The Difficult Case of Healthcare Cooperation: German-Polish Bilateral Arrangements in the Light of Previous European Borderland Experiences

The article discusses the state of Polish–German bilateral relations on healthcare and health policy, focusing on the potentials and practices in the regions and municipalities situated close to the border. The analysis shows that the cross-border integration and bilateral relations in the health sector are impacted by the asymmetric resources on the respective sides of the borders. This has largely spurred an increase in private exchanges but hindered the effective development of integrated public services at the local level. This is related to the notions of interdependence, where actors and citizens do not perceive their health or health sectors to be affected by their neighbours’ activities, despite larger global systemic interdependence that concern human health. The analysis also demonstrates that historical legacies have relatively little importance in the area of healthcare. At the subnational level, lack of social capital and difficulties of local cross-border actors to efficiently work the multilevel governance scales were found to be key obstacles. The paper contrasts actions taken, discussed or highlighted by Euroregions, twin towns, intergovernmental bodies and media before and after the Covid- 19 crisis.