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 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.
On 18 April 2016, the Conférence TransJurassienne (CTJ) presented its new strategy for cross-border cooperation in the territory of the French-Swiss Jura Arc.
Evaluating quality of life and the desire for "living together" in Greater Geneva is the objective of the study that has just been published by the Geneva HES-SO (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland).
The 31st Congress of the European Cross-Border Grouping (GTE) brought together over 500 cross-border workers and numerous political representatives of the French-Swiss territory on 11 March 2016 in Archamps. According to Michel Charrat, president of the GTE, “2015 will no doubt go down in the history books of the cross-border phenomenon.
The Upper Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Region is renewing its scheme to finance cross-border projects in the area of research and innovation entitled the "Science Offensive".
The first European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) to be set up by an alliance of universities is located in the Upper Rhine area.
In October 2015, the Greater Geneva local grouping of cross-border cooperation (LGCC) launched an initiative to draw up a territorial project for the whole of the French-Vaud-Geneva conurbation for the 2016-2030 period. This process of reflection will be completed at the end of this year. It involves the elected representatives of the region, both Swiss and French, and cross-border civil society organised through the Greater Geneva Conurbation Forum.
At the end of 2015, the European Cross-Border Grouping (Groupement Transfrontalier Européen, GTE) was alerted by Switzerland's temping agencies regarding the difficulties they are encountering in hiring French unemployed people as temporary workers.
On 3 December 2015, Jacques Melly, the President of the Conseil d'Etat of the Canton of Valais, handed over the presidency of the Leman Council to Virginie Duby-Muller, Vice-President in charge of cooperation and cross-border affairs of the Haute-Savoie Conseil Départemental, who is also Vice-President of the MOT.
Following the regional elections and the reform which reduced the number of regions in mainland France from 22 to 13, the MOT has published a note (in French) on the new French regions and the territorial reform: what will be the impact on cross-border cooperation?.
The local development council of the French Geneva area has presented a new edition of the educational material on Greater Geneva, which is entitled "Greater Geneva, our daily territory" and aimed at students in the penultimate year of lycée as part of the geography syllabus.
The Joint Secretariat of the Upper Rhine Conference and the journalist Reinhard Reck have produced a booklet to mark the 40th anniversary of the French-German-Swiss intergovernmental commission. The booklet presents the evolution, diversity and dynamism of cross-border cooperation in the Upper Rhine since the Bonn Agreement signed in 1975.
"More than 150,000 French citizens cross the border every day to go to work in Switzerland, attracted by higher salaries in all sectors. Many believe they will find an Eldorado there. Reality is not always as one imagines…"
The seminar organised by the Council of Europe was an opportunity to examine cross-border cooperation activity organised around the work of the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict (ETB), the international architecture exhibition IBA Basel 2020 and the Basel Agglomeration programme.
Taking note of the “de Ruyter” decision of the CJEU, “the [French] Government specifies in a communiqué published on 20th October the conditions for the introduction of recovery procedures relating to refunds of social contributions made on capital gains by residents and non-residents who are covered by social security schemes of other Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland.”
On 21 September, the players from the Greater Geneva area presented an innovative new tool that makes it possible to monitor air pollution across the cross-border territory: the G²AME (Grand Genève Air Modèle Emissions – Greater Geneva Air Emissions Model) platform.
A web platform to promote car-pooling in the Greater Geneva region went live on 1 September.
The New Territorial Organisation of the Republic Act (the "NOTRe Act") was promulgated on 7 August 2015 in France.
Today the Commission officially launched the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP), the fourth EU macro-regional strategy. More than70 million citizens will reap the benefits of a closer cooperation between regions and countries in terms of research and innovation, SME support, mobility, tourism, environmental protection and energy resources management.
Ambitieux projet porté par Le Pays Horloger (France) et le Parc naturel régional du Doubs (Suisse), les Chemins de la Contrebande franco-suisse proposent quatre itinéraires pédestres et VTT entre la France et la Suisse, alternative originale aux randonnées classiques, avec une quête ludique et l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies, qui pimentent les parcours entre France et Suisse et ouvrent un vaste champ de découvertes à partager.
For more than twenty years, the Espace Mont Blanc (FR/IT/CH) has been striving to meet the needs for sustainable and balanced development of the Mont Blanc massif and its valleys, in order to protect and promote this emblematic cross-border territory.
On the territory of the French-Swiss Jura Arc, the Doubs Urban Conurbation (Agglomération Urbaine du Doubs – AUD) has launched a cross-border intercultural and intergenerational project aimed at involving the populations and civil society of the French and Swiss municipalities that make it up: Morteau (F), Villers-le-Lac (F), Les Fins (F), La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH), Le Locle (CH) and Les Brenets (CH).
Along France's borders, several INTERREG VA programmes have launched their first calls for projects or are organising their launch events soon.
