This paper analyses how identity and citizenship are reshaped in cross-border areas after the implementation of European Union (EU) cross-border-cooperation programmes and civil society mobilization. The 1990s witnessed extensive debate about the emergence of a new kind of citizenship in Europe where „civil society participation‟ influences EU policies and politics and result in novel (national ethnic) identities. In this context, the paper explores the impacts of EU cross-border-cooperation and civil society mobilization policies in the Upper Adriatic area. It demonstrates the significance of ethnic minority groups in cross-border civil societies and their role in fostering relations, mutual understanding and integration across different borders. At the same time, it analyses the capacity of nationalism to re-activate a process of border creation, ethnic mobilization and produce irredentism. First, the paper offers a brief theoretical background on citizenship and its main components (rights, identity and participation) and defines what „participation‟ means in practice. Second, it investigates how different cross-border, grass-root stakeholders relate to each other. It explores how the implementation of cross-border-cooperation projects and interaction between these individuals construct new meanings, interests, and values, leading to revisit their identities. Third, the paper analyses the new EU regulation 1082\2006, generally known as the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), and questions whether this can be the channel through which sub-national actors from different sides of a border overcome „border antagonistic‟ relationships and build a „transnational‟ border region. Ultimately, the paper argues that the constant interaction between societal and political cross-border actors at the local\elite level is leading to greater mutual understanding, long-term transnational initiatives and an increasing emphasis on shared interests and values.
