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A report and a study of the European Parliament to relaunch the ECBM
May 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.
It is in this context that Sandro Gozi, Member of the European Parliament, has presented a draft parliamentary report that aims to relaunch this work. It includes a new drafting proposal for the regulation and should be adopted by the Parliament in September. With the agreement of the Commission and the Council Presidency, negotiations can then be resumed.
The report is based on a study by the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) entitled "Mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context - European added value assessment", highlighting different policy options and their effects. The findings argue that the combination of "soft law" measures with the adoption of ECBM 2.0 would generate approximately 123 billion euros per year and more than one million jobs. According to the study, it is precisely this combination of legislative and non-legislative tools that would best cover the diversity and large number of obstacles faced by border regions.
The draft report
The European Parliament Research Service study
Photo : European Union 2019 - Source EP
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