euroregions 1 (Neguţ S., 1999) represent a factor of regional
stability and security at the frontier, which aims to outrun a negative historical heritage
in the context of reinstating an economic equilibrium able to promote a high living
standard and an improved quality of life.
1 On the occasion of the meeting from Praga, 1998, concerning the matter of regional
cooperation formulas in Central and South-East Europe, dr. Sabathil, as member of the
European Commission Delegation, emphasized: the most traditional and efective form
for cooperation between cross-border regions and (…) a relatively flexible instrument
for collaboration in these frontier zones.
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