On 30 May 2017 at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental working group on innovative solutions to obstacles to cross-border cooperation was held.
This report was drawn up within the framework of the strengthening and deepening of Franco-Belgian cooperation initiated by the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Prefecture.
This is the aim of the project FagA/Centre d’aide à la mobilité transfrontalière (CAMT – Centre for Assistance with Cross-Border Mobility) launched on 1 July 2016 in the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict.
On 31 May 2017, Anne Sander, MEP and Vice-President of the MOT, organised the sixth meeting of the working group on cross-border cooperation, which addressed the issue of the coordination of social security systems in the context of the revision underway of Regulation No. 883/2004, which lays down the common rules required for this coordination.
Greater Geneva has been awarded the URBACT Good Practice City label for promoting its coordinated conurbation development areas (PACA – Périmètres d'aménagement coordonnés d'agglomération) in cross-border governance.
More user-friendly and better suited to players in the Greater Region but above all to the general public is how the new version of the Greater Region's geoportal, which was officially presented on 23 May, in the presence of Camille Gira, Luxembourg's Secretary of State for sustainable Development and Infrastructure, can be summed up.
On 15 June 2017, the EU "sounded the death knell" for roaming charges in the whole of the European Union.
On 3 June, the MOT took part in the conference entitled "Cross-border cooperation to enhance renewable energy in the EU" organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the World Future Council at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.
The "Master's in border studies" is an international, interdisciplinary and multilingual study programme aimed at providing students who wish to pursue their careers in intercultural and cross-border settings with the main concepts and necessary analytical tools to understand the issues related to border territories and transnational cooperation.
On 24-25 May in Malta, the ESPON seminar “Revealing territorial potentials and shaping new policies - Contribution to the post-2020 cohesion policy debate” was held, organised by the EGTC in conjunction with the Maltese presidency of the European Union Council.
The MOT has been awarded the "International territorial expertise" label by the Ministry of Europe and European Affairs within the framework of the programme to support territorial authorities' thematic cooperation (PACT3).
The MOT made a contribution in Brazzaville at a conference of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), in a workshop on regional cooperation among Central African local authorities.
The cross-border abattoir in Ur (French Cerdanya) has been operating since the start of April. The facility promoted by Cerdanya District Council (Spain) and the Bourg-Madame abattoir (France) has been 50% financed by the two partners and European funds, with a total cost of €5.4 million.
It was at 4.52 in the morning of 29 April 2017 that the first tram of Line D set off from Strasbourg in the direction of neighbouring Kehl, with the two cities now even more closely linked, within the framework of a project that has profoundly changed the urban landscape.
In the context of constructing an "Energy Europe", a Franco-German experiment with a decentralised, local and also cross-border energy network is going to be conducted in order to go beyond the traditional interconnections between countries via high-voltage lines.
On 25 April 2017 in Forbach, an event to launch the European project “Mobipro.GR“ took place.
In order to increase its influence in the development of the Greater Geneva cross-border territory, on 1 May 2017 the French Geneva Region Cooperation Assembly (ARC), the French side of the Local Grouping of Cross-Border Cooperation, became the French Geneva Area Pôle Metropolitain.
This report, submitted by the General Commission for Territorial Equality (CGET) to the Prime Minister, recommends the creation of a pôle métropolitain encompassing more than 300,000 inhabitants on the border with Belgium and Luxembourg. This would enable North Lorraine to take advantage of its geographical position and of the great attractiveness of its immediate neighbours.
In April, the European programme LIFE launched a new call for projects with two focuses: the environment and action for climate.
The European Union's programme for employment and social innovation (EaSI) has launched a call for proposals regarding cross-border employment.
While the European conference being held by the MOT on 30 November-1 December will be at the heart of a year of festivities in 2017/2018 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the organisation also wishes to promote the events organised by members of its network. To do this, it is proposing to award them the label "20 years of the MOT" *.
The project "Gestion Européenne Conjointe des Connexions et Transports pour les îles – GEECCTT-ILES" (Joint European Management of Connections and Transport for the Islands), which is aimed at creating transport links in the Western Mediterranean, has just been approved by the Interreg programme's monitoring committee.
Innovation does not stop at France's borders The Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis, which now features among the 10 leading smart cities in the world, has been built up around a very dense international ecosystem. This has been in its DNA for a very long time…
The Nice Côte D'Azur Metropolis has at least three particularities that have contributed to its growth.
At the request of the CGET,* the MOT has conducted a study on the cross-border issues in mountain areas, which cover nearly 42% of mainland France's borders.
