On 3 February 2025, the study ‘Energy planning at the cross-border catchment area level’, proposed in the MOT's 2025 work programme and supported by the Strasbourg Eurometropole, the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict and the Banque des territoires, was launched.
Represented by its vice-president Brigitte Torloting, vice-president of the Grand Est region, the MOT took part in the GART-UTPF conference ‘Which public transport model to facilitate cross-border mobility?’, at the ‘Eu Mobility Expo’ held this year in Strasbourg. This was an opportunity for the MOT to present its position, taken with Objectif RER Métropolitains, on the cross-border dimension of SERM projects.
On August 27th, 2024, Franck Leroy, President of the Grand Est Region, and Winfried Hermann, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Transport, unveiled the first France-Germany Régiolis cross-border train (TFA).
On June 19th, the MOT was invited to speak at the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict Council, chaired by Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg.
"The mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian, is asking the government to allow her to experiment with legalising cannabis in her area. "This is a pragmatic request, since the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle [...] allows cross-border territories to carry out experiments of this type", she says. [...] This request comes at a time when the liberalisation of cannabis consumption in Germany has existed, subject to conditions, since April 1st."
After its first edition in 2023, the "Assises rhénanes de l'eau" is a cross-border event led by the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace (CEA). It was held from the 18th to 23rd of March 2024.
A new initiative in the cross-border legal field, the "Justice without borders" pilot project acts as a Franco-German access point to law in Kehl.
The project to recover waste heat from the Badische Stahlwerke (BSW), Kehl's steelworks, is now entering its concrete phase.
With the joint hosting of the cross-border start of the Tour de France in 2023 and the second edition of the cross-border summer universities, there is a great deal going on in the French-Spanish Basque Country. At a meeting in July, elected representatives from both sides of the border emphasised their desire to take cooperation further.
The conference to launch the new cross-border legal access point, located at the heart of the Strasbourg-Kehl conurbation, was held on May 10th, 2023 at the Strasbourg judicial court. Its chairman, Thierry Ghera, gives us his view on this new service, the first of its kind in Europe.
On Friday, March 17th, 2023 the 3rd meeting of the MOT working group "Cross-border ecological transition" was held on the theme of decarbonizing cross-border mobility. The exchanges were organized in two parts.
Representatives of the Upper Rhine met on January 19th in Strasbourg. They called for their territory to become "a springboard for the development of European railways".
In the Franco-German region of Strasbourg-Kehl, the municipalities are in the process of implementing a flagship cross-border cooperation project for the extension of urban heating networks. Soon, the waste heat from the local steel mill will supply thousands of households on both sides of the Rhine.
"70 people aged 2 to 87 who live, work or enjoy their time in the Strasbourg Eurometropolis or in Kehl, share their views on what constitutes the cross-border living area, the influence of restrictions on crossing the border during the health crisis and their aspirations for the future."
In order to strengthen its presence in the territories through ad hoc regional offices, on 14 March the MOT held its first session in Strasbourg.
In January 2020, the association Young Europeans France created the "European Cities Label" with the aim of promoting European democracy and bringing the European spirit alive in cities, towns and villages.
At their joint municipal council meeting that took place on 1 December 2021, the cities of Strasbourg and Kehl signed a cooperation agreement aimed at stepping up their exchanges and working on new cross-border projects. This initiative encompasses the competences of the Strasbourg Eurometropolis, which is a signatory to the agreement, thus marking a recognition of involvement at the intermunicipal level in the cooperation between the cities and the construction of a cross-border conurbation.
Launched in 2017 for a five-year period, the project “Civil Society in the Upper Rhine” presented its final assessment at the closing day held by the PAMINA Eurodistrict EGTC on 9 November 2021 in Lauterbourg. Funded within the framework of the Interreg VA Upper Rhine programme, it aimed to “involve civil society players more in the joint construction of cross-border daily life”.
Following on from the MOT’s workshop “Breathing without borders” held on 13 October during the EURegionsWeek, the MOT has published three project factsheets corresponding to the examples of good practices presented during the workshop.
At a time when environmental health is a growing concern for citizens and the Commission is launching its ambitious “Zero-pollution action plan” within the framework of the European Green Deal, the MOT and its network decided to organise a workshop entitled “Breathing without borders: challenges in improving air quality in cross-border regions” during the European Week of Cities and Regions.
The European conference on participation, organised by the "Décider Ensemble" network, took place in Amiens from 13 to 17 September. Designing public services, involving citizens in the ecological transition and strengthening the European Union’s representative institutions and democratic legitimacy were among the themes spotlighted at this conference of participatory democracy players.
On 9 October 2020, the final conference relating to the study “Analysis of the contributions made by the 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation programmes in the Grand Est Region”, led by the Region within the framework of the European programme Europ'Act and coordinated by the MOT and the Euro-Institut, brought together in the form of a webinar around one hundred participants.
Following the adoption of the first four Cross-Border Cooperation Strategies (Schémas de Coopération Transfrontalière – SCT) by the Nice, Strasbourg and Lille Metropolises, as well as by the Basque Country Conurbation Community, the MOT and its partners embarked on the drafting of a preliminary assessment of these initiatives that has resulted in a publication, co-written with each of these groupings of municipalities.
The territory of the Strasbourg Eurometropolis has an abundance of players and initiatives in the area of cross-border cooperation, for the most part designed and implemented with its German partners in Kehl and Ortenau. It also has several tools for dialogue and cross-border governance that enable it to foster and coordinate the daily contacts that make it one of the centres for cooperation in the Upper Rhine area.
