The MAPTAM Act* enables border metropolises to draw up a Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy. Lille, Strasbourg and Nice have taken up this opportunity and have been working since 2018, with support from the MOT, on formulating a strategy to structure their cross-border policy. Other territories have followed suit such as the Basque Country Conurbation Community.
On 21 November 2019 the UniGR – Center for Border Studies held in Esch-sur-Alzette, in Luxembourg, its fourth Greater Region Forum, on the topic "Revitalisation of inner cities in the Greater Region". In the light of the pressure on the retail sector in the Greater Region, as well as in other cross-border regions, the discussions focused on the organisation of retailers in the face of this competition, on consumer behaviour and on possible avenues for co-development.
The Act (No. 2019-816) of 2 August 2019 concerning the competences of the European Territorial Authority of Alsace (CEA) ratified the creation of this new territorial authority arising from the merger of the French Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin Departments on 1 January 2021.
The 2030 strategy for the Upper Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Region was signed in Basel on 22 November. “We want to be a model region for Europe and to make visible and tangible the benefits that Europe provides day by day. To do this, we will continue to develop excellence in the economic and scientific field, to strengthen structures of cross-border cooperation and to develop new potential,” the political representatives affirmed on this occasion.
At the invitation of the MOT, the CNFPT (National Centre for Territorial Public Administration) and the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, 40 people gathered on 13 November in Lille to talk about cross-border transportation. The three sessions focused on: the need for the observation of flows and the reasons for travelling (work, shopping, leisure, healthcare); the challenges encountered in drawing up cross-border mobility strategies; and the breaking-down of the strategies into territorial projects.
The 21st Franco-German Council of Ministers took place in Toulouse on 16 October 2019, bringing together France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, as well as the French and German ministers. On this occasion, and following on from the Aachen Treaty, the “Franco-German Declaration of Toulouse” was signed, which reaffirms the commitments made at the highest level of government with respect to Franco-German cooperation.
At the 2019 edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities, which brought together over 9,000 participants in Brussels, the MOT ran a workshop entitled "No country is an island: joint cross-border strategies for a clean energy transition".
On 22 September 2019, amateur and professional cyclists from either side of the Rhine set off to discover the territory of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict during a cross-border cycle ride.
Editorial by Tristan Atmania, Deputy Director of the Territorial Attractiveness and Competitiveness Department – Saint-Avold Conurbation: "In this crucial year for Europe, our territory of the Moselle, at the crossroads of the founding countries of the European Union, and also of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region, is at a turning point in its history. In this respect, the cross-border cooperation that is already being forged in all areas of daily life represents a major asset to be developed in the context of the competition that we face with the other regions of the world. [...]"
Individual decisions carry important weight in a world brimming over with vitality. Decisions that affect many people and that, taken together, have an impact on certain regions’ demographic developments and economic strength. Such changes can only be managed if we are willing to evolve. The Saint-Avold Conurbation is rising to this challenge and is taking advantage of synergies to pool skills for the benefit of all.
Yann Dubois, Editions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses, Collection "Espaces, mobilités et sociétés" No. 9, 613 pp, 2019 - in French.
In the context of the preparation of its 2021-2027 programmes, DG REGIO has drawn up 38 Border Orientation Papers (BOPs) for all of the EU’s land borders. Six of these BOPs relate to France’s borders.
In 2015, more than 360,000 inhabitants of border areas in France worked in a neighbouring country, near to the border. The economic dynamism of neighbouring countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland and Monaco, together with the salaries offered, have encouraged working-age people living in France’s border areas to go and work there.
With the support of the MOT, Lille, Strasbourg and Nice are the three French border region metropolises that have embarked on drawing up a "Schéma de cooperation transfrontalière" (Cross-Border Cooperation Strategie, CCS), introduced by the Maptam Act* in 2014. Through its network, the MOT enables the three metropolises to share experiences and information regarding their methodologies, the obstacles encountered and the local political contexts, as well as to relay their needs to the national and European authorities.
The Strasbourg Eurometropolis has launched a project aimed at recovering the heat produced by the Kehl steelworks in order to provide energy for 4,000 households in Strasbourg within two years. This innovative project is a first in Europe at the cross-border level.
On 9 May 2019, Europe Day, the Moselle Department asked for an expansion of its competences on account of its specific location within the territory of the Greater Region, in order to foster closer links, greater effectiveness and simplified partnerships with its European neighbours.
The only border that exists in the Grand Est is that which we have “in our hearts”. It is part of our emotional relationship to our history, now turned towards the future, in which on a daily basis we shape a territory that is open in all directions, open to the need to cultivate our differences as they are an asset, and open to cooperation in all areas: be it providing responses to the challenges of AI, research programmes or university projects; or be it encouraging young people to become multilingual, bringing a railway line back to life, building a cycle path or developing an area of countryside working together in a network – because it’s above all a story of human beings.
Within the framework of the Interreg “Greater Region Territorial Development Plan” project, the Greater Region Executives Summit have laid the political groundwork for the drawing-up of a common cross-border territorial strategy for the Greater Region partners.
The Strasbourg Eurometropolis’s Development Council has conducted a survey of citizens on well-being across the whole of the cross-border metropolis. The survey is entitled “How are you?”.
The latest publication by the French Network of Urban Planning Agencies (FNAU), entitled "L'Europe par les territoires" (“Europe by its territories”) feeds into the debate about Europe and provides different views on the issues relating to cohesion policy and the way in which cities and territories have appropriated the European ideal and the tools of this policy. The MOT contributed to it and several cross-border territories are showcased in it.
The magazine "Intercommunalités" of the Assemblée des Communautés de France (AdCF – Assembly of France’s Communities) has published in its issue 238 an article written by the MOT: "Concevoir les services publics transfrontaliers" ("Designing cross-border public services").
The two departments, which will soon be grouped together as the European territorial authority of Alsace, wish to step up cross-border cooperation with their German and Swiss neighbours straightaway. The "OR Strategy – Oberrhein/Rhin supérieur" that they have just presented formalises these reflections and expert assessments.
The PAMINA Eurodistrict and the Karlsruhe TechnologieRegion have inaugurated a new web portal dedicated to cross-border mobility. With 300,000 consultations a day, it is one of the main online journey planning services.
The Master in Border Studies is a two-year joint international study program, which addresses the complex economic, political, social and cultural issues of borders and of border regions in Europe and beyond. The Master provides students with the major concepts and analytical tools to understand the various challenges of border regions and cross-border cooperations.
