What contribution do town twinning schemes make to European integration?

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 2,0, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: 'The current international system still focuses largely on the nation-state level and often does not recognize the independent role of cities, but only considers them 'stakeholders.' Increasingly, however, cities are acting alone or in associations as independent actors in international relations. This German government's guideline on international cooperation for sustainable urbanization 'Partners in a World of Cities' illustrates that cities (municipalities) are becoming increasingly important. According to the CEMR database, there are approximately 38,000 town twinning arrangements within Europe. Despite the high quantitative weight and the resulting frequent contact with town twinning, the function of town twinning concerning European integration remained open within European research. The present study is therefore intended to illuminate town twinning from the perspective of European integration.