The European territorial cohesion policy represents an opportunity not only to enhance the efficiency and coherence of community policies, but also to secure the harmonious development of European territory by valuing its diversity.
With the opening of the debate on the Green Paper on territorial cohesion, the Commission has chosen to mobilise and value the wealth of experiences from different actors in Europe. MOT and EUROMOT have contributed to this reflection on the basis of their concrete experience in terms of cross-border cooperation. This contribution pleads in favour of the development of integrated territories on European borders which constitute powerful means of managing imbalances, the integration of European territory and the pacification of Europe's external borders. So, to encourage the development of “cross-border territory projects” and the organisation to this end of “multi-level” local governance, EUROMOT recommends practical measures. Here are a few extracts from its contribution:
Is there a role for the EU in promoting territorial cohesion? How could such a role be defined against the background of the principle of subsidiarity?
The European Union can promote territorial cohesion and at the same time respect the principle of subsidiarity:
- by setting as one of the priorities of this policy a strong support to be provided to the development of cross-border projects, integration factor and factor for the social and economic cohesion of Europe
- by facilitating the convergence and coordination of local, regional, national and European policies towards these local territories through European programmes
- by reinforcing the “territorial structuring” axe of the cross-border strand of the European territorial cooperation objective (dedicated global envelope) to privilege financially the common strategies of territorial integration
- by favouring the formation of EGTCs on European borders, namely those dedicated to the implementation of action programmes to benefit local populations and to facilitate their networking
- by giving a integration premium for cross-border territories under the form of a global subsidy in accordance with criteria to be defined upstream in relation to the degree of integration of actions
- by supporting the MOT/EUROMOT type of networks which may contribute with operational technical assistance to cross-border territorial projects, favour the setting-up and networking of the EGTC […], organise training programmes […] or develop a strategy for European technical assistance to cooperation projects.
Is there a need for new forms of territorial cooperation?
It would be particularly interesting to develop specific tools which may respond to the European issue of cross-border agglomerations (and other local cross-border areas) by:
- taking into account the need of observation and knowledge of cross-border territories at a local level,
- making cross-border agglomerations places where national and community policies converge within the framework of European strategic approaches,
- forming networks of cross-border agglomerations at the European level.
It would be pertinent to establish, border by border, a right to experimentation of adapted innovative solutions in order to develop the dynamics and creativity of territorial cooperation, more precisely its application on cross-border territories.
How can coordination between territorial and sectoral policies be improved?
It is necessary to optimise, deepen and extend the scope of analysis of cross-border socio-economic potentials to be able to develop well-founded strategies. Within this framework, territorial references should constitute the basis of all sectoral intervention, which implies integrated concepts on the development of each territory. This may be strengthened by way of integration premiums.
A better coordination of sectoral directorates of the European Commission and the definition of cross-cutting territorial policies could broadly facilitate this necessary junction of territorial and sectoral policies.
Source: Cross-border news, No.47, February 2009
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