News

COVID-19

Free movement of workers: the Commission’s guarantees

Free movement of workers: on 30 March, the Commission published practical guidance to ensure the free movement of critical workers, including cross-border workers. More info

COVID-19

The EU stands united in the face of the virus - the need for co-ordination

Europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19. In response to its spread, several EU Member States have implemented uncoordinated border closures and unilateral measures. On 13 March, the European Commission called for border measures to be "coordinated, operational, proportionate and effective".

COVID-19

In the Grand Est Region: a European equation to be found between border closures and economic interdependence

Since 16 March, the Strasbourg Transport Company has no longer been authorised to serve Germany, and the tramway going from Strasbourg to Kehl stops at the border. Within a few days, following the spread of the coronavirus in Europe, control and restriction measures were put in place at the Grand Est borders, while population containment was implemented.

COVID-19

The cross-border dependence of the Luxembourg health system on coronavirus tested

While the coronavirus crisis is challenging and will challenge all European health systems, the equation should be even more complex to solve on the Franco-Luxembourg border.

COVID-19

France-Spain-Andorra: controls and health coordination

As of March 18, Spain is the second most affected country in Europe by the COVID-19 epidemic with 13,910 diagnosed cases and 623 deaths. Since midnight March 17, Spain's land borders have been closed "in order to reduce the number of people infected with the virus both nationally and in Europe," according to Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

COVID-19

The influx of cross-border workers remains essential to the economy of the Swiss cantons

When looking at the share of people infected per capita, Switzerland turns out to be the second most affected country in the world after Italy. The large flow of workers between the canton Ticino and the Lombardy region, Italy's first region in terms of total number of infected people, has certainly speeded up the process.

COVID-19

France-Italy, tighter border controls

Italy, the first country to be severely hit by this health crisis, recently called for a "European coordination" in the healthcare and economic field to deal with the coronavirus.

EUROPE

A Council of Europe resolution on the distribution of taxes in cross-border areas

On 29 October, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution entitled “Fair distribution of taxes in transfrontier areas”. In the report presented by Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the Congress calls for greater cooperation between the countries concerned on this issue.

TERRITORIES

"The cross-border dimension – a new impetus for the territory"

Editorial by Tristan Atmania, Deputy Director of the Territorial Attractiveness and Competitiveness Department – Saint-Avold Conurbation: "In this crucial year for Europe, our territory of the Moselle, at the crossroads of the founding countries of the European Union, and also of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region, is at a turning point in its history. In this respect, the cross-border cooperation that is already being forged in all areas of daily life represents a major asset to be developed in the context of the competition that we face with the other regions of the world. [...]"

MOT

Study on cross-border employment for the Lille European Metropolis

The MOT has produced a study with the aim of informing the Lille European Metropolis about the socioeconomic features of Belgian Flanders, and the way its economic fabric and employment sector function.

PUBLICATION

Borders and mobility in day-to-day life: ways of life in the Basel trinational conurbation

Yann Dubois, Editions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses, Collection "Espaces, mobilités et sociétés" No. 9, 613 pp, 2019 - in French.

EUROPE

"Fair distribution of taxes in trans-frontier areas"

On 13 June 2019, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Vice-President of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, presented a report entitled "Fair distribution of taxes in trans-frontier areas". It will be submitted for adoption at the 37th Congress session in October.

TERRITORIES

The Ardennes Department – a European and cross-border location

PUBLICATION

Large increase in cross-border workers working in Switzerland and Luxembourg

In 2015, more than 360,000 inhabitants of border areas in France worked in a neighbouring country, near to the border. The economic dynamism of neighbouring countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland and Monaco, together with the salaries offered, have encouraged working-age people living in France’s border areas to go and work there.

TERRITORIES

Editorial by Edouard Jacque, President of Grand Est Cross-Border Workers; Regional Councillor, Grand Est Region

The only border that exists in the Grand Est is that which we have “in our hearts”. It is part of our emotional relationship to our history, now turned towards the future, in which on a daily basis we shape a territory that is open in all directions, open to the need to cultivate our differences as they are an asset, and open to cooperation in all areas: be it providing responses to the challenges of AI, research programmes or university projects; or be it encouraging young people to become multilingual, bringing a railway line back to life, building a cycle path or developing an area of countryside working together in a network – because it’s above all a story of human beings.

TERRITORIES

Why does Luxembourg continue to attract so many cross-border workers?

In spite of its small surface area, the Grand Duchy continues to attract skills from all over Europe. A symbolic milestone was passed in 2018, when the number of commuters reached 100,000. This is the count of French cross-border workers who every day make the journey to this country located at the heart of European exchanges. This figure will rise to close to 150,000 over the next 15 years.

PUBLICATION

INSEE Analyses: cross-border employment from the Hauts-de-France Region to Belgium

At the end of 2017, 24,200 employees living in the Hauts-de-France Region worked abroad, principally in Belgium. They represent 1.6% of the region’s employees – five times less than in the Grand Est Region. Less favourable employment conditions, particularly with respect to tax, have now made Belgium less attractive than in the past.

EUROPE

Call for proposals: "Support to cooperation on intra-EU mobility"

The EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" (EURES axis) is launching a call for proposals regarding “Cross-border partnerships and support to cooperation on intra-EU mobility for EEA countries and social partners". The deadline is 6 June 2019.

EUROPE

The EU is going to change the rules on unemployment insurance for cross-border workers

On 20 March 2019, the Commission, the Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on the revision of European rules regarding coordination of social security. From 2021 onwards, unemployed cross-border workers will have their benefit paid by the country where they have worked and no longer by the country they live in.

EUROPE

Annual report on intra-EU labour mobility

The European Commission has published its 2018 report on intra-EU labour mobility. Data concerning cross-border workers are set out on pages 77-80 of the report, which records 1.9 million cross-border workers in 2017 (including EFTA countries as countries of residence and work).

TERRITORIES

Greater Geneva - A special dossier: Cross-border employment: the point of view of Michel Charrat, President of the European Cross-Border Grouping

The European Cross-Border Grouping (Groupement Transfrontalier Européen) is a non-profit association that represents 32,500 cross-border workers along the Franco-Swiss border.

EUROPE

Creation of a European Labour Authority

The European Parliament and Member States have reached an agreement on the creation of a new “European Labour Authority” to protect workers’ rights and launch cross-border investigations in the event of possible abuses.

PUBLICATION

Crossing the border to find a home: the little luxury of Lille’s middle classes

"Belgium is often perceived to be an attractive country for highly-skilled expatriates […]. But the Franco-Belgian border is also an area where migrations by households belonging to the middle classes have become more frequent and more commonplace, as a result of changes in property and labour markets."

FRANCE

The Foreign Affairs Ministry and decentralised Franco-German cooperation

By means of a communication campaign, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs is showcasing Franco-German cooperation:

PUBLICATION

A new issue of INSEE Première on cross-border territories

A new issue of INSEE Première published in January 2019 focuses on the different engines of demographic growth on either side of France’s borders.