RadioEurodistrict (RED) - History of the First French-German online radio (2004)

Thomas WALKER

Master's thesis

Abstract:

This paper has considered the history of the Radioeurodistrict (RED) which led to the difficulty of defining the concepts of Eurodistricts and Euroregions. A literature review was undertaken initially, and further information provided by a semi-structured interview with the general secretary of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict (the focus area). In order to understand the objectives to create a Eurodistrict the history of an established Eurégio (Germany-Netherlands) was examined as well as a Euroregion of the Centre-east of Europe (Poland-Czech Republic). The consideration of the history of war and conflict in these European regions further facilitated the understanding of the motivations which are shown to have changed over time. Since the main focus of this paper is the SOE, the motivations to form this Eurodistrict and its specific projects were described. By considering the functioning and administration of these regions, their complexity was examined. The SOE as an EGTC was addressed in relation to the finance and the administration and the role of INTERREG was discussed. The interview greatly enhanced the understanding of the functioning of the SOE. Reasons for the failure of RED radio were surmised and failure of the Eurodistricts examined. Some evidence of failure was provided by newspaper articles from as recent as this year as well as the interviewee who spoke of some of her difficulties. In order to improve future study, weaknesses in the questions asked are addressed and further research ideas put forward.

Abstract:

This paper has considered the history of the Radioeurodistrict (RED) which led to the difficulty of defining the concepts of Eurodistricts and Euroregions. A literature review was undertaken initially, and further information provided by a semi-structured interview with the general secretary of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict (the focus area). In order to understand the objectives to create a Eurodistrict the history of an established Eurégio (Germany-Netherlands) was examined as well as a Euroregion of the Centre-east of Europe (Poland-Czech Republic). The consideration of the history of war and conflict in these European regions further facilitated the understanding of the motivations which are shown to have changed over time. Since the main focus of this paper is the SOE, the motivations to form this Eurodistrict and its specific projects were described. By considering the functioning and administration of these regions, their complexity was examined. The SOE as an EGTC was addressed in relation to the finance and the administration and the role of INTERREG was discussed. The interview greatly enhanced the understanding of the functioning of the SOE. Reasons for the failure of RED radio were surmised and failure of the Eurodistricts examined. Some evidence of failure was provided by newspaper articles from as recent as this year as well as the interviewee who spoke of some of her difficulties. In order to improve future study, weaknesses in the questions asked are addressed and further research ideas put forward.

Keywords

Eurodistrict, Euroregion, Eurégio, EGTC (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation), INTERREG, SOE (Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict), RED

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 30. 8. 2019

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Dr. Jörg Ulbert

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE

Faculty of Economics

Master programme / odbor:
Regional and European Project Management / Regional and European Project Management