Esztergom-Štúrovo
Overview
The move to cooperation
Cross-border cooperation is thus relatively recent. The first stage of cooperation began with the twinning of the two towns in 1991.
In 2000, the two sub-regions created a cross-border consultative conference, which replaced the Council of the Ister-Granum Euroregion in 2003. The structure is composed of an assembly, a presidency shared between the 14 members of the parliament and two regional development agencies that assist in the Euroregion’s activities.
In terms of tangible measures, the construction of the Maria Valeria Bridge, with the financial support of the European Union in 2001, was a central project for the integration of the two towns and the improvement of cross-border mobility. The end of systematic border controls on the bridge, since Hungary’s and Slovakia’s enty into the Schengen Area in 2007, was also a crucial step in the constitution of this cross-border conurbation.
With the aim of developing their cross-border cooperation, the two towns were partners in the URBACT “EGTC” project (“Expertising Governance for Transfrontier Conurbations"), between May 2008 and May 2010, in order to exchange with other conurbations in Europe on methods of cross-border governance and also in order to formulate a local strategic plan. This work also led to the creation in 2008 of the EGTC of the Ister-Granum Euroregion, to which the two towns belong.
