University of Twente Student Theses
As of Friday, 8 August 2025, the current Student Theses repository is no longer available for thesis uploads. A new Student Theses repository will be available starting Friday, 15 August 2025.
Cross-border cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia and the Benelux Union: The flirt of NRW with Benelux Membership
Andringa, Wouter (2010) Cross-border cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia and the Benelux Union: The flirt of NRW with Benelux Membership.
![[img]](http://essay.utwente.nl/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) |
PDF
804kB |
| Abstract: | The flirt of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) with Benelux membership is best understood as a mix of garbage-can logic and strategic action. The negotiations for the renewal of the Benelux treaty offered an opportunity for NRW to increase cross-border cooperation (CBC) in the region. Interviews with civil servants working in cross-border networks and government reactions on advisory reports indicate social and cognitive fixations that prevented new forms of regional cooperation. The highly unrealistic suggestion of NRW that it could join the Benelux Union triggered reflection on what forms of cooperation are possible and what topics are relevant to the context of Benelux plus NRW. The result is that NRW and the Benelux now have a special partnership based on the belief that they are part of one highly interwoven and interdependent area. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 88 social and public administration |
| Programme: | European Studies BSc (56627) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60292 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page