News

The MOT's workshops : "Cross-border investments" and "Rural areas"

During the European Week of Regions and Cities, the MOT organised two workshops: the first on cross-border investment and the second on rural areas.

NATIONAL LEVEL

Cross-border cooperation in Germany's territorial development policy

With the recent approval by both the German Länder and the federal level of its "Guiding Principles", Germany is emphasising cross-border cooperation in its territorial development policy.

EUROPE

Editorial from Dr. Katharina Erdmenger, Head of Division, Deputy Director, European Territorial Cohesion Policy, Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Germany

New "Guiding Principles" for Germany's territorial development were adopted in March 2016, which are in line with the idea that "Germany is not an island".

EUROPE

"MORO" – pilot projects devoted to cross-border cooperation in Germany

Several spatial planning pilot projects (MORO), such as the one that led to the setting-up of the IMeG,* incorporating border region and cross-border considerations have been launched in Germany.

TERRITORIES

Annual conference of the Interreg ALCOTRA programme

On 6 October 2016, the annual meeting of the Interreg VA ALCOTRA programme brought together more than 400 participants in Chamonix.

TERRITORIES

"Territoires no(s) limit(es)"

Nearly 600 people gathered for the 37th national meeting of urban planning agencies on 5-7 October in the Basque Country.

PUBLICATION

"Grand Est : L'Europe entre voisins"

Published by Correspondances Lorraines. Author: Pascale Braun. October 2016. Retail price: €20. Title in English: "The Greater East Region: Europe among Neighbours"

TERRITORIES

European days of cross-border cooperation in Nice

Organised by the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis,* the European days of cross-border cooperation held in Nice on 21-22 September were a great success, with nearly 400 participants.

EUROPE

Roaming charges

Roaming within the EU will be free of charge for unlimited periods from 15 June 2017. The first proposal to limit free roaming to 90 days was rectified by the European Commission as it was deemed to be discriminatory for example for cross-border workers and Erasmus students who spend a lot of time in another country.

TERRITORIES

Construction of Greater Geneva: Switzerland and France linked by a railway tunnel

On 23 September 2016, the two sides of underground route of the future cross-border rail link between Geneva and Annemasse were joined up by French and Swiss teams.

EUROPE

Launching of the Working Group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles

Following the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU (2nd half of 2015) and its proposal to create a new legal tool for cross-border cooperation, a Working Group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles was established by Luxembourg and France. The first meeting of the Working Group was held in Vienna on July 5th 2016.

MOT

New section devoted to obstacles to cooperation

A new section on the MOT's website sets out the issues involved in identifying and resolving obstacles to cross-border cooperation.

MOT

Updating of the MOT's legal resources: a toolkit for players involved in cooperation

This summer, the MOT completely updated its online legal resources relating to cross-border cooperation law.

NATIONAL LEVEL

The "ACTS" project (Support for cross-border cooperation in the Sahel)

The "ACTS" project* was launched in February 2015 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.** It is a Priority Solidarity Fund project financed by France. It aims to help Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso preserve their sovereignty through better management of border regions with respect to security and local development.

NATIONAL LEVEL

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region "SRDEII"

In the context of drawing up its SRDEII,* the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region asked the MOT, of which it is a member, to carry out an assessment of cross-border issues in the Region (which borders on Switzerland and Italy) that could be included in a cross-border component of the regional programme.

MOT

Findings of the policy forum "Security and development: how to manage borders?"

The migrant crisis and threats to security have placed borders centre stage. Having become an extremely political topic, the public authorities still perceive them in a fragmented way.

EUROPE

Studies presented by the Committee of the Regions

The EGTC Platform of the Committee of the Regions has presented three recent studies on cross-border cooperation.

TERRITORIES

Four new Interreg projects in the territory of the Basque Eurocity

"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.

NATIONAL LEVEL

"The migrant crisis: the return of borders"

TV programme "C dans l'air" on France 5 - Broadcast on 10 August 2016

MOT

2016 project factsheet dossier

Every year, the MOT publishes an updated dossier presenting cross-border projects that may serve as examples.

TERRITORIES

KUBIC, a cross-border music programme: coming back to a successful project!

Thanks to the Kubic project, which was led by the Saarmoselle Eurodistrict and funded by the Interreg IVA programme, five local French and German television stations pooled their know-how and technical resources to produce a weekly cross-border music programme.

TERRITORIES

A 2020 territorial strategy for the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict

The SaarMoselle Eurodistrict has just adopted an action programme for the next five years.

MOT

MOT Annual Conference: "Borders: a 'resource' for the inhabitants of border regions"

The Annual Conference of the MOT brought together 150 participants on 24 May 2016 in the Palais de la Porte Dorée, home of the French National Museum of the History of Immigration, in conjunction with the exhibition “Frontières” (“Borders”) currently on view.

MOT

Annual meetings of the network and Technicians Platform

Following the annual conference, the meetings of the MOT's bodies took place on 25 May. The MOT's President, Michel Delebarre, presented its new members: the Cluster GAT Caraïbes, the Principality of Monaco, the Strasbourg-Mulhouse-Colmar Metropolitan Hub, the IDELUX-AIVE Group (Belgium) and KiosK Office.

EUROPE

"Obstacles to investment at local and regional level"

To help identify obstacles to investment, the Committee of the Regions has invited the representatives of EU cities and regions to take part in a survey on "Obstacles to investment at local and regional level", the results of which will be presented to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.