On December 14th, 2022, the closing conference of the first Franco-German spatial planning pilot project (MORO) was held in Strasbourg, with Jean Peyrony, director general of the MOT, and other experts sharing their knowledge at several round tables.
The Terres Rouges slag heap is a strategic site for the Alzette-Belval territory.
This study on planning and permits regarding projects for sites intended for major retailers in the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict, on the Franco-German border was carried out by the MOT and the German consultancy Junker+Kruse, for the Saarbrücken Regionalverband.
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).
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.
The Saarbrücken Regionalverband has just published a study on planning and permits regarding projects for sites intended for major retailers in the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict, on the Franco-German border. This assignment was carried out by the MOT and the German consultancy Junker+Kruse.
Every month until June, the MOT is letting Borders Forum speakers have their say about a topic that will be at the heart of the discussions.
In January 2022, the Summit of Greater Region Executives took stock at the midpoint in France’s presidency, particularly with respect to the industrial, digital and energy transitions, flood and drought risk prevention, food and promoting short supply chains, culture, youth, sport and tourism, healthcare and security.
According to a study by INSEE that has just been published, average GDP growth in the Grand Est Region is the second lowest among mainland France’s regions, after Burgundy- Franche-Comté: "In the region, per capita GDP totalled €28,300 in 2017, which was €1,200 lower than the average for provincial France. […] One explanation for this is the greater increase in the number of cross-border workers than of workers in employment.
The 3DS bill (standing for differentiation, decentralisation, deconcentration and simplification of local public action) was adopted in its final reading at the Assemblée Nationale and the Senate in France on 8-9 February. The MOT is delighted about the inclusion for the first time of a chapter devoted to cross-border cooperation in a piece of legislation.
Continuing a collaboration going back 30 years, the territories located south of Monte Viso (3,841 metres), the iconic mountain in the Southern Alps, are structuring their cooperation within the framework of an integrated territorial plan supported by the ALCOTRA programme, known as “Terres Monviso”.
On 18 November, the PAMINA Eurodistrict, in partnership with the MOT, held a seminar on the circular economy in the cross-border setting.
The four roundtables held during the MOT’s annual event on 21-22 September gave rise to rich discussions among the 200 participants present in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Concrete expressions of the Aachen Treaty, two MORO* pilot projects on the Franco-German border aim to strengthen the cross-border dimension of territorial development practices, using an innovative method that has been widely tried out in Germany – the "Planspiel"**:
In the presence of Joël Giraud, Minister of State for Rural Affairs under the Minister for Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Government, more than a hundred participants from all of France’s borders gathered for the MOT’s general assembly on 21-22 September in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds, at the invitation of the Doubs Urban Conurbation.
Seven years after its creation, the LGCC* of the Doubs Urban Conurbation (Agglomération Urbaine du Doubs – AUD) has shown its effectiveness in helping local elected representatives to get to know one another better, which has enabled them to set out joint projects while at the same time speaking with one voice on behalf of the binational territory.
This European Commission report, published on 13 July, looks at the lessons of the Covid crisis and the initiatives carried out since the publication of its 2017 Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions”.
The latest Franco-German Council of Ministers, which met on 31 May 2021 alongside the meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, took stock of the implementation of the Aachen Treaty and the substantial advances in Franco-German cooperation over the past few months. It was also an opportunity to launch new cooperation initiatives, notably in the areas of healthcare, culture and youth, as well as to prepare for the major upcoming international and European events.
This study, conducted for the German Ministry of the Interior by Professor Tobias Chilla, of Erlangen-Nuremberg University, confirms the need to take account of cross-border issues not only at local and European levels, but also at national level. It highlights the MOT for France and the CESCI for Hungary, which enable these two countries to be the most active in the development of their cross-border regions.
On 24 March, the MOT made a contribution in a webinar of the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) on cross-border issues, which was facilitated by its director-general, Yves le Breton, and the prefect responsible for cross-border matters, Christian Rock.
Climate change doesn’t care about borders and calls for greater solidarity! The Finistère Department and Cornwall County Council have shared values and challenges: regional languages, a Celtic culture, and a strong relationship with the sea and the environment.
Since it came into force on 31 January 2020, the effects of Brexit on the territories oriented towards the Channel are tangible. On both sides, the new procedures for exports are penalising small producers, the fishing and agri-business sectors, as well as the services sector (tourism and hospitality). The economic context linked to the double crisis (Covid and Brexit) is also putting many cross-Channel transport links at risk.
The Recovery and Ecological Transition Contracts (CRTE), announced by Jean Castex on 15 July 2020, set out “a new framework for dialogue with territories”.
