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 Historical and
spatial characteristics of the cross-border area
The city of Basel is the administrative centre of the Swiss canton of
Basel-City. It is located at the centre of an economic space and a
coherent cross-border living space. Its conurbation, with approximately
600,000 inhabitants, extends into three countries (Switzerland, France,
Germany). The present borders were defined between the Treaties of
Westphalia in 1648, by the incorporation of Mulhouse and Illzach into
France in 1798 and by the Vienna Congress in 1815.
Since 1996 the French, German and Swiss political authorities have
defined two perimeters on the basis of geographical and statistical
data and studies: the inner perimeter, that of the conurbation, which
is a continuous cross-border urban space around Basel, and the outer
economic perimeter The Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB) reflects
its membership, encompasses the conurbation and extends to include the
neighbouring territories with which it maintains strong economic and
geographical (in terms of travel) links.
The
population of the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel exceeds 800,000,
divided between Switzerland (65%), Germany (27%) and France (8%). Basel
is a front-ranking economic centre: the world capital of
pharmaceuticals and a major banking and insurance centre, among other
distinctions. The Swiss part of the cross-border conurbation attracts
31,000 border workers from France and 27,500 from Germany every day,
while only a few hundred travel between Germany and France to work.
Political
organization on both sides of the border
On the Swiss side, the canton Basel-City is responsible for police,
education, research, culture, justice, police, spatial planning,
economy, transports, health, energy and environment.
On the German side, the Landkreis of Lörrach has the
competences of construction and maintenance of roads, youth and social
assistance and collecting and managing household refuse. Besides
compulsory competences, there are facultative competences in the
sectors of culture, promoting the economy and tourism, building and
managing libraries and managing universities.
On the French side, the main partenrs are the city of Saint Louis,
other municipalities, the Département du Haut Rhin, the
Région Alsace, and the “Pays of Saint-Louis et des
Trois frontières”, which is a grouping of
inter-municipal entities which assembles together the elected officials
and the economic, social, and cultural actors, and their associates,
into a deliberative forum to discuss the development policies which
should be followed by the community. The main tasks of a pays are
territorial cohesion and regional development.
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History
of the cross-border co-operation in the area
Although
European cross-border cooperation first emerged in Basel in 1963, when
the Regio Basiliensis was established, with an approach focusing
essentially on economic development, and has continued to the present
day (“Upper Rhine” scheme in 1975), strictly
speaking the cross-border conurbation project dates from 1994, with the
launching of the Trinational Conurbation Basel (TAB-ATB) project.
In the same year (1994), following on from a major urban project in
Basel, “EUROVILLE” (a large mixed-use property
programme around the railway station, including a new tram line, etc.),
and the decision by Switzerland not to join the European Economic Area,
the regional planning department of the two cantons of Basel (City and
Country) floated the idea of preparing a cross-border development
concept for the three-border conurbation. This proposal received a
particularly warm reception from the neighbouring planners working in
Alsace on master plans and in the Baden region on the Regionalplan 2000.
Following a conference in 1995 on cooperation within this trinational
conurbation, a joint resolution led to the initiation of a series of
studies aimed at better coordination of cross-border planning and
development of joint projects, including the establishment of a data
bank, the definition of 60 cross-border projects, and travel movement
plans and models. Three nested cross-border cooperation study and
action perimeters were also defined around the TAB-ATB (Regio
perimeter, economic space, inner perimeter).
The TAB-ATB association, formed in 2002, followed cooperation on a
conurbation planning project undertaken from 1994, which resulted in
the constitution of a policy steering committee and the organisation of
a neighbourhood conference, and then a conurbation conference in 2000
to improve cooperation, facilitate information sharing and adopt
trinational positions.
In 2006, the political representatives of the conurbation decided to
upgrade the structure of the TAB-ATB to allow the formation of the
Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB-ETB), a non-profit association
governed by Alsace-Moselle law and covering a slightly broader
perimeter.
The
essential aim of the cross-border conurbation project is to strengthen
the role of the central city and of the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel
in the network of major European cities while ensuring a genuine
quality of life, the principal objectives being expressed in terms of
urban development and housing, transport, economic development,
environmental protection and a political organisation working to set up
an effective cross-border territorial structure.
Current
cross-border
governance in the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel
The
new cross-border entity TEB incorporates the Infobest information and a
consultancy body and the former Conurbation Conference. It cooperates
with the infobest information service located in the same building as
the TEB Technical Secretariat. The member local authorities within the
TEB perimeter are municipalities from four cantons (Basel-City,
Basel-Country, Aargau and Solothurn) and a Planungsverband (Fricktal
Regio) in Switzerland, municipalities and intermunicipal communities in
France (Saint-Louis, Communauté de communes des Trois
Frontières [Three borders community of municipalities],
etc.) and in Germany (Weil am Rhein, Regionalverband
Hochrhein-Bodensee, etc.) and a Landkreis (Lörrach) in
Germany. In addition, because of their competences, some higher-level
French authorities (Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region) are also
members of the TEB.
The TEB is at the service of the various French, German and Swiss
planning institutions. Its mission is to enhance and coordinate
dialogue and carry out joint cross-border projects involving the three
countries, applying the principles of sustainable development, in areas
such as spatial planning, public transport and urban development.
The role of the TEB is taken into consideration at different
institutional levels. In France, the Haut-Rhin department takes account
of it in its spatial development strategy, and the French State through
the DIACT has included the TEB within a large Rhine-Rhône
metropolitan area within the framework of metropolitan cooperation
projects. The cross-border dimension was in fact one of the factors
leading to the selection of this area, including Dijon,
Besançon, Belfort, Montbéliard and Mulhouse, to
be selected in 2005.
The TEB forms the most southern part of the Upper Rhine region which
aims at the label of Metropolitan area for itself. In the Upper Rhine
region, covered by the Upper Rhine Conference and the Upper Rhine
Council, there exist two other Eurodistricts: Region Freiburg
– Centre and South Alsace on the one hand and Strasbourg
– Ortenau on the other hand. One also has to mention the
Regio PAMINA in the North of this region.
In Switzerland, the TEB is taken into account by federal-level planning
policies (“Conurbation Policy”; “Model
projects”).
Concerning Interreg, the TEB is represented in the technical and policy
bodies of INTERREG IV A Upper Rhine.
Moreover, the TEB association maintains informal contacts with the
Strasbourg-Ortenau and Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurodistricts. It is also
a member of the MOT, which organises regular meetings where discussions
with the actors of other cross-border conurbations take place. Regio
Basiliensis is an active member of the AEBR.
A
short description of the organisation
The TEB is a non-profit association governed by Alsace-Moselle law and
has its registered office in France. It has its own budget and
personnel. The association functions above all as a forum for
discussion and a laboratory of ideas for the decision-makers in the
various areas covered by the TEB.
The TEB is in charge of technical staff and the projects (including the
INTERREG projects), of preparation of the institutional structures
(office, coordination and working groups, plenary sessions), of
cooperation with the Consultative Council and other bodies,
communication and the geographical information system.
Policy decisions at cross-border level are taken by the TEB Management
Committee and by the General Assembly, which brings together a broader
range of mayors and other politicians from the three countries.
The association has three political bodies.
- The Assembly brings together the representatives of all the members
of the association. Each member is represented by a delegate. The
Assembly meets in ordinary session once a year. It defines the general
priorities, the objectives and the programmes of the association; it
deliberates on the agenda items and joint prospects; it votes the
policy report, the financial report and the budget.
- The Management Committee has eight German members, eight Swiss
members and eight French members. The Management Committee members are
proposed by the national partners and elected by the Assembly for
two-year mandates. The President and the Vice-Presidents, of different
nationalities, are elected for two years in a rotating system which
confers the presidency on a representative of each country in
turn.
- The Consultative Council has 15 German members, 20 Swiss members and
15 French members, all holders of an elected public office. It has a
president and various committees.
The association has two technical bodies.
- The Technical Coordination Committee, composed of 18 planning
specialists from the three countries, advises the Management Committee.
It meets every two months.
- The Technical Secretariat, with four full-time staff (a director, two
project managers and an assistant), is responsible for the
administration of the association.
Socioeconomic entities are associated with the work of the TEB through
the Regio Basiliensis and Metrobasel, partners in which businesses,
public institutions and civil society participate. This aspect involves
above all the Swiss sector of the trinational conurbation.
One of the principal overall objectives of the TEB is to strengthen
participation by civil society and the population in the work of the
Eurodistrict.
An
overview of finance
The technical organisation is financed by the annual subscriptions of
the members, public aid and grants, donations and any other cofinancing
arrangements and contributions.
Cross-border
communication
The TEB communicates doesn’t have yet any communication
strategy by it has a logo and a official name for the cross-border
conurbation: the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel. For marketing purposes
Basel-Stadt appears as “Basel+” or, together with
Basel-Landschaft, as “Basel Area”.
Existing programme in
favour of territorial cohesion
The Overall development concept for the Trinational Conurbation Basel
is joint strategy development project was undertaken in 1997 within the
Interreg II framework. Its report, published in 2001, is a summary of
all the work done. It gives a joint view of the future planning of the
trinational conurbation, approaching the space in its entirety and
proposing 32 key projects. This document, not legally binding, has been
taken into consideration by the various spatial planning institutions.
It has been being updated since January 2005 to take account of new
cross-border issues in the spatial planning of the conurbation and to
define new key projects.
As part of an Interreg IIIA project, the Trinational Conurbation Basel
partners have worked on the definition of a new 2020 strategy for the
conurbation. This document will be completed and undergo political
validation before the end of 2008.
Projects
 The main topics
covered in the context of cross-border cooperation are: urban
development, research, economic development, employment, social
services, health, urban transport, water management, the environment,
security, fire-fighting, tourism, culture, training and education.
The projects outlined below cover some of these fields.
- Installation of a geographical information system (GIS)
The TEB planning office is responsible for monitoring changes in the
trinational territory. The geographical information system currently
being prepared enables the office to conduct topic-based analyses
covering the whole conurbation and make them available to the local
authorities. This monitoring unit will enable all the municipalities to
define strategic markers within the conurbation.
- Saint-Louis railway station West redevelopment
A group of consultants has been retained by the TEB to study a
50-hectare site near Saint-Louis railway station. The initial idea is
to develop the centre of Saint-Louis by building a new business
district and to upgrade the station to a multimodal transport hub. The
final report was submitted in April 2004. One of the most important
results of this study was the observation that these areas could take
on central importance and be upgraded on condition that their potential
is considered not only at local level but also at the level of the
conurbation as a whole.
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Footbridge between Huningue (France) and Weil am Rhein (Germany)
The footbridge project emerged from the cross-border cooperation
between the towns of Weil am Rhein (D) and Huningue (F), with support
from the Communauté de Communes des Trois
Frontières (“three-borders” community of
municipalities). The bridge, for pedestrians and cyclists, was
inaugurated on 30 June 2007; it provides a direct link between the
twinned towns of Weil am Rhein/Friedlingen (D) and Huningue (F). A
group of local authorities, members of the TEB association, acted as
client for the project, separately from the coordinated cross-border
spatial planning work.
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Rheinfelden (CH) – Rheinfelden (D) cross-border bus route
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IBA Basel 2008 project
The local authorities of the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB) will
be able to strengthen the effects of their cross-border commitment
thanks to the achievement of the project of International exhibition
IBA Basel 2020. This exhibition IBA Basel 2020 stimulates the process
of cross border functional integration through the achievement of
targeted projects in cross border thematic fields. Those ones are
representative of the current strengths of the urban trinational
region. The IBA projects in the 4 following fields will enable to
reveal and develop the strengths of tomorrow.
. Culture, heritage and sustainable development,
. The Rhine river : water and other landscapes
. The urban trinational region in motion
. To live in time of knowledge economy : Life and sciences
- Tram line linking the Swiss and German parts of the TEB (2012)
The
global framework
A regionally-integrated urban territory
The large number of cross-border cooperation structures on the
territory of the Upper Rhine valley is evidence that the issues of this
cross-border territory are taken into account at several levels. The
TEB shows a strong determination to organise the cross-border urban
territory around Basel. However, the pooling of metropolitan
infrastructures (for example Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg international
airport) and environmental protection go beyond the strict limits of
the trinational conurbation and are issues of regional scope, which is
why authorities of the regional institutional level participate.
Institutional structuring of cross-border governance
The implementation of cross-border cooperation at the level of the
Trinational Conurbation now enables the French zone and the German zone
to assert their position as an integral part of a trinational
conurbation. The assimilation of the municipalities of Weil am Rhein
and Lörrach as peripheral urban centres of Basel has enabled
them to be classified as Oberzentren (higher urban centres) in Germany.
The concept of the Trinational Conurbation has also finally been
accepted in France. The TEB approach benefits from and enhances the
projects that have been conceived on the territory, sometimes
bilaterally or even independently. In a way the TEB is a structure
within which a series of prior initiatives can be made consistent and
prioritised.
The prospects for more complete structuring of cross-border governance
lead to the Eurodistrict approach undertaken by the TEB in November
2005. The formation of a European grouping of territorial cooperation
is technically possible (created by two EU partners and joined by a
Swiss partner) but not planned at present.
Added value of the “EGTC”
URBACT project
A general overview of the
Local Action Plan
 The Canton of Basel
Stadt expects to exchange with the other Project Partners on the
improvement of metropolitan governance. In its case, it includes the
articulation with Upper Rhine level of cooperation. As the TEB is on an
external border of the European Union, the formation of a European
grouping of territorial cooperation is not planned at present.
Socioeconomic entities are associated with the work of the TEB through
the Regio Basiliensis and Metrobasel, partners in which businesses,
public institutions and civil society participate. This aspect involves
above all the Swiss sector of the trinational conurbation.
Moreover, the role of the TEB is taken into consideration at different
institutional levels, in France, Germany and Switzerland.
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