In order to make a preliminary assessment of past Interreg programmes and to plan for the future, the Sud Region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) organised, in partnership with the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Hautes-Alpes and Var Departments, a series of three meetings with ALCOTRA and MARITTIMO project developers.
The ESPON programme has published its new report about Territorial Impact Assessment for Cross-Border Cooperation – TIA CBC.
The annual meeting of the EGTC Platform took place in Palma, Spain, on 27 September 2019, in partnership with the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion EGTC and the Government of the Balearic Islands. Jean Peyrony made a contribution in a roundtable devoted to the new ECBM tool, currently under discussion by the EU Council, which is aimed at facilitating the resolution of cross-border obstacles along Europe’s borders.
Designed to be the entry point to find out about European funds in France, the new website gives access to: a resource centre, the information platform on state aid in France, the information platform for the Europe urban network, and the official webpage of the EMFF programme.
In the context of the preparation of its 2021-2027 programmes, DG REGIO has drawn up 38 Border Orientation Papers (BOPs) for all of the EU’s land borders. Six of these BOPs relate to France’s borders.
Editorial by Anne Sander, MEP, Vice-President of the MOT.
The call for applications for AEBR's Cross Border Award "Sail of Papenburg" is open. This year, the theme of the award is cross-border culture, building trust across boundaries. The deadline to apply is the 30th of August 2019.
The latest publication by the French Network of Urban Planning Agencies (FNAU), entitled "L'Europe par les territoires" (“Europe by its territories”) feeds into the debate about Europe and provides different views on the issues relating to cohesion policy and the way in which cities and territories have appropriated the European ideal and the tools of this policy. The MOT contributed to it and several cross-border territories are showcased in it.
In adopting its opinion on the proposal for a regulation on the ECBM on 22 November 2018, the European Parliament’s Regional Development Commission (REGI) embarked on the process of inter-institutional negotiations on the proposed tool.
On 29 May 2018, the European Commission published five proposals concerning the future 2021-2027 cohesion policy, of which two directly concern cross-border matters: the European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) Regulation and a new Regulation creating a “mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context” (ECBM).
The CGET and the “Régions de France” association held, with the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regional Council, a national seminar on European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), on 4 December in Besançon. It brought together around a hundred participants and enabled clarification of the stakes of the negotiation, while reaffirming a strong French ambition, shared by both the French State and the Regions.
In July 2018, the European Committee of the Regions published an "Opinion" on this subject, in response to the European Commission’s Communication published in September 2017. The MOT actively contributed to the elaboration of this Opinion. The European Parliament also published its report on the subject on 18 July.
On 29 May, the European Commission published its draft regulations for cohesion policy in the 2021-2027 period.
Among the European Commission's draft regulations is a new regulation on "a mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context". The regulation is based on the work over the past three years carried out by Luxembourg and France, with support from the MOT.
Entitled "European Territorial Cooperation", this book that has just been published by Springer provides a sound and succinct analysis of the process of European territorial cooperation over the past 30 years. It is already regarded as a reference work at European level for the post-2020 period.
The 2014-2020 Italy/France Maritime Programme has drafted a position paper on cross-border maritime cooperation after 2020. Its aim is to make a contribution regarding the future organisation of cross-border maritime cooperation, by highlighting the current obstacles, but also the responses provided by ETC programmes.
In 2018, the Commission will make comprehensive proposals for the next generation of programmes for the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the EU's long–term budget. This consultation (launched until March 2018) is an integral part of the process and its objective is to collect the views of all interested parties.
Set up thanks to cooperation between the European Committee of the Regions and the main associations of European cities and regions, the Cohesion Alliance (#CohesionAlliance) argues that account should be taken of the needs of European territories in the European Union's budget after 2020, through stronger and more effective cohesion policy for each of the EU's 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”.
This publication looks at developments in EGTCs during 2016. Based on an updated overview and case studies, the report aims to highlight the EGTCs' main areas of action, their involvement in cohesion policy, and their achievements and the obstacles encountered.
The Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) manages on behalf of the European Commission the new initiative known as "Interreg Volunteer Youth" (IVY), which aims to give young Europeans aged 18-30 the opportunity to serve as volunteers in Interreg programmes and projects.
A study by the European Parliament analyses the territorial cooperation programmes for the 2014-2020 period.
On 6 October 2016, the annual meeting of the Interreg VA ALCOTRA programme brought together more than 400 participants in Chamonix.
