News
On the way to Alsace as a European territorial authority
November 2018
The French government has announced its support for the creation of a European territorial authority of Alsace, formed by the merger of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin Departments. It will be set up as of 1 January 2021. “We will support the elected representatives in their desire for Alsace. This will all be within the Grand Est Region – not a special status, but an authority with particular competences that derive notably from the cross-border setting and Alsace’s Rhineland identity,” stated the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Jacqueline Gourault.
The new authority will be “the lead partner in cross-border cooperation”. Its development will fall within the framework of the constitutional revision desired by the French President, with the wish to “start from a territory’s competences” and to put in place “a foundation that can be built on in the future by lawmakers”.
The joint declaration signed by the parties concerned specifies that the European territorial authority of Alsace will be “charged with drawing up Alsace’s overall plan for cross-border cooperation”, and that it will be able, like the other territorial authorities in the Grand Est Region, to draw on the Élysée Treaty,* which will be signed in January 2019, as well as on the European mechanism aimed at removing legal and administrative obstacles currently being negotiated. Finally, it can serve as “an experiment with regard to the first measures taken within this framework”.
More info [FR]
The joint declaration [FR]
* The MOT is taking part in the drafting of the chapter on the cross-border dimension.
