Towards an integrated approach to intensify cross-border collaboration in the field of highly contagious livestock diseases: a general framework for decision support.

This paper analyses the potential for increased cross-border cooperation for border regions with a reasonable or large cross-border reliance on production and consumption of livestock commodities. The extended cross-border region of the Netherlands (NL), North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), and Lower Saxony (NDS) is a particular example in this respect. Despite the EU single market, both in peace time (i.e. without outbreaks of highly contagious livestock diseases like Classical Swine Fever) and crisis (i.e. during such outbreaks) situations, trade barriers for livestock and livestock commodities among Member States exist or are further established, resulting in (major) economic consequences. In this paper, a general framework including all critical factors, (inter)relations and (im)possibilities associated with the challenges of cross-border collaboration is presented. Furthermore, difficulties in disease control harmonization and collaboration due to current borders, as well as possibilities for future cross-border cooperation, are discussed for the cross-border region NL-NRW-NDS. To reduce the financial-economic impact of the borders, this study suggests applying veterinary routine measures more efficiently, harmonizing current veterinary control measures as well as adding economic instruments to current veterinary control measures. Moreover, a futureoriented approach should be used, which should include an analysis of changes in (contact) structure of the livestock sector in the coming ten years. Changes in such factors are a result of changing (global) autonomous drivers and institutional conditions, such as changes in consumer preferences and EU agricultural policies. Changes in (contact) structures affect the risks of disease introduction, spread and control and accordingly, the consequences of strategies to manage these diseases. The integrated approach as proposed in the general framework as well as the inventory of cross-border difficulties and possibilities for the case study NL-NRW-NDS can be used and should be regarded as a starting point to further quantify the financial-economic impact of improving cross-border collaboration and harmonization.