Cross-border co-operation between political institutions and public authorities in the German-Danish border region: Why did changing an international border not have a significant impact on cross-border agency co-operation? Gerd Battrup Department of Border Region Studies, Sønderborg

The extent of cross-border cooperation between political institutions and public authorities in the Danish-German border region has been steadily growing since the late 1990s - and the establishment of (Euro) Region Sønderjylland - Schleswig in 1997 and the Danish implementation of the Schengen Agreement in March Regional and local actors experience a huge difference in their perception of cross-border cooperation and the perception of cross-border cooperation in state institutions, especially in the Danish central government: We see the cross-border cooperation as cooperating with our neighbouring municipality, while “Copenhagen” perceive cross-border cooperation in terms of international (or supranational) politics (Nicolaj Stage, Department manager, Aabenraa Job Centre, 20 November 2014) A typical regional approach to get central government bodies to remove barriers to cross- border cooperation is thus to articulate the problems as international or supranational and then ensure that the problems are formulated at a political level that is difficult to override, e.g. by involving Region Sønderjylland – Schleswig, South Schleswig bodies, e.g. IHK Flensburg, the Schleswig-Holstein government or, in one case, the European Commission

The distinction and the dilemma between the understanding of cross-border cooperation as neighbourly cooperation respectively international or supra-national co-operation is often more evident in regional or de-concentrated government agencies in the Danish-German border region Apart from tax authorities and perhaps also environmental authorities, there seems to be some reservations about openly and formalized cooperation. These include Social Services, with cross-border cooperation typically defined as a niche activity undertaken alone by one or two employees. The same applies – to a large extent – also to the cross-border police cooperation Also before Denmark’s implementation of the Schengen agreement, there was a rather extensive and close, but largely informal cooperation between Danish and German police, in particular Landespolizei, across the land-border. A senior executive at the South Jutland Police told me back in 2009 hat the implementation of the Schengen Agreement meant that cross-border cooperation had become more difficult. The tradition of a comprehensive and close informal police and customs cooperation - across the Danish-German border goes back to (at least) the changes of the boundary line in and in 1920

The establishment of the border gendarmerie (and an internal market within the Conglomerate state) in It was moved to the new border in 1866 and back again to the revised border in 1920 Top level cooperation: Central government police cooperation from regulation of emigrants traveling to the US in 1866 until 1944 (with some hesitation concerning among Danish officials about cooperating with Gestapo) (Sources: Henrik Stevnsborg & Henning Koch). Characterised by close personal and professional networks, but generally on ad hoc basis and rather informal Local cooperation: Numerous memories written/told by the border guards and customs officials show extensive, close but in large informal cross border cooperation from sharing of sheds and shelters to sharing information. I have not found any written sources telling about cooperation among the border guards in , but some sources telling about rather close cooperation between the Danish police and German police in the border region on criminal cases, again with some hesitation among the Danish police to cooperation with Gestapo After WWI and the establishment of the German federal state, local police officials seem to have re-established personal contacts with German police officers, e.g. through the local branches of the International Police Association in 1950 that organised and organises many local cross-border social activities

Since 2001 and the Danish implementation of the Schengen agreement, it seems that each step in order to deepen and widening the cross-border police cooperation has required the involvement and manifest ministerial approval, e.g. the establishment of a joint office (instead of just sitting on each floor in the same building), joint patrols (but not formally simultaneous control and simultaneous checks of persons and goods) Conclusion: Whatever changes back and forth of the border Danish state agencies (and in particular the police) have rarely had and have rarely any problems concerning the functional dimensions (Prescott 1990) of cross-border cooperation with German authorities (i.e. inter-unit exchange). Danish authorities' general reluctance to formalise cross-border cooperation with foreign authorities is thus connected first and foremost to be linked to the border as a symbol or demarcation of the boundaries of state authority Considerations: What about other type of exchanges and changes of boundary lines  e.g. cross-border cooperation across decisive political boundary lines, (e.g. Denmark and GDR, Poland and USSR before 1989/91)  does the distance between “Copenhagen” and the German-Danish border region matter, i.e. are there any differences between the experience of regional and local authorities in Sønderjylland and in the Øresund Region?