Henrik Wenander

The Öresund – the strait between eastern Denmark and southwestern Sweden – is an ancient focal point for trade, conflict, and cooperation in Northern Europe. The control of the strait has been of utmost strategic importance in Northern Europe over the centuries, involving several wars between Denmark and Sweden. During the 19th and 20th centuries, a decidedly more peaceful relationship developed between the two states. The Öresund Bridge was finished in 2000, joining the Danish capital Copenhagen and Malmö, the third biggest city in Sweden. This connection spurred ambitions to develop the area into a cross-border region, taking advantage of the possibilities of mobility and contacts between the countries. For example, the number of commuters who travel daily between the countries, mostly from Sweden to Denmark, rose to around approximately 19 000 daily commuters in 2008, with number then diminishing to 14 000 in 2015 (the latest year of confirmed statistics).

This chapter outlines the legal structures and challenges for the ambitions to establish and develop a cross-border region with free movement, given the developments during the two decades since the bridge was built. Especially, it highlights both the measures to eliminate obstacles to free movement (so-called border barriers) by administrative cooperation and the challenges brought about by external factors in recent years such as the migration crisis in 2015, criminality, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A special question for this contribution is to what extent the Öresund Region may function as a model to other European cross-border regions.