Within the framework of the 11th World Urban Forum, which took place in Katowice on 26-30 June, the PFVT (the French platform for urban development internationally) has published 14 booklets produced by all of the stakeholders involved in the French partnership during an intensive period of work in 2021.
In January, the Conseil départemental des Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa launched a new experiment: a joint participatory budget, called ideaiak, to encourage inhabitants to develop projects that create links between the two territories.
The call for proposals was launched at the "ConnectingEurope Days" in Lyon on 30 June.
At the invitation of CESCI and Initiatives France Central and Eastern Europe, the MOT took part on 9 June of the Oradea Process, a series of meetings and seminars aimed at developing cross-border initiatives on the Romanian-Hungarian border.
The Interreg France-Switzerland VI 2021-2027 programme was officially launched at an event in Arc-et-Senans (Doubs) on 9 June 2022.
What is the role of border areas with respect to European citizenship? How do local players respond to hosting displaced people in their territory? These are three questions that Chantal Jouanno, Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul and María Ángeles Elorza Zubiría, all speakers at the forthcoming Borders Forum, will attempt to answer.
Close to the Franco-German and Franco-Luxembourg borders, Bouzonville and Sierck-les-Bains are drawing up their cross-border goals with the help of the MOT.
Summary of the conference held on 24-25 May by CESCI, in partnership with the MOT and the French Institute in Budapest.
Focus on two border initiatives at the heart of the European project.
At the invitation of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis Agency, the MOT went to Tournai on 25 May 2022 to take part in the launch of the first “European Citizens’ Space”.
On 30 May, the MOT co-ran a webinar offered by the Observatory on the Territorial Impacts of the Crisis (OITC) focusing specifically on border territories.
The MOT is a partner in the research project GeRTrUD – Gestion et régulation transfrontalière de l’urbanisation diffuse (Cross-border management and regulation of scattered urbanisation).
On 12 May 2022, a meeting of Greater Geneva’s political body for cooperation, the Franco-Geneva Regional Committee, which brings together local elected representatives and decentralised authorities from both sides of the border, met in Geneva.
Sandro Gozi, MEP, Jean de Béthune, President of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, and Christoph Schnaudigel, President of the PAMINA Eurodistrict, talk to us about governance – a crucial subject at the centre of the second day of the Borders Forum. Register now as places are limited! You can also access the event's press kit.
Supported by ten of its members, the MOT is publishing this month its first multi-partner study on cross-border teleworking and its impacts in terms of co-development. It is the fruit of nearly a year of work.
On 12 April, France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council adopted an opinion entitled “How to construct a Europe of healthcare”. It sets out 17 recommendations to establish as a political priority on the agenda of European bodies and countries “the construction of a Europe of Healthcare, based on a single model, in line with Europe’s values and tailored to the needs of citizens”.
Between late April and early May, three important topics for cross-border territories were the subject of discussions for the network’s working groups: the impact of cross-border projects on the environment; the issue of social security with respect to cross-border employment; and the definition and recognition of “cross-border living areas”. Below is a preliminary summary of the discussions.
Cross-border co-operation was at the heart of the first of the four meetings devoted to the advances of the Quirinal Treaty. This bilateral treaty between France and Italy was signed by the two countries on 26 November last year.
On 9 May 2022, at the closing ceremony of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the three Presidents of the EU institutions, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, received the conference’s final report.
On 17-19 May the conference of Europe’s outermost regions (ORs) took place in Martinique. This meeting was an opportunity for the European Commission to present its strategy for the ORs, published on 3 May, for the coming year.
The Grand Est Region, which currently holds the presidency of the Greater Region, and the Greater Region Economic and Social Committee, in partnership with the Greater Region Interreg V project “COSAN”, organised a seminar on approaches to foster resilience in the Greater Region’s healthcare systems on 28 April 2022 in Metz.
On 5 May 2022 in Metz, the Moselle Department, which has just joined the MOT, and Departments of France hosted a cross-border conference entitled “La coopération transfrontalière à travers les âges : du premier sourire au dernier soupir” (“Cross-border co-operation through life: from the first smile to the last sigh”). Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General, took part in the closing discussion.
As part of a study for the European Commission on the impacts of the measures taken on borders during the pandemic, the MOT went to Forbach on 26 April to meet users of the cross-border territory.
