2015 marks the 500th anniversary of the alliance between Mulhouse and the Swiss Confederation. An occasion to throw light on the strength of the historical links as the roots of today’s cross-border cooperation and to celebrate the event by making 2015 "The year of Switzerland in Mulhouse".
Starting in January 2015, business creation consultancy cooperative START HOP welcomes French-German entrepreneurs to its convivial “KiosK office” spaces at locations in Strasbourg and Offenburg, helping them to develop their market with a 360° view.
The MOT network is mobilised under EU Luxembourg's presidency (2nd half of 2015) to identify the obstacles to cross-border cooperation. In this context, a workshop "The need for specific legal provisions to boost cross-border cooperation" is organised by the Presidency on 19th May 2015.
Attended by European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Crețu, the URBACT III programme launch seminar took place on 16 March in Brussels.
On 20 February 2015 at Montesquieu-des-Albères in the eastern Pyrenees, French prime minister Manuel Valls and Spanish head of government Mariano Rajoy inaugurated the new high-voltage electricity interconnection line between the two countries.
This Sahel cross-border cooperation support project of the priority solidarity fund financed by France aims to set up an integrated management strategy for the border areas between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, through coordinated instruments in the areas of security and development aid.
In response to the “France Strategy” presented in January 2014 by Saarland, aiming to make the border region a multilingual space by 2043, on 12 February in Forbach Patrick Weiten, leader of the Moselle department council, referred to the department’s “Moselle strategy”, with the opening in June of an “open house of services for Germany” (Mosa).
Organised by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and by the IPCC*, and taking place from 9 to 11 February 2015 in Jerusalem, a workshop entitled “Between the Jordan and the Mediterranean: 2050 strategic plan” brought together some twenty Israeli, Palestinian and European experts - including the MOT, the AEBR, the Eurométropole Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai and the PEACE programme in Ireland - on the issues of cross-border cooperation in the Israel-Palestine region.
To celebrate the 25th birthday of Interreg this year, a competition "Love without borders" has been launched by the European Commission's Regional Policy DG.
On 18 June 2014 in France, the draft legislation concerning the country's new territorial organisation (the NOTRe Act), which provides for a reorganisation of the competences of the territorial authorities at all levels, was submitted to the Senate.
According to a study by the INSEE published in February 2015, the number of French people living in France but working abroad has increased by 42% since 1999. The study analyses the different causes and characteristics of the resulting flows.
"Wallonia is a border territory par excellence: its relations with its neighbours have always played a crucial role in its development."
Depuis le 1er janvier 2015, la région wallonne a l’honneur et la responsabilité de présider la Grande Région, exercice assumé en étroite collaboration avec ses partenaires belges, la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles et la Communauté germanophone.
Etienne Blanc, MP for the Ain Department and first Vice-President of the French Geneva area Regional Cooperation Assembly (ARC), submitted an amendment to the "NOTRe" draft legislation (in France) to enable border metropolitan conurbations of member countries of the Council of Europe, such as the Swiss Confederation, to participate in a Euroregional Cooperation Grouping (EGC).
Since the overhaul of the MOT's website in November 2013, nearly 150 maps illustrating the intensity of cross-border relations along France's borders have been put online. Presentation of the latest additions.
This European research project, led by the University of Eastern Finland, held its final conference on 20-21 February 2015 in Istanbul. This event was an opportunity to present the findings and the studies carried out during the four-year research project, the aim of which was to analyse regional development at Europe's external borders through cross-border cooperation policies and practices.
The MOT's President, Michel Delebarre, met Harlem Désir, Secretary of State for European Affairs, on 29 January 2015 in Paris, in order to discuss cross-border cooperation with respect to areas such as jobs, higher education, the environment and healthcare.
This study focuses on various effects of international borders on local public transport: How does it impact demand, service offer as well as framework conditions?
View the question put by the MP Philip Cordery on 13 January 2015 at the Assemblée Nationale to Marisol Tourraine, French Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Women's Rights, about cross-border healthcare, and her reply.
On 19 December 2014 in Hendaye, the 2014-2020 strategic plan for the Aquitaine-Euskadi Euroregion EGTC was presented.
After an initial day of discussions by the MOT's network in Paris on 15 October 2014, and an evaluation, in the form of a questionnaire, of its network's activities, structure and needs, a dedicated working group met on 18 December 2014 in the MOT's offices.
The Canton of Geneva and the Ain and Haute-Savoie Departments are going to cooperate in order to better identify "false Swiss residents", who are responsible for a shortfall of nearly €40 million on the French side. It's the first time that the Canton of Geneva is going to provide this type of information to the French authorities.
In 2006, under the impetus of civil society, three public employment services (those of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, Wallonia and Flanders) and Unizo (the Union of Independent Flemish Entrepreneurs) set up the "Eurometropolis Jobs Forum".
On 12 December 2014 in Dunkirk, the closing event of the INTERREG project "TransSport – Sport without Borders" was an opportunity to present the achievements of this project, which since 2012 has brought together seven partners from West Flanders and the North of France.
Every day, more than 12000 people take the train to cross the border between France, Italy and Monaco, whether for work or for leisure.
