The importance of transfrontier landscapes has been stressed and their investigation stimulated by the adoption of the European Landscape Convention in 2000. The economic, social and environmental characteristics compose together a specific peripheral character of transfrontier landscapes and they include both positive and negative aspects. In the framework of the European ELCAI project (European Landscape Character Assessment Initiative), 14 selected examples of transfrontier landscapes in Europe were investigated and briefly described using SWOT analysis. Results of the case studies identified special issues and characteristics that are intrinsic for transfrontier landscapes. It is necessary to precede possible conflicts resulting from different approaches and politics concerning nature and landscape protection in single countries. The aim of the ELCAI project is to increase the long-term international collaboration, exchange of ideas and programmes across state and cultural boundaries as well as to provoke a critical discussion about future development of European transfrontier landscapes in the context of sustainable development.