In September, we welcome the participants of the 2024 OECD Local Development Forum, “Building Bridges, Shaping Tomorrow“, to the Danish-Swedish border metropolitan region of Greater Copenhagen. Here, regions and municipalities, along with businesses and organisations, are working together to build a unified metropolitan region across the Danish-Swedish border. Hosting the Forum in Greater Copenhagen presents a unique opportunity to build on previous OECD work on cross-border collaboration and elevate it to the next level.
Next June, 40,000 runners will stream across the Oresund Bridge in celebration of its 25th birthday, as part of a 21-kilometre bridge run. There is much to celebrate. In the 25 years since the opening of the Öresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark, Greater Copenhagen has cemented its status as Scandinavia’s leading cross-border region. Every day 75 000 people – and more than half of freight between Sweden and Denmark – cross the 16-kilometre fixed link.
A thriving region
The regional GDP in 2020 exceeded €200bn per year, on par with Stockholm and higher than Berlin, Oslo and Hamburg. Strong economic growth in recent years on the Danish side, mainly due to the success of Novo Nordisk, has elevated Greater Copenhagen to the top of that list.
The bridge has boosted output, employment, innovation and collaborations across the region. The integrated labour market allows 19 000 people (including commuters by boat) to regularly commute between the two countries, and the number is growing.
And there are more connections to come. From 2029, Greater Copenhagen will connect to another labour market, that of northern Germany, when the Fehmarn belt fixed link between Denmark and Germany opens. The new tunnel – which will become the world’s longest immersed tunnel – will slash the travel time between Lolland and Fehmarn from 45 minutes by ferry to 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train, providing Greater Copenhagen with easy access to the heart of Europe.
Breaking down borders
But integrating a cross border labour market requires more than just infrastructure. It demands smart, flexible policymaking and collaborations at all levels to align services, support and administration.
A key innovation has been the establishment of the Greater Copenhagen Committee, a political collaboration between regions and city councils in Eastern Denmark and Southern Sweden. This committee works to improve decision-making and collaboration between the governments, through its focus areas infrastructure and labour market, to generate growth and development that benefits not just the region, but both countries as a whole.
One practical example of cross-border complication is the need to align public transportation systems, where steps towards integrated ticketing and scheduling between Danish and Swedish transit networks could make traveling across the border more seamless. There is also a need for new infrastructure investment. Action will be needed to move freight from road to rail to avoid lorry traffic doubling on Swedish and Danish roads when the Fehmarn belt tunnel opens. There is also an ongoing discussion about whether there is a need for another fixed link between the countries. Fundamentally, there is a need for the two countries to engage in joint infrastructure planning, underpinned by a shared analysis of infrastructure needs across the Öresund.
Other complications arise from differences in labour laws, tax regulations, and pensions, which can create confusion and complications for workers and employers alike. Here the Öresunddirekt has been created as a vital information service to help residents navigate these differences and adapt to living and working across the border. These efforts have been made easier by an agreement this summer between the Swedish and Danish governments – the Öresund agreement – which resolved several issues around taxes, for instance, and will make life easier for cross-border commuters as well as employers.
Eyes on the prize
We know there is more to do. Despite recent progress on tax and pensions, there remain legal and bureaucratic obstacles that still need to be addressed. Greater Copenhagen’s analysis shows that measures to further integrate the labour market could generate DKK 1.3 billion (EUR 174 million). Governments and local authorities must cooperate and act together across the border to strengthen cross-border mobility. The goal must be to make it as easy to get a job, or to study, on the other side of the border as it is in your home country. In Greater Copenhagen, we are far from the finish line, but we are making progress. We will need to build on this in the years to come to unlock the potential of the new Fehmarn belt and make Grater Copenhagen – the Metropol of Scandinavia – one of Europe, and the world’s, most competitive regions.
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Greater Copenhagen (greatercph.com)
Jan Hendeliowitz is a board member of Greater Copenhagen and a member of the Regional Council of Region Zealand, Denmark. He is a former Chair of the OECD-LEED Committee and Regional Director of the Greater Copenhagen Public Employment Service under the Danish Ministry of Employment.