As a consequence of events in history, many frontier regions have been inaccessible and have not been developed or urbanised, and have therefore largely preserved their natural characteristics and landscapes. Transfrontier co-operation will help preserve these natural ecosystems, which constitute both a natural and a cultural heritage.
The Declaration of Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Council of Europe, adopted in Vienna on 9 October 1993, stresses the importance of transfrontier co-operation in the Council of Europe's activities and their commitment to further action in this field.
The Declaration on Transfrontier Co-operation in Europe, adopted in Vienna on 6 October 1989 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, recognises that frontier regions, the scars of history, now link the peoples of Europe together and that there is now a general consensus among those with political responsibility for territorial authorities on the need to work with their neighbours in a spirit of co-operation, neighbourliness, openness and solidarity, and encourages the gradual removal of barriers of every kind – administrative, legal, political and psychological – which might curb the development of transfrontier projects.