Cross-border issues
Cross-border territories
Cross-border territories play a key role in Europe. They account for 40% of the European Union’s territory and are home to more than a third of its population. Every day, nearly 2 million people cross a border to go to work. In France, this dynamic is particularly strong, with nearly 500,000 cross-border workers. Far from being marginal areas, these spaces are drivers of cooperation, mobility and European cohesion.
LOCAL LEVEL
Cross-border regions, whether they are urban, rural or maritime, are characterised by:
– inhabitants who cross the border to work, make purchases, or for leisure activities, etc.
– a shared heritage and environment; ,
– trade and tourism exchanges;
– a common job market and economic development;
– shared equipment and services (hospitals, transport, schools, etc.)
NATIONAL LEVEL
– Border regions are peripheral and often little account is taken of them in national policy.
– However, borders, which are places of exchange and openness, are a resource for the inhabitants and businesses in these territories.
– But the existence of different political, legal, cultural and linguistic systems creates obstacles to cooperation.
EUROPEAN LEVEL
– Cross-border territories are testing grounds for European construction: free movement, territorial cohesion and European citizenship are at the heart of the European project.
– However, they are not sufficiently taken into account by European policies.
Cross-border issues
Crossing a border presents an opportunity for finding work, receiving healthcare, accessing services, exchanging with one’s neighbours, etc. But the inhabitants of border regions face obstacles that hamper these exchanges on a daily basis. Cross-border cooperation aims to resolve these difficulties, promote the resources linked to the border and build common living spaces.
LOCAL LEVEL
Cross-border territories require specific management by local and regional players. This management takes the form of thematic projects* and integrated territorial development across the whole of the cross-border territory.
NATIONAL LEVEL
Countries with shared borders need to adapt their policies to take account of cross-border issues, support cooperation between local and regional players and cooperate with one another in their own areas of competence.
The objective is to find solutions to common issues by coordinating legislation, policy and domestic funding across each border.
EUROPEAN LEVEL
The European institutions promote cross-border integration:
– by providing the support of cohesion policy (INTERREG) to cross-border regions;
– by creating legal tools suited to projects and territories, such as the EGTC, and overcoming obstacles, such as the new BRIDGEforEU tool;
– by developing sectoral policies that meet the needs of cross-border regions;
– by promoting networks for exchanges on the issue of borders.
The MOT, responses appropriate to each level
The MOT’s role is to assist project developers, to promote the interests of cross-border territories and to facilitate the networking of players and the sharing of experiences. It acts as the interface between the different stakeholders in order to find cross-border solutions at the right levels.
LOCAL LEVEL
The MOT supports cross-border territories and players involved in cooperation in their projects*.
The MOT enables networking among players and facilitates the sharing of experiences between territories.
The MOT identifies obstacles and looks for solutions at right levels.
NATIONAL LEVEL
The MOT provides support at national level in order that better account is taken of cross-border territories in public policy.
It is in constant contact with French government ministers, the ANCT, Banque des Territoires and French Parliament to ensure that the cross-border dimension is taken into account in legislation and policies.
The MOT provides support on each border to the coordination between neighbouring countries: resolution of legal obstacles, cross-border statistical observation, etc.
EUROPEAN LEVEL
Alone or with other European networks, the MOT:
– supports networking between crossborder territories at European level;
– works for better recognition of these territories in European policy;
– assists the European institutions in their actions on cross-border issues;
– facilitates cooperation between European States on cross-border issues;
– helps to disseminate good practices across Europe.
* Its assistance can relate to territorial assessments, the drawing-up of strategies, legal and economic studies, project management support, the design of cross-border structures, etc. in diverse areas: transport, spatial planning, governance, healthcare, employment and training, economic development, innovation, the environment, energy, culture, etc.