Promoting regional development in border problem areas – the case of Obsotelje

Obmejna problemska območja (OPO) so v Zakonu o spodbujanju skladnega regionalnega razvoja opredeljena kot prednostna območja vseh razvojnih politik, posebno pozornost pa jim slovenska regionalna politika namenja že od leta 1971 dalje in želi z različnimi ukrepi zmanjšati njihovo razvojno zaostalost. V magistrskem delu smo na primeru Obsotelja preučili, kako poteka spodbujanje njihovega razvoja oz. kaj v kontekstu regionalne politike pomeni biti proglašen za obmejno problemsko območje in kakšno vlogo ima pri spodbujanju razvoja čezmejno sodelovanje. Z izbranimi socioekonomskimi kazalniki smo izvedli analizo trenutnega razvojnega stanja Obsotelja in pregledali izvajanje ukrepov za razvoj obmejnih problemskih območij v obdobju med letoma 2007 in 2022. S pomočjo intervjujev z izbranimi lokalnimi razvojnimi deležniki iz Obsotelja smo opravili kvalitativno vrednotenje vplivov ukrepov, namenjenih OPO, in vplivov projektnega čezmejnega sodelovanja na razvojpreučili smo tudi njihovo dojemanje obmejnosti ter katere so glavne razvojne ovire in priložnosti v Obsotelju. Ugotovitve kažejo, da je izvajanje razvojnih spodbud za OPO razmeroma skromno in se večinoma izvaja v obliki finančne pomoči za podjetja iz teh območij. Ukrepov za razvoj drugih področij pa je zelo malo, zato bi bilo potrebno v prihodnosti okrepiti spodbujanje razvoja obmejnih problemskih območij.The Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act defines border problem areas as priority areas of all development policiesSlovenian regional policy has been paying particular attention to them since 1971 with the aim of reducing their development lag by implementing various measures. This master\u27s thesis examines, using the case of the Obsotelje area, how their development is promoted, what it means to be declared a border problem area in the context of regional policy, and what role cross-border cooperation plays in promoting regional development. An analysis of the current development situation of Obsotelje according to selected socio-economic indicators was carried out and coupled with an overview of the implementation of development measures for border problem areas during the 2007–2022 period. Qualitative evaluation of the impacts that measures for border problems areas and cross-border project cooperation have on its regional development was done by interviewing local development stakeholders. Their perception of border and what the main development opportunities and obstacles for Obsotelje are was also examined. The findings show that the implementation of development incentives for border problem areas is rather inconsistent and mostly takes the form of financial help for businesses in these areas. There are very few measures aimed at developing other sectors, which is why the promotion of regional development of border problem areas should be strengthened in the future