The European Parliament and Member States have reached an agreement on the creation of a new “European Labour Authority” to protect workers’ rights and launch cross-border investigations in the event of possible abuses.
At the 16th Greater Region Summit on 30 January 2019, the Greater Region Executives argued for "ambitious territorial cooperation and a Europe that listens to its citizens".
The Basel Trinational Eurodistrict brings together the three countries of the Basel conurbation with over 900,000 inhabitants. A member of the MOT since 2005, it was the first trinational Eurodistrict to be created in Europe.
The "Cross-Border Metropolitan Regions" Initiative, which works on developing cross-border cooperation along Germany’s borders, has just published a position paper on the European Commission’s proposal to create a "mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context".
"Belgium is often perceived to be an attractive country for highly-skilled expatriates […]. But the Franco-Belgian border is also an area where migrations by households belonging to the middle classes have become more frequent and more commonplace, as a result of changes in property and labour markets."
On 22 January in Aachen, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron signed a new treaty on cooperation and integration between Germany and France.
The Aachen Treaty marks a real recognition of cross-border cooperation as a central element in European construction. The fourth chapter, which is entirely devoted to cross-border cooperation, was drafted with active participation from the MOT.
By means of a communication campaign, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs is showcasing Franco-German cooperation:
Under the aegis of the General Commission for Territorial Equality (CGET) on the French side and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community on the German side, the MOT and the BBSR* have coordinated the production of a brochure entitled “France-Germany: cross-border observation at the heart of Europe”.
The "b-solutions” initiative is one of the actions supported by DG REGIO within the framework of the Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions” of September 2017. Its aim is to identify and promote sustainable methods for overcoming legal and/or administrative obstacles encountered along the internal land borders of the European Union.
The 2019 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport call for proposals has been launched by the European Commission.
Created by the common desire of the presidents of eight Public Entities of Intermunicipal Cooperation, the new “North Lorraine Border Region Metropolitan Pole” was launched on 9 January 2019 in Thionville.
The cross-border dimension was at the heart of the ESPON seminar “New Narratives for Territorial Development” which took place in Vienna on 5-6 December 2018.
Andreas Faludi, Professor Emeritus and guest researcher, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. Published by Elgar Studies in Planning Theory, Policy and Practice, November 2018.
A new issue of INSEE Première published in January 2019 focuses on the different engines of demographic growth on either side of France’s borders.
Signed on 1 February 2019 by the Minister for the Ecological Transition, François de Rugy, and the French and German regional players, this “territorial project” is designed to accompany the economic redevelopment of the area around the nuclear power station in Fessenheim, whose two reactors are due to be shut down in the summer of 2020.
The 2019 European Conference on the Energy Transition took place on 22-24 January in Dunkirk, bringing together nearly 3,500 participants around the topic “Committed and mutually-supportive territories”. The MOT contributed to the discussions by organising a workshop illustrating three very concrete examples of cross-border cooperation in the area of the energy transition.
On the occasion of the European Conference on the Energy Transition, which is taking place in Dunkirk on 22-24 January 2019, the MOT is publishing a new edition of its thematic Guides, on the energy transition and cross-border cooperation.
In adopting its opinion on the proposal for a regulation on the ECBM on 22 November 2018, the European Parliament’s Regional Development Commission (REGI) embarked on the process of inter-institutional negotiations on the proposed tool.
On 18 December 2018 the ninth meeting of the working group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles was held in Brussels at the European Committee of the Regions.
Under the Interreg programme ALCOTRA on the Franco-Italian border, two types of plan can be implemented: integrated territorial plans and integrated thematic plans. Integrated territorial plans are made up of a series of projects organised around several themes for a specific cross-border territory.
In December, the Grand Est Region published a brochure setting out its strategic orientations in the area of cross-border cooperation.
After two years of co-construction, the elected representatives of the Grand Est Region presented the major elements of the Region’s SRADDET at an event in Metz on 30 November 2018.
The University of Lorraine is offering an online course [in French] entitled “Beyond borders, assessing territories”, which will start at the end of February 2019. It is providing an introduction to territorial assessment, and will look at several examples of cross-border areas.
On 11 December 2018 in Brussels, a declaration of intent regarding the development of closer cooperation between France and the countries of the Benelux Union (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) was signed.
