In reponse to Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel’s desire to sign a new Elysée Treaty in 2018, and on the occasion of its 55th anniversary, the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly, meeting in a joint session on 22 January, adopted a resolution inviting the two governments to renew this treaty in order to “deepen the Franco-German partnership” and “launch a new dynamic”.
Two workshops and a study trip with local stakeholders were organised around this topic in the territories of SaarMoselle and Flanders-Dunkirk-Côte d’Opale, as part of the work of IHEDATE (Higher Education Institute for European Development and Planning - Institut des hautes études de développement et d'aménagement des territoires en Europe).
The Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Ceser) of the Grand Est region has published a study looking at the reduction of cross-border obstacles in the Grand Est region.
The 38th Conference of Urban-Planning Agencies was held on 8-10 November in Strasbourg, with the theme "Building a Europe of Places and Links" ("Construire l'Europe des Lieux et des Liens").
On 9-10 November 2017, the MOT took part in the final conference of a project on the observation of cross-border territories along Germany's borders.
This publication, to which the MOT has contributed, notably by producing the maps, aims to take stock of cross-border cooperation in the field of health and the evolution of Europe’s role in the healthcare sector in global terms, by focussing on 7 experiences in Europe and by looking closely at the French-Belgian situation.
Every year, the MOT publishes a dossier highlighting exemplary cross-border projects along French borders.
Within the context of the regional accord for the application of the Espoo Convention (1991) in a tri-national framework, the French-German-Swiss Upper Rhine Conference has published a guide to procedures for cross-border consultations concerning projects, plans and programmes with significant impact on the environment.
This is the aim of the project FagA/Centre d’aide à la mobilité transfrontalière (CAMT – Centre for Assistance with Cross-Border Mobility) launched on 1 July 2016 in the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict.
More user-friendly and better suited to players in the Greater Region but above all to the general public is how the new version of the Greater Region's geoportal, which was officially presented on 23 May, in the presence of Camille Gira, Luxembourg's Secretary of State for sustainable Development and Infrastructure, can be summed up.
The "Master's in border studies" is an international, interdisciplinary and multilingual study programme aimed at providing students who wish to pursue their careers in intercultural and cross-border settings with the main concepts and necessary analytical tools to understand the issues related to border territories and transnational cooperation.
It was at 4.52 in the morning of 29 April 2017 that the first tram of Line D set off from Strasbourg in the direction of neighbouring Kehl, with the two cities now even more closely linked, within the framework of a project that has profoundly changed the urban landscape.
In the context of constructing an "Energy Europe", a Franco-German experiment with a decentralised, local and also cross-border energy network is going to be conducted in order to go beyond the traditional interconnections between countries via high-voltage lines.
At the request of the CGET,* the MOT has conducted a study on the cross-border issues in mountain areas, which cover nearly 42% of mainland France's borders.
On 5-6 April 2017 in Neustadt-an-der Weinstraße (Rhineland-Palatinate), the third Franco-German cross-border conference was held, in the presence of Harlem Désir, the Secretary of State for European Affairs (FR), and Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe (DE).
Income from household wealth (capital gains on property, real estate income, etc.) received in France is subject to social security deductions. However, the European Court of Justice confirmed in 2015 that people who are affiliated to the social security system of another country should not be taxed to fund the French social security system.
The annual meeting of the network on 15 March in Belval gave the MOT's new members the opportunity to speak, and these new members were presented to all of the participants.
The Pamina Eurodistrict is launching a digital version of a board game called "Le Passe-partout" ("The Master Key") to help schoolchildren learn about the rich cultural heritage of the Franco-German territory and encourage bilingualism.
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.).
France and Germany have announced for the end of March the setting up of a test zone between the two countries for experimenting on the road with connected and autonomous vehicles.
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.
Kussbus is a Luxembourg start-up which has just launched an innovative home-work shuttle service in the Luxembourg-France-Belgium-Germany border territory.
