The MMUST project (Multimodal model and scenarios for cross-border mobility) has just been approved by the Greater Region Interreg VA programme. It is an ambitious project that aims to simulate cross-border movements between France, Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium.
"Beyond the speeches and symbols, what meaning can the concept of a cross-border region have? By defining the region as an identity-based, territorial and institutional construction that endures over time, this work identifies and interrogates the specificities of this process in the cross-border setting. The issues are explored using the emblematic example of the Greater Region, which launched a long-term strategy in 2008 involving Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Wallonia."
As part of the "UniGR - Centre for Border Studies" project, the six member universities (Kaiserslautern, Liège, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Saarland and Trier) of the University of the Greater Region (UniGR) are going to set up a "European centre of skills and resources in border studies" with international visibility.
The eighth meeting of the European Parliament's working group on cross-border cooperation, chaired by the MEP Anne Sander, Vice-President of the MOT, took place on 28 February and was devoted to the topic of higher education and research.
"The regions and countries that border the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region are very attractive to its inhabitants, businesses and territorial authorities." The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Council has attempted to understand the dynamics at work in the neighbouring territories and their impact on the region, in an 84-page document entitled "From good neighbourly relations to a development strategy".
"b-solutions" is an initiative to tackle legal and administrative border obstacles/difficulties along EU internal borders promoted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), as one of the actions proposed in the referred Communication "Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions", adopted by the Commission on 20 September 2017.
The European Commission has launched its new online platform "Boosting EU border regions" dedicated to cross-border stakeholders. This new tool is part of the 10 measures proposed in the Commission Communication "Boosting Growth and Cohesion in EU Border Regions".
In reponse to Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel’s desire to sign a new Elysée Treaty in 2018, and on the occasion of its 55th anniversary, the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly, meeting in a joint session on 22 January, adopted a resolution inviting the two governments to renew this treaty in order to “deepen the Franco-German partnership” and “launch a new dynamic”.
Two workshops and a study trip with local stakeholders were organised around this topic in the territories of SaarMoselle and Flanders-Dunkirk-Côte d’Opale, as part of the work of IHEDATE (Higher Education Institute for European Development and Planning - Institut des hautes études de développement et d'aménagement des territoires en Europe).
The situation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic is unique in the world: it is the only case in which the entire land area of two states is located on a single shared island. In 2016 and 2017, the MOT was commissioned to develop cross-border cooperation on this atypical border.
The "Rencontres franco-suisses de l’économie et de l’innovation en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes", an ‘economy and innovation fair’, was held for the first time in Lyon on 15 January 2018.
On 10 December 2017, the elected representatives of the Basel trinational conurbation had the pleasure of opening tram line 3 linking the centre of Basel-Stadt (CH) to the railway station of Saint-Louis (F). With this tram line it is now possible to travel from Saint-Louis station to Basel city centre in under 15 minutes.
The Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Ceser) of the Grand Est region has published a study looking at the reduction of cross-border obstacles in the Grand Est region.
This special edition of RECERC, online publication of the Institut Franco-Catalan Transfrontalier, focuses on the historical aspects and the evolution of cross-border cooperation.
In 2018, the Commission will make comprehensive proposals for the next generation of programmes for the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the EU's long–term budget. This consultation (launched until March 2018) is an integral part of the process and its objective is to collect the views of all interested parties.
The international research network “Borders in Globalization” (BIG) held its second international conference in Ottawa between 6 and 8 December 2017. The programme is an opportunity for dialogue between different regions of the world (Europe, North America, Africa) on the theme of border management.
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, on 30 November and 1 December in Brussels the MOT organised a European conference on the topic “Building cross-border territories: Europe for citizens”, which brought together more than 230 participants: attendance figures reflecting the importance of the issues!
To mark the 20th anniversary of its creation, the MOT has produced a publication entitled "Cross-border territories: Europe's laboratory". It came out at the time of the MOT's European conference "Building cross-border territories: Europe acting for its citizens" which took place on 30 November and 1 December 2017 in Brussels.
Set up thanks to cooperation between the European Committee of the Regions and the main associations of European cities and regions, the Cohesion Alliance (#CohesionAlliance) argues that account should be taken of the needs of European territories in the European Union's budget after 2020, through stronger and more effective cohesion policy for each of the EU's regions.
The territorial observatory provides, in the form of factsheets, a set of analyses and an overview of the state of France's territories.
On 29 November, Anne Sander MEP, hosted around a breakfast the seventh meeting of her parliamentary working group on cross-border cooperation.
On 24 November, the MOT made a contribution during a workshop organised as part of Strasbourg's "Rendez-vous européens".
On 16 November, the MOT took part in the 2017 edition of the "Temporelles" organised by Tempo Territorial and the Lille European Metropolis.
The 13th Antilles-Guiana regional cooperation conference took place in Pointe-à-Pitre on 15-17 November 2017.
