News

NATIONAL LEVEL

Signature in Toulouse of a Franco-German declaration

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.

EUROPE

Energy, citizenship, the ECBM, observation: major topics at the heart of the workshops attended by the MOT

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".

TERRITORIES

Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict: A cross-border cycle ride to bring citizens on either side of the Rhine together

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.

TERRITORIES

"The cross-border dimension – a new impetus for the territory"

Editorial by Tristan Atmania, Deputy Director of the Territorial Attractiveness and Competitiveness Department – Saint-Avold Conurbation: "In this crucial year for Europe, our territory of the Moselle, at the crossroads of the founding countries of the European Union, and also of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region, is at a turning point in its history. In this respect, the cross-border cooperation that is already being forged in all areas of daily life represents a major asset to be developed in the context of the competition that we face with the other regions of the world. [...]"

PUBLICATION

Borders and mobility in day-to-day life: ways of life in the Basel trinational conurbation

Yann Dubois, Editions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses, Collection "Espaces, mobilités et sociétés" No. 9, 613 pp, 2019 - in French.

EUROPE

The Commission has circulated orientation papers by border

In the context of the preparation of its 2021-2027 programmes, DG REGIO has drawn up 38 Border Orientation Papers (BOPs) for all of the EU’s land borders. Six of these BOPs relate to France’s borders.

TERRITORIES

Healthcare cooperation: concrete progress

PUBLICATION

Large increase in cross-border workers working in Switzerland and Luxembourg

In 2015, more than 360,000 inhabitants of border areas in France worked in a neighbouring country, near to the border. The economic dynamism of neighbouring countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland and Monaco, together with the salaries offered, have encouraged working-age people living in France’s border areas to go and work there.

MOT

Network of Cross-Border Cooperation Strategies

With the support of the MOT, Lille, Strasbourg and Nice are the three French border region metropolises that have embarked on drawing up a "Schéma de cooperation transfrontalière" (Cross-Border Cooperation Strategie, CCS), introduced by the Maptam Act* in 2014. Through its network, the MOT enables the three metropolises to share experiences and information regarding their methodologies, the obstacles encountered and the local political contexts, as well as to relay their needs to the national and European authorities.

TERRITORIES

Cross-border innovation: Strasburg plans to recover the heat produced by the Kehl steelworks

The Strasbourg Eurometropolis has launched a project aimed at recovering the heat produced by the Kehl steelworks in order to provide energy for 4,000 households in Strasbourg within two years. This innovative project is a first in Europe at the cross-border level.

TERRITORIES

The Moselle wishes to become a "Eurodepartment"

On 9 May 2019, Europe Day, the Moselle Department asked for an expansion of its competences on account of its specific location within the territory of the Greater Region, in order to foster closer links, greater effectiveness and simplified partnerships with its European neighbours.

TERRITORIES

Editorial by Edouard Jacque, President of Grand Est Cross-Border Workers; Regional Councillor, Grand Est Region

The only border that exists in the Grand Est is that which we have “in our hearts”. It is part of our emotional relationship to our history, now turned towards the future, in which on a daily basis we shape a territory that is open in all directions, open to the need to cultivate our differences as they are an asset, and open to cooperation in all areas: be it providing responses to the challenges of AI, research programmes or university projects; or be it encouraging young people to become multilingual, bringing a railway line back to life, building a cycle path or developing an area of countryside working together in a network – because it’s above all a story of human beings.

TERRITORIES

A Territorial Development Plan for the Greater Region

Within the framework of the Interreg “Greater Region Territorial Development Plan” project, the Greater Region Executives Summit have laid the political groundwork for the drawing-up of a common cross-border territorial strategy for the Greater Region partners.

TERRITORIES

Strasbourg: Survey on well-being across the cross-border area

The Strasbourg Eurometropolis’s Development Council has conducted a survey of citizens on well-being across the whole of the cross-border metropolis. The survey is entitled “How are you?”.

PUBLICATION

"L'Europe par les territoires", a publication by the FNAU – focus on the cross-border dimension

The latest publication by the French Network of Urban Planning Agencies (FNAU), entitled "L'Europe par les territoires" (“Europe by its territories”) feeds into the debate about Europe and provides different views on the issues relating to cohesion policy and the way in which cities and territories have appropriated the European ideal and the tools of this policy. The MOT contributed to it and several cross-border territories are showcased in it.

MOT

MOT article on cross-border public services

The magazine "Intercommunalités" of the Assemblée des Communautés de France (AdCF – Assembly of France’s Communities) has published in its issue 238 an article written by the MOT: "Concevoir les services publics transfrontaliers" ("Designing cross-border public services").

TERRITORIES

The Alsatian departments launch their "OR Strategy - Oberrhein / Rhin Supérieur"

The two departments, which will soon be grouped together as the European territorial authority of Alsace, wish to step up cross-border cooperation with their German and Swiss neighbours straightaway. The "OR Strategy – Oberrhein/Rhin supérieur" that they have just presented formalises these reflections and expert assessments.

TERRITORIES

Mobility Portal in the PAMINA area

The PAMINA Eurodistrict and the Karlsruhe TechnologieRegion have inaugurated a new web portal dedicated to cross-border mobility. With 300,000 consultations a day, it is one of the main online journey planning services.

TERRITORIES

Border Studies, a joint study program between four universities of the Greater Region

The Master in Border Studies is a two-year joint international study program, which addresses the complex economic, political, social and cultural issues of borders and of border regions in Europe and beyond. The Master provides students with the major concepts and analytical tools to understand the various challenges of border regions and cross-border cooperations.

NATIONAL LEVEL

The Franco-German Assembly

The new Franco-German Assembly, set up in parallel with the Aachen Treaty, held its first session on 25 March in Paris. It will bring together at least twice a year 100 French and German parliamentarians in equal numbers, meeting in turn in France and Germany.

TERRITORIES

Results of ADEUS’s conference on the Strasbourg-Karlsruhe area

ADEUS (the Strasbourg Conurbation Development and Urban Planning Agency) and the heads of the two cities on either side of the Rhine held a conference in Strasbourg on 27 February entitled: “What are the issues facing a cross-border metropolitan area Strasbourg- Karlsruhe and their Eurodistricts?”. The presentations are now available.

NATIONAL LEVEL

European Territorial Authority of Alsace – towards a principle of differentiation

The French decree establishing the European Territorial Authority of Alsace through the merger of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin Departments was published on 28 February. The new authority will come into being on 1 February 2021.

TERRITORIES

Greater Region Summit

At the 16th Greater Region Summit on 30 January 2019, the Greater Region Executives argued for "ambitious territorial cooperation and a Europe that listens to its citizens".

NATIONAL LEVEL

Aachen Treaty: the editorial of Nathalie Loiseau, French minister of european affairs

On 22 January in Aachen, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron signed a new treaty on cooperation and integration between Germany and France.

NATIONAL LEVEL

The Aachen Treaty: the cross-border dimension given full recognition

The Aachen Treaty marks a real recognition of cross-border cooperation as a central element in European construction. The fourth chapter, which is entirely devoted to cross-border cooperation, was drafted with active participation from the MOT.