How the Hanseatic League over the centuries succeeded in generating binding power upon its members and performed steering services? To answer this question, we need to systematically assign the theory-driven assumptions on legitimate forms of crossborder governance with the various, already observable forms of governance. Here, the Hanseatic League can serve as a historical example, because - like modern forms of transboundary governance - the League aimed to establish problem-related rules but possessed neither formal authority nor central enforcement power. Therefore, the history and the organizational structure of the League might provide indicators of how forms and mechanisms of legitimate cross-border governance have to be arranged in order to generate acceptance and compliance in the long run. By pointing to such parallels this paper aims to provide a better understanding of historic and current forms of cross-border governance in general and the EU in particular.
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