"French border municipalities are demanding a tax "contribution" from the neighbouring Grand Duchy. The demand was made on March 8th by a group of elected representatives.
Created by a declaration of intent signed on December 14th, 2012, between France and Brazil, the Oyapock River Council (CDF) is a joint consultative body that brings together institutional and civil society stakeholders from the Oyapock basin, the river that forms the binational border between French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá, twice a year. The French delegation is led by the sub-prefect of Saint-Georges, while the Brazilian delegation is led by the Secretary of State for International Relations and Foreign Trade of Amapá.
The MOT was in Brussels on April 11th and 12th for the “Cohesion Forum” organized by the European Commission. What place for European Territorial Cooperation in future cohesion policy? How can the specific characteristics of cross-border territories be taken into account?
On April 11th and 12th, 2024, the partners of Observ'Alp, a project financed by the Interreg ALCOTRA program, met in Marseille to continue their work on cross-border observation (France-Italy-Monaco) and take part in the second meeting of the Steering Committee (COPIL) and the Collective Intelligence Committee (CIC).
On April 10th, 2024, the MOT working group on ecological transition held its 6th meeting, organized in partnership with "Objectif RER Métropolitains". It was an opportunity to put exchange with seven speakers who shared their experiences and expertise, and to generate strong interest with over 70 participants.
At the initiative of the Belgian Presidency, a "Brussels Declaration" was adopted by European transport ministers to outline the future of European mobility.
"The mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian, is asking the government to allow her to experiment with legalising cannabis in her area. "This is a pragmatic request, since the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle [...] allows cross-border territories to carry out experiments of this type", she says. [...] This request comes at a time when the liberalisation of cannabis consumption in Germany has existed, subject to conditions, since April 1st."
Relaunching cooperation between Nice and Cuneo: the mayors of Nice, Christian Estrosi, and Cuneo, Patrizia Manassero, met on March 29th, 2024, to strengthen their cooperation links. "We are witnessing a lively development of dialogues and agreements in which, if only for historical geographical reasons, the Cuneo region must be involved: from the cross-border alliance between Nice and Imperia - in which the province of Cuneo participates - to the EGTC project involving some thirty municipalities on the Franco-Italian Riviera and its valleys".
On March 26th, 2024, at the Hub of the Banque des Territoires, the MOT brought together its entire team and the members of its Technical Committee for a one-day seminar: an important opportunity for exchange and collective brainstorming in the context of its Associative Project - Horizon 2030. It was an opportunity to formulate a number of operational proposals that will feed into the Project. This will be unveiled at the General Meeting on the 27th and 28th of June in Dunkirk, at the same time as the "roadmap for the partnership between the State and the MOT for the period 2024-2027" promised in 2023 by Minister Dominique Faure.
After its first edition in 2023, the "Assises rhénanes de l'eau" is a cross-border event led by the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace (CEA). It was held from the 18th to 23rd of March 2024.
On March 19th, 2024, the Government of the Republic and Canton of Jura and the European Collectivity of Alsace signed a new roadmap. The aim is to redefine the areas of cooperation between the two neighbours for the years 2024 and 2025.
Law 2016-41 of 26 January 2016 on the modernisation of France's healthcare system introduced a new "Regional Health Project" (PRS), maintained in principle, with three new components: a 10-year Strategic Orientation Framework (COS), a single 5-year Regional Health Scheme (SRS) and a Regional Programme on Access to Prevention and Care for the Most Deprived (PRAPS).
Extreme heat, prolonged droughts, unseasonable cold spells, storms and hurricanes... climate change knows no borders.
On March 12th, the MOT visited the sub-prefecture of Vervins, in the Aisne department, for a meeting on the cross-border issues facing the "Pact for the Sambre-Avesnois-Thiérache territory", attended by the SGAR, the Hauts-de-France region, the sub-prefectures of Avesnes-sur-Helpe and Vervins, the Aisne and Nord departments and the territory's EPCIs (public establishments of intercommunal cooperation).
On March 11th, the MOT held its quarterly meeting in Strasbourg, at the city hall. The meeting was attended by the The Strasbourg Eurometropolis, the European Territorial Authority of Alsace, the Grand Est Region and, for the first time, the Préfecture de Région.
On March 11th 2024 a meeting was held in Kehl, Germany, to launch the Franco-German working group responsible for developing and coordinating mechanisms to take account of the "border reality" in national legislative procedures.
The independent Group of High-Level Specialists on the Future of Cohesion Policy - set up in 2023 by Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira - presented its report on 20 February 2024.
MEPs of the Legal Affairs Committee approved draft rules aimed at removing barriers to the cross-border activities, funding and mobility of non-profit associations in the EU.
A "Southern Alps Cross-border Alliance" was launched on February 8th 2024 in Imperia in the presence of Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, President of the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and Deputy President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, and Claudio Scajola, Mayor of Imperia and President of the Province of Imperia.
The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU and negotiators from the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on February 6, 2024, regarding the amendment of EU law governing the functioning of the Schengen area at both its external and internal borders.
As part of the partnership between the MOT and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, represented by its Department of Spatial Planning, the MOT led a Franco-German-Luxembourgian cross-border workshop on January 31st 2024 at the Maison de la Nature du Pays de Sierck (Moselle).
The Corsican Territorial Authority (Collectivité de Corse) and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia have launched a fundamental process of cooperation to ensure joint management of environmental issues in the Bucchi di Bunifaziu area.
Do you live near the franco-german border? Do you deal with public services on both sides of the border? Share your experience with us!
From the English Channel to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, cooperation in sea basins was at the heart of discussions at the conference on Regional Cooperation in Maritime Areas (ReCMA), organised in September by the University of Lille, the TVES laboratory and the MOT. To report on this work, the MOT is publishing a "Focus" on this theme at the heart of European integration.
