On 28 February, the MOT made a presentation at the Ministry of Territorial Development, to students from the European section of the Lycée Marcel Pagnol in Athis-Mons, as part of a day devoted to finding out about Franco-German cooperation organised by the Franco-German Office for Youth.
In February, the Strasbourg-Ortenau put in place an online geographic information system (GIS) that provides citizens with information about daily life in the cross-border territory (schools, markets, charging points for electric cars, etc.).
The MOT’s new presentation brochure presents the major challenges of cross-border cooperation at three levels: local, national, and European, and then details the actions of the MOT at each level.
Jointly organised by the Committee of the Regions and the MOT, this conference brought together more than 60 participants, on 3 February in Brussels. Its objective was to present best practice in the area of risk prevention and crisis management in cross-border zones: forest fires (ES-PT), flooding in the Nisa Euroregion (DE-CZ-PL), seismic risks in the Alps (FR-IT-CH), risks in mountainous regions (FR-ES) and more generally, civil protection (EGTC Euregio Senza Confini IT-AT).
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the MOT will be holding a large European conference, in partnership with the Committee of the Regions, in Brussels from 30 November to 1 December. The goal will be to take stock of the last 20 years of cooperation, to show the ground covered and the progress made in the service of cross-border territories, but also to debate persisting obstacles and the solutions to implement, particularly in the context of an ambitious European policy post-2020.
In September 2016, with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the World Future Council, the MOT took part in a study tour from Copenhagen to Brussels, via Germany and the Netherlands.
The vice-president of the MOT; Joël Giraud, member of parliament for Hautes-Alpes, is demanding special arrangements in border areas for authorisations for minors leaving the country.
“A shared region and shared risks must not be faced with obstacles to the carrying out of missions by emergency services in emergency situations.”
The third meeting of the intergovernmental group initiated by Luxembourg and France took place on 14 December 2016 in Brussels. The discussions focused on the drafting of a final report that will set out the outline of the new European legal tool – the European Cross-Border Convention (ECBC) – proposed by the group and designed to help overcome cross-border obstacles.
The “law relating to external action of territorial authorities and to the cooperation of overseas territories in their regional environment” was adopted on 5 December 2016.
The CGET has published a study - available in English - on the involvement of the private sector in European territorial cooperation programmes (INTERREG).
An international symposium entitled “European territorial cooperation bodies, institutional and material aspects”, was held on 10 February 2017 at the University of Valenciennes.
The 5th “Trans/frontières et dialogue des disciplines” [Cross/borders and dialogue between disciplines] Master-class was held in Marseille from 18 to 20 January 2017, on the topic “Young professionals and neighbourhood/proximity relations within the European Union? Between Conflict and Cooperation”.
The ceremony to mark the setting-up of an EGTC for the PAMINA Eurodistrict on the Franco-German border took place on 11 January 2017 in Haguenau. This new status is being accompanied by changes in the structure's governance, the main aims of which for 2017 are set out here.
After 30 years of cooperation in the PAMINA area and 14 years operating as a local grouping of cross-border cooperation (LGCC), the member local authorities agreed on the principle of turning it into an EGTC.
Michel Charrat, the President of the European Cross-Border Grouping and Treasurer of the MOT, gives us his analysis of the implementation of the vote in February 2014 in Switzerland, which was aimed at restricting the number of foreign workers.
Kussbus is a Luxembourg start-up which has just launched an innovative home-work shuttle service in the Luxembourg-France-Belgium-Germany border territory.
This publication examines how policy actors involved in cross-border co-operation contribute to the regional integration process in West Africa.
A report by the Senate released on 14 December 2016 sets out proposals to improve the care given to French disabled people in Belgian institutions.
The MOT took part in the fourth and final meeting of Cross-Border Review experts that took place on 15 December in Brussels.
At a meeting in Belfort on 1 December 2016, a framework agreement bringing together seven universities in the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc was signed, putting in place a "Community of Knowledge".
The Cerdanya Hospital, which is located on the border between France and Spain in the Catalan Pyrenees, is an unprecedented example in Europe of cooperation in healthcare (between the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and France).
To be able to treat someone rapidly after a stroke requires coordination between local emergency services and specialist neurology and neurosurgery departments.
Endorsed on 23 November 2016 by the plenary session of the National Commission for Decentralised Cooperation (CNCD), the "Diplomacy and Territories" White Paper of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development is online on the website of the DAECT (Délégation pour l'action extérieure des collectivités territoriales (Delegation for the External Action of Territorial Authorities).
