The Act (No. 2019-816) of 2 August 2019 concerning the competences of the European Territorial Authority of Alsace (CEA) ratified the creation of this new territorial authority arising from the merger of the French Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin Departments on 1 January 2021.
The 2030 strategy for the Upper Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Region was signed in Basel on 22 November. “We want to be a model region for Europe and to make visible and tangible the benefits that Europe provides day by day. To do this, we will continue to develop excellence in the economic and scientific field, to strengthen structures of cross-border cooperation and to develop new potential,” the political representatives affirmed on this occasion.
Around 30 people took part in the first webinar organised by the MOT in partnership with the ESPON programme, on 21 November 2019, on the topic: "Potentials of Cross-border Public Services for French and Neighbouring Border Regions".
At the invitation of the MOT, the CNFPT (National Centre for Territorial Public Administration) and the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, 40 people gathered on 13 November in Lille to talk about cross-border transportation. The three sessions focused on: the need for the observation of flows and the reasons for travelling (work, shopping, leisure, healthcare); the challenges encountered in drawing up cross-border mobility strategies; and the breaking-down of the strategies into territorial projects.
The National Mountain Council is a consultative body, established by the Montagne Act, that has a proposal-making role with respect to setting goals for the development, spatial planning and protection of mountain ranges. It is made up of parliamentarians and representatives from the regions and departments of the six mountain ranges in metropolitan France (the Alps, Corsica, the Jura, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and the Vosges) and the three overseas mountain ranges, social professionals and representatives from the voluntary sector. The General Commission for Territorial Equality provides its general secretariat.
The successful bids for the call for projects “France-United Kingdom: for a strengthened cooperation between our local authorities” launched by the British Embassy in France, with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been announced.
On 30 October 2019, the construction site of a new cross-border waste water treatment plant was presented to the public – a large-scale project on the border between Belgium and Luxembourg.
On 29 October, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution entitled “Fair distribution of taxes in transfrontier areas”. In the report presented by Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the Congress calls for greater cooperation between the countries concerned on this issue.
"The study of developments since the 1980s raises questions about the role and place of territorial authorities in an international system involving diverse players, and prompts a rethinking, by means of infra-State players, of the historical roles of diplomacy: representing and negotiating." The article ["Diplomatie territoriale et coopération transfrontalière : Le cas des frontières françaises"] analyses this diplomacy in the cross-border context along France’s borders."
On Monday, 21 October 2019 at the Stablinski Velodrome in Roubaix, the Nord Department, West Flanders Province and Hainaut Province celebrated 30 years of cross-border cooperation.
The network of European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA) and the Healthacross initiative have published a joint declaration aimed at promoting cross-border cooperation in the area of healthcare, and at putting forward political recommendations.
The ESPON programme has published its new report about Territorial Impact Assessment for Cross-Border Cooperation – TIA CBC.
The 21st Franco-German Council of Ministers took place in Toulouse on 16 October 2019, bringing together France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, as well as the French and German ministers. On this occasion, and following on from the Aachen Treaty, the “Franco-German Declaration of Toulouse” was signed, which reaffirms the commitments made at the highest level of government with respect to Franco-German cooperation.
At the 2019 edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities, which brought together over 9,000 participants in Brussels, the MOT ran a workshop entitled "No country is an island: joint cross-border strategies for a clean energy transition".
Between November 2018 and July 2019, the MOT and CESCI (the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives) collaborated on producing a study for the European Investment Bank and its European Investment Advisory Hub.
Cross-border integration in Europe is a complex and multifaceted process that has contrasting impacts on border regions. In this article, the authors provide, with the aid of statistical indicators, an analysis of cross-border integration along the EU’s internal borders, highlighting the similarities and discrepancies that can be observed between different territories.
On 9 October 2019, the Federation of Local Public Enterprises (EPL) held its annual congress in Strasbourg, bringing together EPL from all over France.
With the support of the International Visegrad Fund, CESCI, the Hungarian equivalent of the MOT, and its partners along the borders between Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland have put forward proposals concerning the ECBM and the resolution of cross-border obstacles between these four countries. They suggest the creation of a European network of national contact points that could either be set up at national level or be pooled by several countries, as happens in the Nordic Council.
As part of the process of drawing up its Cross-Border Cooperation Plan, the Basque Country Community (CAPB) ran "cross-border cooperation workshops", in Bayonne on 20 September and in San Sebastian on 25 September, with support from the MOT and the Atlantic and Pyrenees Urban Planning Agency (AUDAP).
The annual meeting of the EGTC Platform took place in Palma, Spain, on 27 September 2019, in partnership with the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion EGTC and the Government of the Balearic Islands. Jean Peyrony made a contribution in a roundtable devoted to the new ECBM tool, currently under discussion by the EU Council, which is aimed at facilitating the resolution of cross-border obstacles along Europe’s borders.
The Greater Besançon Metropolis is particular in being the first major urban centre one gets to when coming from the Swiss Jura Arc, while at the same time being relatively far away from it. The Jura mountain range is both a geographical obstacle and a territorial asset; indeed, the border region is a well-preserved area with a wealth of shared natural and cultural features.
Cross-border metropolitan cooperation initiatives were spotlighted at the MOT network’s day-long meeting, co-organised with the Greater Besançon Metropolis, on 25 September.
On 22 September 2019, amateur and professional cyclists from either side of the Rhine set off to discover the territory of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict during a cross-border cycle ride.
With an exploration of the imbalances between the productive and residential economies, the Jura Arc Cross-Border Forum ended its thematic series of discussions on the economy involving all the members of its committee.
"How can we encourage citizens in border regions to take part in the discussions about the future of Europe?" This is one of the questions at the heart of the "TEIN4citizens" project being implemented by nine partners from the TEIN network.
