The journal "Urbanisme" has devoted a special issue to the topic "Construire l'Europe des lieux et des liens" ("Building a Europe of places and links"). This issue summarises the 38th conference of urban planning agencies that took place in November 2017 in Strasbourg, in which the MOT actively participated. An extensive chapter in the special issue looks at "territories without borders".
Since 2012, the Nice-Côte d'Azur Metropolis has been part of the MOT's network, which allows it to position itself at the heart of cross-border cooperation issues, by developing its links not only with its direct neighbours, Italy and the Principality of Monaco, but also with other European cross-border players.
The city of Nice and the Nice-Côte d'Azur Metropolis are engaged in many cooperation projects within the framework of the ALCOTRA and MARITTIMO European programmes, in very varied areas such as: territorial development, strengthening links between urban and rural territories, innovation and support for businesses, sustainable development and combating climate change, healthcare and social inclusion, youth, culture and strengthening digital networks.
The year of 2017 was marked by the 20th anniversary of the setting-up of the network, which was celebrated at a major European conference in Brussels. It was also a very rich year for the MOT in terms of its activities and studies. In order to let people know about the diversity and scope of these actions, carried out for the benefit of the network and cross-border territories, the MOT is publishing its latest annual report – in a completely new format, both in terms of the structure of the contents and its design and layout.
The Alzette Belval EGTC has just launched an interactive mapping system to provide fair access to leisure equipment and services across the cross-border territory. It became apparent that such an initiative was necessary to encourage its inhabitants to take part in activities on either side of the border.
To mark its 20th anniversary, the MOT produced a map of European cross-border territories. Now, on the occasion of its 21st General Assembly, it is publishing – and has had printed in the form of a large poster – a map showing the cross-border territories along France's borders.
The Pyrenees Haute-Garonne Community of Municipalities and the Aran Conselh Generau held a ceremony on 20 April in Fos to commemorate the 505th anniversary of the signing of the " Lies et Patseries" Treaty.
In 2016, a wide-ranging opinion poll by HES-SO* Geneva investigated the habits and feeling of belonging to the cross-border territory of the population of Greater Geneva. In 2018, a team made up of three professors conducted the survey again, this time focusing particularly on the issue of mobility.
"They are French and live in France, but work on the other side of the border, in Italy, Switzerland or Germany. They are known as the 'transfrontaliers' [cross-border workers]… There are 500,000 of them – the highest number in Europe. But is there an entente cordiale between these French people and their neighbours?"
"Since its creation, the European Union seems to be guided by the idea that an increase in cross-border flows contributes to more European unity. […] In a context characterized by the rise of Euroscepticism, it seems crucial to take a more critical look at actual cross-border integration and to unravel its concrete consequences for the people who live in border regions."
The 2014-2020 Italy/France Maritime Programme has drafted a position paper on cross-border maritime cooperation after 2020. Its aim is to make a contribution regarding the future organisation of cross-border maritime cooperation, by highlighting the current obstacles, but also the responses provided by ETC programmes.
The MOT contributed to this publication* produced by the Institut Destrée et Acadie, following a series of Franco-Walloon cross-border seminars entitled "Territoires en trans– : mythologies, réalités et dispositifs" ("Trans- territories: mythologies, realities and mechanisms"). This document (available in French only) provides an in-depth analysis of cooperation between France and Wallonia.
The European Committee of the Regions has just published its annual "EGTC Monitoring Report". This publication looks at developments in existing EGTCs and the new ones set up in 2017, as well as implementation of the European regulation on EGTCs. This year, it has focused particularly on the effects of the regulation on regions and cities where EGTCs are active.
The new French regions have to draw up a "Schéma régional d’aménagement, de développement durable et d’égalité des territoires" (SRADDET – Regional Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development and Territorial Equality Plan). In order to set out a unifying political project for its territory, the Grand Est Region has chosen to place the cross-border dimension at the heart of its actions and to involve its cross-border partners in drawing it up.
Citizens' consultations are among President Emmanuel Macron's flagship proposals to give fresh impetus to Europe and "the link between its peoples and European construction". In France, they were launched in April and will continue until October 2018.
A mission on deepening Franco-German cross-border cooperation, under the aegis of the Minister in charge of European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, has just been entrusted to the MP for the Bas-Rhin Department, Sylvain Waserman. The aim is to think about how renewing the Elysée Treaty would help to further develop Franco-German cross-border cooperation. A questionnaire for citizens is open until 30 April.
The MOT's Forum was launched in November 2017. It enables players involved in cross-border cooperation to exchange views on different topics as well as on obstacles to cooperation.
MAREA ("Modélisation et Aide à la décision face aux Risques côtiers en Euskal Atlantique" – Modelling and Assistance with Decision-Making faced with Coastal Risks in Atlantic Euskal) is a cross-border research project aimed at gaining a better understanding of storm episodes on the Basque coast, in order to predict risks of coastal flooding and erosion.
Editorial by Jean-René Etchegaray, President of the Basque Country Conurbation Community ; and presentation of the MAREA project: "A cross-border project to predict coastal risks in the Basque Country".
More than 100 people – elected representatives, technicians and civil society players – took part in the event on 22 March to launch the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis's "Parc Bleu".
On 20 March 2018, at a summit meeting, France and Luxembourg signed four bilateral agreements, including one to strengthen cooperation with respect to cross-border transport. These are "a set of agreements that have a concrete impact on the daily lives of our citizens. Our objective is joint and equal financing of a number of transport infrastructures," explained the French Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe.
The 2017 report of the ONERC – National Observatory on the Effects of Global Warming entitled "Towards a second plan for adaptation to climate change in France – Issues and recommendations" has been published. The MOT wrote section 32 of the report on the cross-border dimension.
A new European Grouping of Cross-Border Cooperation (EGTC) was set up on 13 March 2018. Called "Pirineos-Pyrénées" ("Pyrenees" in Spanish and French), it groups together the main territorial authorities of the centre of the Pyrenees mountain range: the Diputación de Huesca, the Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments and the Government of Aragon.
The MOT has contributed to this publication produced by the French Urban Planning Agencies Network (FNAU), in two chapters: "Urban hubs and cross-border cooperation – a tool for dialogue across borders" and "How is inter-territoriality dealt with in other European countries?"
An academic publication edited by François Moullé, lecturer and agrégé in geography. In the collection "Parcours Universitaires", Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2017.
