This book is the result of research into the considerable impacts the signing of the Schengen Agreement has had on the border regions of the signatory, in particular the Central European internal borders. The analysis provides an in-depth look at European integration, development and perception at the state level as well as in the selected border regions of Central Europe. The book discusses results from population questionnaires in this region, and presents the most important features of development of border regions within Central European internal borders/borderlands after the Schengen Agreement. This book is suitable for students and researchers dealing with the borderlands, but also outlines sufficient information to be of interest to regional planners and policy makers.

TomᨠHavlíek is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Science atthe Charles University in Prague, Czechia. His research is concerned with the geography of border and peripheral regions, geography of religion and cultural geography. He is member of the main committee of Czech Geographic Society. He is also collaborator of the workgroup on geography of religion by the German Geographical Society. He is interested also in border areas in Europe and in particular the Czech-Austrian borderland. He has published many articles concerning cross-border cooperation in Central Europe.

Milan Jeábek is AssociatedProfessor at the Department of Geography at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia. The scope of his research lies in Geography of Population and Settlement, Regional Planning, Regional Development and policy, especially Geography of Border Studies. He has led many projects dealing with the study of border and cross-border cooperation. He is also a member of the editorial board of the book series Geographica published by the Czech Geographic Society and a co-chair of professional working group for regional development of the Elbe/Labe Euroregion.

Jaroslav Dokoupil is Associated Professor at the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Economics at the University of West Bohemia in Plze. He is a member of the Centre for Regional Development Research. He deals with regional geography and regional planning. In terms of his research activities, he focuses on the borderland of Czechia, specifically on the Czech-Bavarian borderland and on peripheral areas and Euroregions in the context of European regional policy.

Introduction (Milan  Jeábek).- Part I: European Integration, Borderlands and Schengen.- Chapter 1. Changing European Union: the Schengen Agreement (Petr Dostal).-  Chapter 2. The Development of Borderlands as a Part of European Process of Integration (Jaroslav Dokoupil).- Chapter 3. Phenomenon of Schengen Fact or Fiction? (TomᨠHavlíek).- Chapter 4. Euroregions as a Platform for Cross-Border Cooperation (Milan  Jeábek).- Chapter  5. Institutionalisation of Cross-Border Cooperation: the Role of the Association of European Border regions (Martín Guillermo Ramirez).- Part II: Case Studies - Internal and External Schengen Borders.- Chapter 6. The Example of Swiss Borderland with a Focus on Euregio Basiliensis/Tri Rhena (DE/FR/CH) (Walter Leimgruber).- Chapter 7. Development of the Slovak Borderlands with an Emphasis on the Situation after Schengen: internal and external borders (Marian Halás).- Chapter 8. Eastern Borderland of the Baltic States as the External

Border of Schengen (Josef  Mi¨kovsk).- Chapter 9. Silesian Identity across the Internal Borders of the EU (Tadeusz Siwek).- Part III: Research in the Model Euroregions on the Czech Borderlands.- Chapter 10. The Quality of Life and Cross-Border Relation in Selected Czech Euroregions (Alena Matu¨ková).- Chapter 11. The Building of Cross-Border Region Using the Example Euroregion Silva Nortica - on the Way from Closed to Open Borders (TomᨠHavlíek).- Chapter 12. Cross-Border Community Expression of Open Civil Society on the Example of the Euroregion Elbe/Labe (Franti¨ek Zich ).- Chapter 13. Conclusions: The borderlands after Schengen self-sufficient, oscillatory and/or transit regions? (Milan Jeábek).