"Connect Innovation Bai!", "MAREA", "H2Ogurea" and "EDERBIDEA" of the names of four of the new projects selected in the first call for projects under POCTEFA 2014-2020.
The Institut National des Études Territoriales (INET) in Strasbourg has put online a platform designed to centralise a large amount of disparate information about French territorial civil servants' possibilities for mobility in Europe and internationally.
A symposium on cross-border student status was organised on 31 March in Bayonne by the students of the Master 2 in Cross-border and interregional cooperation at the University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour.
On march 18th, Basque Country’s President Iñigo Urkullu chaired the first 2016 Assembly of the Euroregion Aquitaine-Euskadi, at Vitoria-Gasteiz.
At a time when the paradigm of open borders conducive to free movement appears to be called into question by the political choices being made, borders remain complex geopolitical phenomena that continue to durably impact territories through either centripetal or centrifugal dynamics depending on the place.
Following the regional elections and the reform which reduced the number of regions in mainland France from 22 to 13, the MOT has published a note (in French) on the new French regions and the territorial reform: what will be the impact on cross-border cooperation?.
At the instigation of the Midi-Pyrénées General Secretariat for Regional Affairs, a working seminar aimed at the decentralised government departments in the regions bordering Spain and Andorra was held on 25 November 2015 in Toulouse to discuss practices and consider new modes of organisation designed to remove the obstacles to French-Spanish-Andorran cooperation.
Taking note of the “de Ruyter” decision of the CJEU, “the [French] Government specifies in a communiqué published on 20th October the conditions for the introduction of recovery procedures relating to refunds of social contributions made on capital gains by residents and non-residents who are covered by social security schemes of other Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland.”
On 24-25 September 2015, the University of Pau and the Pays de l’Adour (UPPA) welcomed twelve cross-border groupings of European universities at a seminar organised within the framework of the EBRoS 2020 project (a French-Spanish inter-university project funded by the Interreg programme POCTEFA).
Since January 2014, the MOT has been carrying out a project supported by the national technical assistance programme Europ'Act relating to the economic development of the cross-border territories along France's borders. The results of this work will be presented at the project's final conference on 30 September in Paris.
The New Territorial Organisation of the Republic Act (the "NOTRe Act") was promulgated on 7 August 2015 in France.
At the instigation of the partners in the Spain-France-Andorra cooperation programme (POCTEFA) a study has been carried out on Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) and Community-led Local Development (CLLD).
For the first time, on 29 May 2015, the French Embassy in Madrid brought together local elected representatives and state representatives of the border territories between France and Spain, as well as the leaders of the Aquitaine-Euskadi and Pyrénées-Méditerranée Euroregions, to enable in-depth discussions on all cross-border cooperation between the two countries.
The Aquitaine-Euskadi Euroregion has launched a thematic call for projects in the areas of "Culture, Education, Multilingualism, Sport and Youth".
On 20 February 2015 at Montesquieu-des-Albères in the eastern Pyrenees, French prime minister Manuel Valls and Spanish head of government Mariano Rajoy inaugurated the new high-voltage electricity interconnection line between the two countries.
On 19 December 2014 in Hendaye, the 2014-2020 strategic plan for the Aquitaine-Euskadi Euroregion EGTC was presented.
On 10 December 2014, the conference entitled "What solutions for cross-border healthcare?" took place at the Assemblée Nationale in Paris. Organised by the Assemblée Nationale's "Border Regions and Workers" study group, with support from the MOT, this conference brought together cross-border healthcare experts and elected representatives from all of France's border areas.
The cross-border chamber of commerce for the Basque Country, BIHARTEAN, and the Euskadi Institute of Competitiveness, ORKESTRA, have for more than a year been implementing a cross-border interclustering initiative, recognised as a project of Euroregional interest by the Aquitaine-Euskadi EGTC*.
On 27 October 2014, the two member institutions of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), set up in 2011 by the Pyrénées Atlantiques Department and the Government of Aragon, inaugurated the Espace Pourtalet Centre, the first concrete result of the work carried out by the EGTC. Located in a converted former Spanish customs house, this new facility comprises a cross-border snow-clearing centre and a cross-border resource centre.
Catherine Barnole, Inspector-General DT66, Languedoc-Roussillon regional health agency
Europe’s first cross-border hospital opened its doors on 19 September 2014 in Cerdanya, on the French-Spanish border.
The cross-border hospital in Puigcerda (Cerdanya) opens its doors on 19th September on the French-Spanish border. It is a pioneering project in Europe since it is the first time that a hospital has been managed on a cross-border basis from the construction phase onwards.
The MOT produced a guidebook entitled “The legal framework for cross-border cooperation. The legal instruments available to cross-border projects” which is aimed at helping cooperation practitioners to choose the legal form that is most appropriate for their needs. The document is available in six languages: French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch.
On 18 February, the Committee of the Regions held the 4th annual meeting of the EGTC Platform, which focused on the role that EGTCs can play in the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
The French-Belgian health monitoring unit (EEIG OFBS) and the Wallonia-Lorraine-Luxembourg cross-border health monitoring unit (EEIG LUXLORSAN) organised a conference on health systems and cross-border cooperation, which took place on 18 December 2013 at the Committee of the Regions offices.
