To underline the needs of the border regions and their citizens, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) launched the European Cross-Border Platform, the successor of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Platform. The MOT is fully involved in this process, and sits on the Steering Committee alongside AEBR and CESCI.
MEPs have reiterated their readiness to start interinstitutional negotiations with the EU governments on new Commission proposal inspired by the Parliament´s resolution from September 2023 on new mechanism removing legal and administrative cross-border obstacles and fostering cooperation.They would like to reach an agreement on the proposal before the EU elections in June 2024.
On January 22nd, 2019, France and Germany signed the Franco-German cooperation and integration treaty of Aachen.
With the proposal for a new European tool, the ECBM, now relaunched, the issue of cross-border obstacles is front and center. An opportunity for the MOT to publish a new FOCUS!
Just a few hours before the first meeting of the Quirinal Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CCF), the Piedmont Region hosted the launch of the "ALCOTraité" Interreg project, which brings together the MOT and the five regions of the Franco-Italian "Alpine" cooperation area.
On October 31st, 2023, the Piedmontese capital hosted the inaugural meeting of the new Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CCF), a result of the Quirinal Treaty signed two years ago between France and Italy.
This was the wish expressed by the Franco-German Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CCT) at its second annual meeting on October 23rd, 2023, in Offenburg, chaired by the Secretaries of State for Europe and General Secretaries for Franco-German Cooperation, Anna Lührmann and Laurence Boone.
Stalled for three years in the Council, the legislative proposal for a "mechanism to remove legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context", initiated by the European Commission, has now been relaunched. The Parliament asks the Commission to present a revised legislative proposal. The Commission has three months to respond.
The draft opinion of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the European Cross-Border Mechanism 2.0 (rapporteur Magali Altounian) was unanimously adopted by the COTER Commission on June 23rd, 2023, with a view to final adoption in October 2023.
Cross-border obstacles affect the daily development of cross-border living areas and services dedicated to their inhabitants. The reduction of these obstacles requires a high degree of cooperation between Member States. That is why, in 2018, the European Commission proposed a tool, the "European Cross-Border Mechanism" (ECBM), dedicated to the resolution of cross-border legal and administrative obstacles. But the Commission's proposal for a regulation on this tool is currently stalled at the Council.
The conference "Living in Border Regions - Tackling the challenges" was organized on April 17th, 2023, in Brussels, by the European Alliance for Cross-Border Citizens (CoR, MOT, AEBR, CESCI). Its objective was to study the possible ways to relaunch the draft regulation on the "European Cross-Border Mechanism" (ECBM).
The Treaty of Aachen mandated the Franco-German Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CBC) to analyse the impact of legislation on border regions, with the aim of avoiding "the emergence of new legal difficulties in everyday cross-border life".
In the framework of the "b-solutions initiative", AEBR is collecting cases of cross-border obstacles.
At the end of 2022, the Commission published its report "Cross-border public services: CPS inventory analysis and policy recommendations".
The 12th Platform of EGTCs of the European Committee of the Regions was organised on the 24th and 25th of November 2022, within the framework of the Czech Presidency of the EU, in Liberec (CZ) close to the triple border point between Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.
A new element of this call is that applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with immediate implementation. Deadline to apply is 28 February 2023.
Impact analyses, provided for in the Franco-German Treaty of Aachen and carried out when new standards are drawn up, could make it possible to avoid future obstacles to cross-border cooperation and the complexities of everyday life for the inhabitants of border areas.
On 15 September 2022, the European Parliament approved the resolution "EU border regions: living labs of European integration" prepared by the chair of the regional development committee Younous Omarjee (France).
Following the modification of the French sports code (article L231-2-1) by the 3DS law of February 21st 2022, sportsmen and women residing abroad, and in particular in a country bordering France, no longer need to present a medical certificate when registering for a sports competition organised partly in a French border department.
Summary of the conference held on 24-25 May by CESCI, in partnership with the MOT and the French Institute in Budapest.
Between late April and early May, three important topics for cross-border territories were the subject of discussions for the network’s working groups: the impact of cross-border projects on the environment; the issue of social security with respect to cross-border employment; and the definition and recognition of “cross-border living areas”. Below is a preliminary summary of the discussions.
A new call for proposals in the framework of the "b-solutions 2.0: Solving Cross-Border Obstacles initiative" has just been launched.
After a preliminary study carried out in 2020,* the MOT has been commissioned by DG REGIO to conduct another study on the consequences of the pandemic and the impact of the measures taken by countries to combat it in cross-border territories**.
The Franco-German Cross-Border Cooperation Committee met on 12 March in Strasbourg, under the co-chairmanship of Clément Beaune (France), Minister of State for European Affairs, and Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate (Germany). The MOT officially took part in the meeting as a Committee "expert".
