Extending the analysis of C. de Rham and S. Webster [Phys. Rev. D 71, 124025 (2005)], we obtain a formal expression for the coupling between brane matter and the radion in a Randall-Sundrum braneworld. This effective theory is correct to all orders in derivatives of the radion in the limit of small brane separation, and, in particular, contains no higher than second derivatives. In the case of cosmological symmetry the theory can be obtained in closed form and reproduces the five-dimensional behavior. Perturbations in the tensor and scalar sectors are then studied. When the branes are moving, the effective Newtonian constant on the brane is shown to depend both on the distance between the branes and on their velocity. In the small-distance limit, we compute the exact dependence between the four-dimensional and the five-dimensional Newtonian constants.