ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the German–Polish bilateral relationship by concentrating on the regional and local levels and testing cross-border cooperation (CBC). The Interreg programme has been chosen as a source of data to evaluate the form and quality of interactions, as well as agency in the area. We have chosen CBC because of its capacity as an instrument for overcoming economic underdevelopment and creating cross-border interconnections practised in the context of multi-layer and multidimensional (a)symmetries. The aim of this chapter is to map local and regional power relations in the German–Polish borderland. To achieve this aim of understanding the dynamism of German–Polish relations, we have analysed the cross-border cooperation and cross-border projects that formed part of the Interreg programme implemented in the period from 2007 to 2013 (the last fully completed multiannual financial EU framework). The findings reveal several local and regional factors that either hinder or support bilateral cooperation, such as structural (a)symmetries or differences in potentials. They also identify an (a)symmetrically framed model of cooperation that is deeply oriented towards overcoming economic underdevelopment and social separation.
