News

  • EGTCs meet in Innsbruck

    EUROPE

    EGTCs meet in Innsbruck

    October 2021

    You’re part of it! It was under this motto that the 11th EGTC Platform meeting opened on 30 September, hosted by the Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino Euroregion (Austrian-Italian border), on the occasion of its 10th birthday.

  • Editorial by Christian Dupessey, Mayor of Annemasse, President of the Metropolitan Pole of the French Genevois, re-elected the MOT’s President

    MOT

    Editorial by Christian Dupessey, Mayor of Annemasse, President of the Metropolitan Pole of the French Genevois, re-elected the MOT’s President

    October 2021

    "It is a great honour for me to be re-elected President of the MOT, and to be able to continue to champion with you the cross-border and European cause. Over the past year, I have appreciated the value of our association, its network and its technical team.

  • In Morteau, the MOT network calls for greater recognition of "cross-border living areas"

    MOT

    In Morteau, the MOT network calls for greater recognition of "cross-border living areas"

    October 2021

    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.

  • Development of healthcare cooperation in the Greater Region

    TERRITORIES

    Development of healthcare cooperation in the Greater Region

    October 2021

    On 31 August 2021, the Belgian and Luxembourg Ministers of Health signed a declaration of intent with a view to negotiating a framework agreement on cross-border healthcare cooperation between the two countries.

  • The MOT took part in the fifth European conference on participation

    MOT

    The MOT took part in the fifth European conference on participation

    October 2021

    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.

  • Conferences in Budapest and Visegrad

    MOT

    Conferences in Budapest and Visegrad

    October 2021

    Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General spoke at two conferences:

  • Editorial by Pierre Vaufrey, President of the Doubs Urban Conurbation and Deputy Mayor of Morteau

    TERRITORIES

    Editorial by Pierre Vaufrey, President of the Doubs Urban Conurbation and Deputy Mayor of Morteau

    September 2021

    "The Doubs Urban Conurbation was set up in 2006. Initially an informal collaboration, it led to the creation of a local grouping of cross-border cooperation, the only one in the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc running between the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict and Greater Geneva. Today the LGCC comprises the Val de Morteau group of municipalities and the towns of Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle.

  • The Doubs Urban Conurbation hosts the MOT’s annual event

    MOT

    The Doubs Urban Conurbation hosts the MOT’s annual event

    September 2021

    The MOT’s general assembly is taking place this year in Morteau and La Chaux-de-Fonds on 21-22 September, at the invitation of the Doubs Urban Conurbation, a member of its network. Joël Giraud, Minister of State under the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, in charge of Rurality (France) and former Vice-President of the MOT, will speak at the end of the first day.

  • The Doubs Urban Conurbation: "We need to develop local cross-border cooperation"

    TERRITORIES

    The Doubs Urban Conurbation: "We need to develop local cross-border cooperation"

    September 2021

    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.

  • New report by the Commission: "EU border regions: living labs of European integration"

    EUROPE

    New report by the Commission: "EU border regions: living labs of European integration"

    September 2021

    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”.

  • Resolution of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR): "On a vision for Europe: the future of cross-border cooperation"

    EUROPE

    Resolution of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR): "On a vision for Europe: the future of cross-border cooperation"

    September 2021

    Adopted on 1 July, this resolution constitutes an official contribution from the CoR to the Conference on the Future of Europe. It sets out the concrete proposals of the CoR and the European Cross-Border Citizens’ Alliance (AEBR, MOT and CESCI) to put cross-border cooperation back at the top of the EU's policy agenda after a year disrupted by the pandemic.

  • Cross-border monitoring of the 3DS bill (France) by the MOT

    MOT

    Cross-border monitoring of the 3DS bill (France) by the MOT

    September 2021

    Following its adoption at its first reading in the Senate on 21 July 2021, the 3DS bill (standing for “differentiation, decentralisation, deconcentration and various measures to simplify local public action”) will be examined under a fast-track procedure in the Assemblée Nationale, in France, from the beginning of December. Taking on a number of the proposals put forward by the MOT, the senators adopted a series of amendments relating to cross-border issues.

  • Border crises: joint responses and imbalances

    MOT

    Border crises: joint responses and imbalances

    September 2021

    What have been the different forms of border crisis since the start of 2020? Alongside the joint initiatives to manage the crises, what are the obvious imbalances they have revealed? To answer these questions, the MOT is publishing a summary of one year of reflections by its “Territorial Solidarities” working group.

  • Meeting between the MOT's President and the Minister Clément Beaune

    MOT

    Meeting between the MOT's President and the Minister Clément Beaune

    September 2021

    The MOT’s President, Christian Dupessey, met the Minister Clément Beaune on 25 August to discuss the issues facing cross-border living areas and the MOT’s role in supporting them.

  • Conference on the Future of Europe: a network of local councillors

    EUROPE

    Conference on the Future of Europe: a network of local councillors

    September 2021

    In order to involve the greatest number of citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) has initiated the setting-up of a “European network of regional and local councillors for the EU”.

  • Special report of the European Court of Auditors on Interreg

    EUROPE

    Special report of the European Court of Auditors on Interreg

    September 2021

    In early July, the European Court of Auditors published a report on the implementation of Interreg programmes. It highlighted that “the programmes have clear strategies for addressing the challenges facing the cross-border regions”, but that they are “limited [in their ability] to unlock the potential of these regions”.

  • MOT partner in a global network for border studies

    MOT

    MOT partner in a global network for border studies

    September 2021

    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.

  • Conference on "Cross-border rail connections" on 10-11 June

    MOT

    Conference on "Cross-border rail connections" on 10-11 June

    June 2021

    The MOT, in partnership with the PAMINA Eurodistrict and with the support of the European Committee of the Regions, held a high-level event on existing and missing cross-border rail links.

  • Cross-border players come together to relaunch cross-border cooperation

    EUROPE

    Cross-border players come together to relaunch cross-border cooperation

    July 2021

    Organised by the European Committee of the Regions in association with the other founding partners of the European Cross-Border Citizens Alliance (the MOT, AEBR and, CESCI), on 5 July the Conference on the Future of Cross-Border Cooperation brought together nearly 200 participants.

  • Adoption of 2021-2027 regulations

    EUROPE

    Adoption of 2021-2027 regulations

    July 2021

    On 23 June, the European Parliament adopted the five “cohesion policy” regulations including that on the Interreg programme.

  • Basel Trinational Eurodistrict - Involving inhabitants in thinking about the future of their trinational region

    TERRITORIES

    Basel Trinational Eurodistrict - Involving inhabitants in thinking about the future of their trinational region

    July 2021

    The health situation threw up a major challenge – that of providing a suitable format for citizens’ participation in the middle of a pandemic. In collaboration with the Euro-Institut and the MOT, the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict (ETB) developed a concept organised around a questionnaire and several virtual events. The aim was both to ensure broad participation from the population and to facilitate real exchanges between citizens from the three countries.

  • Editorial by Thomas Zeller, President of the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict, Vice-President of the Saint-Louis Conurbation and Mayor of Hegenheim

    TERRITORIES

    Editorial by Thomas Zeller, President of the Basel Trinational Eurodistrict, Vice-President of the Saint-Louis Conurbation and Mayor of Hegenheim

    July 2021

    The Basel trinational conurbation is a genuinely shared living area that is strongly interconnected. In designing our Strategy 2030, it seemed extremely important to us to set our goals in accordance with what matters to the region’s population.

  • Council Recommendation on the restriction of free movement and EC Communication on drawing lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic
  • MOT activity report: Review of a year marked by the health crisis

    MOT

    MOT activity report: Review of a year marked by the health crisis

    July 2021

    The MOT has just published its activity report for 2020, a year marked by the closure of many borders, placing cross-border territories on “the front line” of the health crisis.

  • The interministerial "Future of mountains" plan unveiled

    FRANCE

    The interministerial "Future of mountains" plan unveiled

    June 2021

    On 27 May the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, presented the interministerial “Future of mountains” plan. In an interview with the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT), Joël Giraud, Minister of State for Rural Affairs, sets out the major components of this large-scale plan that will mobilise nearly €650 million.