European meeting of cross-border observatories: the MOT presents DATAPASS in Seville

October 2026

On 22-23 September 2026, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the DG REGIO of the European Commission brought together actors from European cross-border regional observatories in Seville. More than 30 observatories were identified in 2026 (23 in 2025), confirming the importance of sharing data and methods to better understand border territories and inform public policies. The meeting highlighted several priorities: monitoring cross-border workers and mobility, data interoperability, understanding local economic activities, and strengthening links between observatories and Interreg programs.

DATAPASS: a model for territorial observation in the Pyrenees

During this meeting, the MOT presented the DATAPASS project, of which it is a partner. Launched in 2019 by the Atlantique & Pyrénées Urban Planning Agency (AUDAP), this project is funded by the Interreg POCTEFA program for the 2026-2029 period. It brings together French and Spanish institutional and academic partners.

DATAPASS compares dynamics on both sides of the Pyrenean border. Four themes have been studied: demographics (2019), commercial establishments and housing (2023), and landscape (2026). The partners combine their data to analyze differences, similarities, and territorial continuities.

The results are shared as summaries and interactive maps. A web visualization platform is also being developed.

Observatories serving cross-border public policies

The JRC and DG REGIO highlighted the role of observatories in developing and monitoring Interreg programs, especially for identifying the needs of regions and information gaps.

DG REGIO’s work shows the scale of statistical challenges. The European study “Cross-Border Data Collection” (2024-2026) that it commissioned, and which has just been published, collected data from 28 countries, of which 22 provided information. Comparisons remain difficult due to differences in definitions, geographical scales, and data availability. The study estimates that around 1.3 million cross-border workers are affected in the main European countries studied.

The challenge is to make it easier to bring data together and reuse it through common methods and reference frameworks, without necessarily imposing full harmonization.

The European Data Hub should especially make the observatory data more visible and reusable, without centralizing all local and regional data.

Observation should also cover practical areas of cross-border everyday life, like housing, health, public services, trade, the environment, and mobility.

Moving towards a common roadmap

The experiences presented in Seville, particularly SIG-GR, GeoRhena, GOT and GEODATAPYR/OPCC, show the variety of observation approaches undertaken at European borders. In the Pyrenees, the work of OPCC and GEODATAPYR, to which the MOT contributes methodologically, illustrates the value of bringing environmental and socio-economic data closer together.

The network will continue its work within the ‘Cross-Border Observatories’ group of Futurium, focusing on three priorities: enhancing data on cross-border workers, experimenting with a geolocator for local economic activities, and deepening work on interoperability.