Measuring the impact of legal and administrative international barriers on regional growth

Country borders are traditionally interpreted as barriers to trade, since they limit the access to large markets of goods and intermediate assets, with negative effects on production, employment levels, and growth. The European Union is not an exception in this respect and, despite the establishment of the European Single Market, legal and administrative international barriers still exist, affecting economic growth. This paper focuses on the areas where costs and benefits of missed integration and the integration potential are highest, namely, border regions, with the aim to provide the costs of non‐Europe at regional level. Results show that the costs of non‐Europe are still relevant and justify the need of the European Cross‐Border Cooperation Program in the next programming period. Useful guidelines for addressing the next programming period are provided.