CORRELATION OF THE STRUCTURE AND PROCESS OF THE REGIONALIZATION IN THE EU: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF INTEGRATION STRATEGIES OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION (CASE STUDY OF EUREGIO MEUSE-RHINE)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of integration strategies of the institutions of
cross-border cooperation, with the case study of Euregio Meuse-Rhine coming under scrutiny.
The main questions addressed here are: what determines the perception by these institutions of
the power structure of the regionalization process, in what way this perception manifests itself
and how it shapes the power status of the Euregio with respect to the local, national and supranational
authorities. To answer these questions, the author analyzes the regionalization process
in its retrospective dimension and then conducts Foucauldian discourse analysis of the main
policy document of the institution of the Euregio to find out how it perceives the power structure
of regionalization as a form of cross-border integration and how it intends to shape the
way other entities perceive it. The author explains that the regionalization process is so complex
and multifaceted that it inevitably leads to coopetition between various actors that try at the
same time to assert their power status, outline their rights and responsibilities and retain implicit
control over general perception of them by the others. In the course of this analysis it is concluded
that the institutions of the euroregions use many discursive tools to properly present
themselves, and by doing so they attempt to assume a leading role in a process of further regionalization,
while playing down the contribution of the supranational bodies to this process
and attributing blame for its not sufficient realization to the national authorities. In fact, the euroregional
institutions have appropriated the discourse of regionalization and established an infrastructure
of control and regulation that determines the way they shape extra linguistic reality,
particularly power relations in the region.
Key words: regionalization, euroregion, integration, discourse, power.