New "Guiding Principles" for Germany's territorial development were adopted in March 2016, which are in line with the idea that "Germany is not an island".
Several spatial planning pilot projects (MORO), such as the one that led to the setting-up of the IMeG,* incorporating border region and cross-border considerations have been launched in Germany.
On 6 October 2016, the annual meeting of the Interreg VA ALCOTRA programme brought together more than 400 participants in Chamonix.
Nearly 600 people gathered for the 37th national meeting of urban planning agencies on 5-7 October in the Basque Country.
Published by Correspondances Lorraines. Author: Pascale Braun. October 2016. Retail price: €20. Title in English: "The Greater East Region: Europe among Neighbours"
Organised by the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis,* the European days of cross-border cooperation held in Nice on 21-22 September were a great success, with nearly 400 participants.
Roaming within the EU will be free of charge for unlimited periods from 15 June 2017. The first proposal to limit free roaming to 90 days was rectified by the European Commission as it was deemed to be discriminatory for example for cross-border workers and Erasmus students who spend a lot of time in another country.
On 23 September 2016, the two sides of underground route of the future cross-border rail link between Geneva and Annemasse were joined up by French and Swiss teams.
Following the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU (2nd half of 2015) and its proposal to create a new legal tool for cross-border cooperation, a Working Group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles was established by Luxembourg and France. The first meeting of the Working Group was held in Vienna on July 5th 2016.
A new section on the MOT's website sets out the issues involved in identifying and resolving obstacles to cross-border cooperation.
This summer, the MOT completely updated its online legal resources relating to cross-border cooperation law.
The "ACTS" project* was launched in February 2015 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.** It is a Priority Solidarity Fund project financed by France. It aims to help Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso preserve their sovereignty through better management of border regions with respect to security and local development.
In the context of drawing up its SRDEII,* the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region asked the MOT, of which it is a member, to carry out an assessment of cross-border issues in the Region (which borders on Switzerland and Italy) that could be included in a cross-border component of the regional programme.
The migrant crisis and threats to security have placed borders centre stage. Having become an extremely political topic, the public authorities still perceive them in a fragmented way.
The EGTC Platform of the Committee of the Regions has presented three recent studies on cross-border cooperation.
Within the framework of the "Periurban Lab" (a platform aimed at identifying, promoting and disseminating innovative projects and remarkable initiatives in periurban areas), the French Minister for Town and Country Planning, Rural Affairs and Local Government, Jean-Michel Baylet, with the support of the CGET,* has launched the Periurban Innovation Prize.
"Connect Innovation Bai!", "MAREA", "H2Ogurea" and "EDERBIDEA" of the names of four of the new projects selected in the first call for projects under POCTEFA 2014-2020.
TV programme "C dans l'air" on France 5 - Broadcast on 10 August 2016
Every year, the MOT publishes an updated dossier presenting cross-border projects that may serve as examples.
Thanks to the Kubic project, which was led by the Saarmoselle Eurodistrict and funded by the Interreg IVA programme, five local French and German television stations pooled their know-how and technical resources to produce a weekly cross-border music programme.
Jean Peyrony, the MOT's Director-General, took part in the ESPON seminar "Territory matters: keeping Europe and its regions competitive" held in Amsterdam on 16-17 June 2016.
The SaarMoselle Eurodistrict has just adopted an action programme for the next five years.
The Annual Conference of the MOT brought together 150 participants on 24 May 2016 in the Palais de la Porte Dorée, home of the French National Museum of the History of Immigration, in conjunction with the exhibition “Frontières” (“Borders”) currently on view.
Following the annual conference, the meetings of the MOT's bodies took place on 25 May. The MOT's President, Michel Delebarre, presented its new members: the Cluster GAT Caraïbes, the Principality of Monaco, the Strasbourg-Mulhouse-Colmar Metropolitan Hub, the IDELUX-AIVE Group (Belgium) and KiosK Office.
To help identify obstacles to investment, the Committee of the Regions has invited the representatives of EU cities and regions to take part in a survey on "Obstacles to investment at local and regional level", the results of which will be presented to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.
