A mission on deepening Franco-German cross-border cooperation, under the aegis of the Minister in charge of European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, has just been entrusted to the MP for the Bas-Rhin Department, Sylvain Waserman. The aim is to think about how renewing the Elysée Treaty would help to further develop Franco-German cross-border cooperation. A questionnaire for citizens is open until 30 April.
The intergovernmental working group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles met for the sixth time on 6 February 2018. It is working on the proposal for a new European tool dedicated to cross-border cooperation: the European Cross-Border Convention (ECBC).
"b-solutions" is an initiative to tackle legal and administrative border obstacles/difficulties along EU internal borders promoted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), as one of the actions proposed in the referred Communication "Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions", adopted by the Commission on 20 September 2017.
The European Commission has launched its new online platform "Boosting EU border regions" dedicated to cross-border stakeholders. This new tool is part of the 10 measures proposed in the Commission Communication "Boosting Growth and Cohesion in EU Border Regions".
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.
Developed over the course of the 2007-2013 programming period, the ESPON territorial impact assessment tool aims to support political decision-makers in identifying the potential territorial impacts of EU policies and legislative proposals in the regions.
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”.
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.
Long seen as artificial barriers inherited from decolonisation, West African borders now lie at the heart of policies designed to encourage regional trade and combat political instability.
On 16 February 2017 in Brussels, the fourth meeting of the intergovernmental working group on innovative solutions to obstacles to cross-border cooperation was held. Noting the benefits of cross-border cooperation, but also the persistence of many obstacles, in 2015 the Luxembourg presidency of the EU Council proposed the development of a new European legal tool, the "European Cross-Border Convention" (ECBC); for its part, the European Commission launched the "Cross-Border Review".
On 1 March 2017 in Brussels, Anne Sander, MEP and vice-president of the MOT, hosted the 5th meeting of the EP Working Group on Cross-Border Cooperation. After the digital age, healthcare, Schengen and employment, the topic this time was the institutional initiatives underway at European level to remove obstacles to cross-border cooperation.
The vice-president of the MOT; Joël Giraud, member of parliament for Hautes-Alpes, is demanding special arrangements in border areas for authorisations for minors leaving the country.
The third meeting of the intergovernmental group initiated by Luxembourg and France took place on 14 December 2016 in Brussels. The discussions focused on the drafting of a final report that will set out the outline of the new European legal tool – the European Cross-Border Convention (ECBC) – proposed by the group and designed to help overcome cross-border obstacles.
The “law relating to external action of territorial authorities and to the cooperation of overseas territories in their regional environment” was adopted on 5 December 2016.
The MOT took part in the fourth and final meeting of Cross-Border Review experts that took place on 15 December in Brussels.
ITEM (Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility at Dutch borders) held its annual conference on 28 October 2016 in Maastricht, on the topic “Europe under pressure: effects for border regions – 25 years after the Maastricht Treaty”. The ITEM annual report, which analyses each year the impact of legislation on the border territories of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, was presented and discussed.
The MOT took part in two important European meetings at the end of September in Brussels: the third meeting of the experts' group of the European Commission's "Cross-Border Review", and the second meeting of the "Intergovernmental working group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles".
Following the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU (2nd half of 2015) and its proposal to create a new legal tool for cross-border cooperation, a Working Group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles was established by Luxembourg and France. The first meeting of the Working Group was held in Vienna on July 5th 2016.
A new section on the MOT's website sets out the issues involved in identifying and resolving obstacles to cross-border cooperation.
To help identify obstacles to investment, the Committee of the Regions has invited the representatives of EU cities and regions to take part in a survey on "Obstacles to investment at local and regional level", the results of which will be presented to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.
On Thursday 16 June, the MOT attended the third meeting of the Committee of the Regions' interregional group on cross-border cooperation (and EGTCs) chaired by Pavel Branda.
The legislation to strengthen the fight against organised crime, terrorism and the financing adopted on 26 May 2016 provides for the reintroduction in France of required authorisations for any minor leaving the country.
The first report of the European consultation on the obstacles and potential solutions to cross-border cooperation yields some very interesting analyses. A few elements: concerning the profile of the respondents, 84% of them live in a border region and 48% are private individuals.
With 25 years of supporting Interreg programmes for cross-border cooperation to its credit, celebrated in 2015, but aware of the progress that still needs to be made, the Commission initiated a process of identifying the obstacles that remain at the EU's internal land borders.
