On January 25th, 2024, the European Commission announced that it had granted €594 million to eight cross-border energy infrastructure projects. Of these, three are in France, and two are on the Franco-Belgian border.
The "PITER ALPIMED" is a cross-border cooperation strategy funded under the Interreg Alcotra program that ran between 2018 and 2022 in the mountain area between the provinces of Cuneo, Imperia and the Alpes-Maritimes department.
As part of the Interreg Titan-E project (Trinational Innovation and Technology Advanced Networks of Enterprises), ADEUS has produced a dynamic map of health technologies in the Upper Rhine.
After the creation of the University of the Greater Region in 2008, its six partner universities have announced the continuation of the first multidisciplinary center of expertise of the UniGR in the field of border studies: the "UniGR-Center for Border Studies".
In the most integrated cross-border regions, economic and academic interdependencies are increasingly strong. Join us in exploring the challenges and the opportunities related to the implementation of these innovative cooperations between neighbouring universities. The workshop takes place on October 11th. Registration is open until September 30th!
Focus on two border initiatives at the heart of the European project.
A "web" is a new method for observing innovative sectors. It consists of a mode of visualisation of ecosystems through the representation of their players and the relationships that connect them, and is designed to be a "participatory and experimental tool".
At a time when the pandemic is on the rise again in Europe and health measures are being strengthened on both sides of the Rhine, the European Territorial Authority of Alsace and the Grand Est Region, in cooperation with the Centre Européen de la Consommation (European Centre for Consumer Protection) and the INFOBEST network, have made available a digital tool to aid with crossing borders.
Following the sixth Franco-Luxembourg Intergovernmental Commission (ICG) that took place on 19 October in Belval in the presence of the Minister of State Clément Beaune, agreements between the two countries were reached notably with respect to transport and teleworking.
At the research seminar "The model of the Franco-German border – Reconciliation, cooperation, integration", organised by the Jean Monnet FRONTEM network, a "Manifesto on the future of cross-border cooperation in Europe", addressed to France’s presidency of the EU, and to the Conference on the Future of Europe, was published.
Following on from the “Borders in Globalization” (BIG) project, this new network, “21st Century Borders: Emergent Challenges Among and Within States”, brings together nine intergovernmental and transnational organisations including the MOT, as well as leading universities (from 15 countries*). Led by researchers at the University of Victoria (Canada), it has just received funding of over $9 million.
As part of the ESPON DIGISER project (Digital Innovation in Governance and Public Service Provision), the EPSON program is currently collecting data on the practices and the current state of digital innovation in European cities and regions. The program also wishes to obtain information on French towns and cities. The questionnaire is available until July 9, 2021.
Feedback on the MOT Network’s Working Groups: since 2020, the working groups of the MOT network have been bringing together MOT members at regular intervals to share the experiences of border areas and encourage the emergence of propositions for action. Here we present the findings of the first three groups established.
On 16 December 2020, UNESCO added craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This listing gives recognition to an emblematic living tradition in the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc. The candidacy was regarded as exemplary by UNESCO in that it raises awareness of the importance of intangible cultural heritage in a cross-border space
A declaration of intention on the future of institutional cooperation in the fields of higher education and research in the Greater Region was signed on 25 November 2020 in Saarbrücken, at a ministerial conference held under Saarland’s presidency. At the conference, the ministers and representatives from the five partner regions took stock and discussed the consequences of the health crisis for cross-border cooperation between higher education and research institutions.
DG MOVE is working on a comprehensive Strategy for a Sustainable and Smart Mobility with a view promoting better and greener cross-border mobility. A public consultation shall allow both stakeholders and citizens to comment and identify their priorities.
The results of this project were presented on 16 May 2019 in Biarritz. Launched in 2016, it has built a network of economic players to stimulate businesses’ innovation and competitiveness across three neighbouring territories: Euskadi, Navarra and Aquitaine.
The cross-border territory of the “High Valleys” is located in the heart of the Alps, between Savoie, Piedmont and the High Alps. It consists of 13 groups of municipalities, 147 rural mountain districts and 270,753 inhabitants spread over 6,350 km2. A cross-border strategy "The High Valleys – Smart Destination" was drawn up in order to group together the common development priorities for the coming years.
Under the Interreg programme ALCOTRA on the Franco-Italian border, two types of plan can be implemented: integrated territorial plans and integrated thematic plans. Integrated territorial plans are made up of a series of projects organised around several themes for a specific cross-border territory.
The "Rencontres franco-suisses de l’économie et de l’innovation en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes", an ‘economy and innovation fair’, was held for the first time in Lyon on 15 January 2018.
On 20 and 21 September 2017 in Brussels, a conference was held to mark the adoption of the Communication entitled “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions”.
Every year, the MOT publishes a dossier highlighting exemplary cross-border projects along French borders.
