Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance

 

Composition
 
  Some Euroregions include similar levels of authority, such as regions and provinces. The Carpathian Euroregion is made up of Hungarian megyes (counties), Ukrainian Oblasts (regions), Polish Voivodships (provinces) and Romanian Judets (counties) (the Slovak side currently participates with observer status).

Other examples show a mixed structure. An example is the Euregio Maas-Rhine where Dutch and Belgian provinces co-operate together with "Regio Aachen" (association of German municipalities) and the German community of Belgium. Another example is the Euregio Saar-Lor-Lux-Rhine which includes not only regions but also a country, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Associations of towns, communes and counties can also be members of the Euroregions. A strategy widely used by the Polish municipalities is that they first create a union of municipalities registered by an appropriate court on the basis of the Law on Associations. The union then signs with an analogous foreign partner an agreement setting up a Euroregional structure. The Czech-German Elbe/Labe Euroregion also comprises two independent societies: on the German side the Kommunalgemeinschaft Oberes Elbtal/Osterzgebirge e.V. and on the Czech side the Klub Euroregion Labe. Both associations have concluded an agreement of co-operation.