The call selects inspiring projects focused on the transformation of infrastructures or public spaces that promote the three complementary values of the "New European Bauhaus": sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion. Towns (or groupings of municipalities) of fewer than 100,000 inhabitants can apply. EGTCs are also eligible.
In January 2020, the association Young Europeans France created the "European Cities Label" with the aim of promoting European democracy and bringing the European spirit alive in cities, towns and villages.
The MOT took part in this conference organised within the framework of the French Partnership for Cities and Territories. It led one of its four workshops, on cross-border and European cooperation initiatives, and was able to get across the following message: sustainable development also needs to cross borders and requires cross-border cooperation.
At their joint municipal council meeting that took place on 1 December 2021, the cities of Strasbourg and Kehl signed a cooperation agreement aimed at stepping up their exchanges and working on new cross-border projects. This initiative encompasses the competences of the Strasbourg Eurometropolis, which is a signatory to the agreement, thus marking a recognition of involvement at the intermunicipal level in the cooperation between the cities and the construction of a cross-border conurbation.
The PFVT (Partenariat Français pour la Ville et les Territoires – French Partnership for Cities and Territories) is French urban development players’ platform for discussion and promotion of their expertise internationally.
A large proportion of new urbanisation is concentrated in areas, more or less densely spread out, located on the edges of major urban conurbations. This phenomenon of "scattered" urbanisation encompasses scenarios as varied as the construction of periurban housing estates on the outskirts of big cities, the setting-up of economic activities far from urban centres and the development of small rural towns between two conurbations.
The Alzette Belval EGTC has unveiled its new cross-border strategy for the next six years.
As an “action partner”, the MOT is playing an active role in the “Small Towns of Tomorrow” programme being led by the ANCT (Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires – National Agency for Territorial Cohesion). On 25 October, it took part in the programme’s national conference, aimed at the 1600 participating towns. Bringing together no fewer than 600 participants, it provided an opportunity for numerous political and technical discussions between all of the stakeholders.
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"**:
"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.
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.
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.
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.
These meetings were held on 22 April 2021, organised by the ANCT, with the Minister Jacqueline Gourault and Minister of State Joël Giraud in attendance. All beneficiary towns were invited, and examples of territory projects were presented. Among these, several border towns were highlighted, including Saint-Jean de Maurienne and its valley in Savoie, Bouzonville and Sierck-les-Bains in Moselle, along with Hirson and the Thiérache in Aisne.
In October 2020, the MOT was tasked by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion and the Banque des Territoires as an “action partner” in the national programme “Small Towns of Tomorrow”.
On 18 December 2020, the border towns of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) were designated “European Capital of Culture 2025”. This 100% cross-border candidacy represents a historic milestone for this competition: for the first time, the candidacy and the joint urban and cultural development project were steered by an EGTC in all of the phases of this long process.
The national support programme for towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and their groupings of municipalities was launched on 1 October by Jacqueline Gourault, the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, and Joël Giraud, Minister of State for Rural Affairs. The National Agency for Territorial Cohesion is in charge of setting it up and implementing it, in collaboration with the Banque des Territoires and its main national partners (the ANAH, Ademe, Cerema, etc.).
The MOT network’s working groups met for the first time in the form of webinars on 12 June (the “Territorial Solidarity” group), 17 June (the “Cross-Border Governance” group) and 24 June (the “Metropolitan Cooperation” group). Their purpose is to share experiences along borders, to generate proposals for action, and to contribute to political reflections for the BORDERS FORUM to be held on 9-10 November.
On 15 December 2018, the Basque Country Community approved a “cross-border cooperation” competence. Drawing on the Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy approach, it embarked on a consultative process to draw up its cross-border cooperation strategy up to 2030. The objective was to codesign cross-border public policy and to be aligned with the framework of the forthcoming 2021-2027 European programming period.
The Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis is a unique cross-border territory, located between the sea and the mountains and adjacent to two borders: an internal EU border over 100 km long with the Piedmont Region in Italy and an international border with the Principality of Monaco. Its 2020-2030 Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy, adopted on 16 December 2019, is organised into four complementary levels of work.
The territory of the Strasbourg Eurometropolis has an abundance of players and initiatives in the area of cross-border cooperation, for the most part designed and implemented with its German partners in Kehl and Ortenau. It also has several tools for dialogue and cross-border governance that enable it to foster and coordinate the daily contacts that make it one of the centres for cooperation in the Upper Rhine area.
The need to draw up a Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy was an opportunity for the Lille European Metropolis to rethink its cross-border strategy and regional leadership in this regard. In order to better assess the aspirations and orientations of its Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy, in 2016 the MEL commissioned the MOT to help prepare it, and set up a technical committee bringing together central government, the Region and the Department as well as the territories and urban planning agencies along the Franco-Belgian border.
The MAPTAM Act* enables border metropolises to draw up a Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy. Lille, Strasbourg and Nice have taken up this opportunity and have been working since 2018, with support from the MOT, on formulating a strategy to structure their cross-border policy. Other territories have followed suit such as the Basque Country Conurbation Community.
