| Summary: | Cross-border regionalism has changed the preconditions for power. The traditional nation-state term of power has changed, and as new cross-border regions are created, so are new interests and actors. This essay is a comparative analysis of the organization and the actors in Haparanda-Tornio and Öresund, with the aim to answer the question: Who “owns” a cross-border region? To understand the how the power is distributed within the region, Steven Lukes three-dimensional power theory is applied. Multi-level governance theory is used to understand how cross-border regions function in relation to other levels of government, especially through the Interreg-program. The results are that the cross-border regions are controlled in more or less informal, complex, public networks, with the traditional stakeholders such as politicians and public officials, still holding the greatest decisional power within the region. However, the relationship between these actors has transformed and through a two- and three-dimensional perspective there are new actors, such as the European Union and the market, influencing the agenda and setting preferences for cross-border regionalization. Nevertheless, the nation state still has the highest authority, albeit as a partner in complex governance networks.
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