The four roundtables held during the MOT’s annual event on 21-22 September gave rise to rich discussions among the 200 participants present in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The Conference on the Future of Europe, launched on 9 May 2021, is an unprecedented exercise in participatory democracy open to all the citizens of the 27 Member States. An interactive and multilingual digital platform enables everyone to take part in the discussions, express ideas and organise events.
At a time when the pandemic is on the rise again in Europe and health measures are being strengthened on both sides of the Rhine, the European Territorial Authority of Alsace and the Grand Est Region, in cooperation with the Centre Européen de la Consommation (European Centre for Consumer Protection) and the INFOBEST network, have made available a digital tool to aid with crossing borders.
The conference on cross-border rail links organised in June 2021 by the MOT and the PAMINA Eurodistrict, with the support of the Committee of the Regions, brought together nearly 200 participants.
The policy brief "Cross-border monitoring and observation in Europe" explores the main takeaways from research studies done at EU level, compiling the most relevant EU documents, and aims to support the upscaling of good practices for cross-border monitoring and observation to pan-European level.
As an “action partner”, the MOT is playing an active role in the “Small Towns of Tomorrow” programme being led by the ANCT (Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires – National Agency for Territorial Cohesion). On 25 October, it took part in the programme’s national conference, aimed at the 1600 participating towns. Bringing together no fewer than 600 participants, it provided an opportunity for numerous political and technical discussions between all of the stakeholders.
On the 10th anniversary of its creation on 27 October, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Euskadi Navarra Euroregion presented its new strategic plan.
Following the sixth Franco-Luxembourg Intergovernmental Commission (ICG) that took place on 19 October in Belval in the presence of the Minister of State Clément Beaune, agreements between the two countries were reached notably with respect to transport and teleworking.
At a time when environmental health is a growing concern for citizens and the Commission is launching its ambitious “Zero-pollution action plan” within the framework of the European Green Deal, the MOT and its network decided to organise a workshop entitled “Breathing without borders: challenges in improving air quality in cross-border regions” during the European Week of Cities and Regions.
Concrete expressions of the Aachen Treaty, two MORO* pilot projects on the Franco-German border aim to strengthen the cross-border dimension of territorial development practices, using an innovative method that has been widely tried out in Germany – the "Planspiel"**:
"Maintaining cross-border cooperation at the heart of the European project" is the ambition of the "Strasbourg Declaration", signed on 7 October 2021, in Strasbourg, by the three founding partners of the European Cross-Border Citizens' Alliance.
At the research seminar "The model of the Franco-German border – Reconciliation, cooperation, integration", organised by the Jean Monnet FRONTEM network, a "Manifesto on the future of cross-border cooperation in Europe", addressed to France’s presidency of the EU, and to the Conference on the Future of Europe, was published.
The use of the state of emergency in three of the past six years has led the Conseil d'Etat, in the context of its 2021 annual study, to analyse the lessons learned from this exceptional measure. It is proposing to establish principles of use with 15 proposals for improvement.
You’re part of it! It was under this motto that the 11th EGTC Platform meeting opened on 30 September, hosted by the Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino Euroregion (Austrian-Italian border), on the occasion of its 10th birthday.
"It is a great honour for me to be re-elected President of the MOT, and to be able to continue to champion with you the cross-border and European cause. Over the past year, I have appreciated the value of our association, its network and its technical team.
In the presence of Joël Giraud, Minister of State for Rural Affairs under the Minister for Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Government, more than a hundred participants from all of France’s borders gathered for the MOT’s general assembly on 21-22 September in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds, at the invitation of the Doubs Urban Conurbation.
On 31 August 2021, the Belgian and Luxembourg Ministers of Health signed a declaration of intent with a view to negotiating a framework agreement on cross-border healthcare cooperation between the two countries.
The European conference on participation, organised by the "Décider Ensemble" network, took place in Amiens from 13 to 17 September. Designing public services, involving citizens in the ecological transition and strengthening the European Union’s representative institutions and democratic legitimacy were among the themes spotlighted at this conference of participatory democracy players.
Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General spoke at two conferences:
"The Doubs Urban Conurbation was set up in 2006. Initially an informal collaboration, it led to the creation of a local grouping of cross-border cooperation, the only one in the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc running between the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict and Greater Geneva. Today the LGCC comprises the Val de Morteau group of municipalities and the towns of Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle.
The MOT’s general assembly is taking place this year in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds on 21-22 September, at the invitation of the Doubs Urban Conurbation, a member of its network. Joël Giraud, Minister of State under the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, in charge of Rurality (France) and former Vice-President of the MOT, will speak at the end of the first day.
Seven years after its creation, the LGCC* of the Doubs Urban Conurbation (Agglomération Urbaine du Doubs – AUD) has shown its effectiveness in helping local elected representatives to get to know one another better, which has enabled them to set out joint projects while at the same time speaking with one voice on behalf of the binational territory.
This European Commission report, published on 13 July, looks at the lessons of the Covid crisis and the initiatives carried out since the publication of its 2017 Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions”.
Adopted on 1 July, this resolution constitutes an official contribution from the CoR to the Conference on the Future of Europe. It sets out the concrete proposals of the CoR and the European Cross-Border Citizens’ Alliance (AEBR, MOT and CESCI) to put cross-border cooperation back at the top of the EU's policy agenda after a year disrupted by the pandemic.
Following its adoption at its first reading in the Senate on 21 July 2021, the 3DS bill (standing for “differentiation, decentralisation, deconcentration and various measures to simplify local public action”) will be examined under a fast-track procedure in the Assemblée Nationale, in France, from the beginning of December. Taking on a number of the proposals put forward by the MOT, the senators adopted a series of amendments relating to cross-border issues.
