Transboundary Regionalization at European Seas

This chapter analyses the liquid institutionalization of transboundary maritime regionalization at the scale of European seas. The chapter starts with defining transboundary regionalization and the differences between transboundary and cross-border cooperation. To answer the question what types of liquid institutionalization can be distinguished, the chapter analyses the emerging transboundary regionalization governance arrangements, of Transboundary Maritime Spatial Planning (TMSP) in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Sea Basin Strategies and Marco-Regional Strategies (for the Baltic Sea Region (2009) and for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (2014)). The analysis of transboundary regionalization governance arrangements showed two very different faces, and types of liquid institutionalization. First, analysis identified the informal governance experiments of Transboundary Maritime Spatial Planning projects and, secondly, the EU initiated formal governance processes of the Macro Regional Strategies.