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.
"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.
On Thursday 16 June, the MOT attended the third meeting of the Committee of the Regions' interregional group on cross-border cooperation (and EGTCs) chaired by Pavel Branda.
The CECICN - Conference of European Cross-border and Interregional City Networks - held meetings of its political board and executive board on 15 June in Brussels in the presence of four of its member networks: the MOT, the CESCI (Central European Service for Cross-border Initiatives), the UBC (Union of Baltic Cities) and the FAIC (Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities).
On 26 May 2016, Anne Sander, MEP and Vice-President of the MOT, chaired the fourth meeting of the working group on cross-border cooperation that she has coordinated at the European Parliament since June 2015. Around 40 experts, MPs, civil servants, staff and representatives of interest groups came together to discuss the solutions to unemployment in border regions.
Study carried out by the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI), 2016
The Institut National des Études Territoriales (INET) in Strasbourg has put online a platform designed to centralise a large amount of disparate information about French territorial civil servants' possibilities for mobility in Europe and internationally.
The legislation to strengthen the fight against organised crime, terrorism and the financing adopted on 26 May 2016 provides for the reintroduction in France of required authorisations for any minor leaving the country.
Lancé à l’automne 2014 par le président de la Commission européenne, le plan "Juncker" vise à relancer les investissements en particulier dans les infrastructures, les industries de demain et les compétences. Composé de deux volets – 75 milliards d’euros pour les PME et 240 milliards d’euros pour les infrastructures – il a été mis en œuvre rapidement sur le terrain.
Intended to form an integrated urban entity within the framework of the "Two Banks" initiative structured around a tramline, which is scheduled to start running in 2017, the cities of Strasbourg and Kehl constitute an interesting barometer for the consequences of the reintroduction of controls along the French-German border.
“Europe in my Region” is a European communication campaign organised by Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy around four different initiatives: the EU Open Project Days, a treasure hunt, a photo competition, a blogging campaign.
At the instigation of INSEE and its French and Belgian partners, a seminar entitled "Cross-border observation: what type of organisation for what type of actions?" was held in Tournai on 28 April 2016.
"Relations between nature and national borders have traditionally been regarded as antagonistic: while nature does not recognise borders, international public law is structured by them. Borders thus constitute a threat for nature in a context of accelerated erosion of biological diversity worldwide."
On 12 May, a conference was held to launch a new European project entitled "PASSAGE"*, initiated by the Pas-de-Calais Department and Kent County Council within the framework of the European Straits Initiative. Funded by the Interreg Europe programme, it involves eleven partners on five maritime borders** and is aimed at encouraging cross-border low-carbon initiatives.
The first report of the European consultation on the obstacles and potential solutions to cross-border cooperation yields some very interesting analyses. A few elements: concerning the profile of the respondents, 84% of them live in a border region and 48% are private individuals.
With 25 years of supporting Interreg programmes for cross-border cooperation to its credit, celebrated in 2015, but aware of the progress that still needs to be made, the Commission initiated a process of identifying the obstacles that remain at the EU's internal land borders.
