On November 4th, 2024, a conference entitled ‘Planning the cross-border functional area’ was held in Luxembourg, organised jointly by AGAPE, MOT, and the Grand Duchy's Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning, with more than 80 participants in attendance.
A study on the ‘border effect’ around Switzerland, conducted by the Geneva-based FEDRE (Foundation for the Economy and Sustainable Development of the Regions of Europe), sets out ten very concrete proposals in areas such as taxation, culture, health and mobility.
Isabelle Rauch, Member of Parliament for Moselle and regional councillor for the Grand Est region, stated in a press release from October 31st that she was working on a proposal for European legislation to ‘adapt public policies in border areas’. In it, she spoke of ‘appropriate and dedicated political action based on territorial differentiation’.
As the Franco-Spanish hospital celebrates its 10th anniversary, an article of France 3 Régions reports that the Spanish tax authorities are demanding that the hospital's 32 employees pay taxes in Spain, even though they are already subject to taxation in France.
On October 21st, 2024, the Franco-German cross-border cooperation committee (CCC), responsible for analysing the impact of new legislation on border territories, adopted a resolution ‘containing recommendations on the analysis of the cross-border impact of national legislation’.
On October 21st, 2024, the elected representatives of the European Territorial Authority of Alsace (CEA) voted unanimously to introduce a heavy goods vehicle tax for transit traffic.
Each year, the compensation system for cross-border workers represents an additional cost of around 800 M€ for the French unemployment insurance scheme. Following the publication of its report, the Unédic, that manages French unemployment insurance, is calling for a renegotiation of agreements with neighboring countries.
On Monday, October 7th, Jean-René Etchegaray, President of the Basque Country Community (CAPB), and Imanol Pradales, the new President of the Basque Autonomous Community, renewed the memorandum linking the two institutions from October 7th 2019.
At the invitation of its partner, the French Network of Urban Planning Agencies (FNAU), the MOT led a one-day workshop as part of the 45th national meeting of urban planning agencies, which took place in Saint-Omer from the 9th to 11th of October 2024. Organised by an MOT network member, the Pays de Saint-Omer urban planning, development and heritage agency (AUD), the theme of the event was ‘public spaces’.
The MOT and the European Committee of the Regions joined forces during the European Week of Regions and Cities 2024 to offer a political session on the future of maritime cooperation. The full replay of the session is available!
Represented by its vice-president Brigitte Torloting, vice-president of the Grand Est region, the MOT took part in the GART-UTPF conference ‘Which public transport model to facilitate cross-border mobility?’, at the ‘Eu Mobility Expo’ held this year in Strasbourg. This was an opportunity for the MOT to present its position, taken with Objectif RER Métropolitains, on the cross-border dimension of SERM projects.
On September 26th, the French Ministry of Health hosted the closing of the exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Cerdagne Hospital EGTC - the first cross-border hospital created in Europe.
The Swiss Federal Council adopted its new spatial planning strategy on June 26th, 2024. It aims to strengthen the various functional areas of the country (conurbations, rural and mountain areas) and runs until 2031. How does this strategy take border areas into account? Could France learn from it?
On October 1st, the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace (European Territorial Authority of Alsace) held its 4th partnership meeting in Strasbourg, devoted to the Schéma alsacien de coopération transfrontalière (Alsace cross-border cooperation scheme).
On September 26th, the ‘Sustainable Urban Planning and Development’ Chair at the University of Metz organised a multidisciplinary study day on ‘cross-border living areas’, attended by nearly 150 participants at the Faculty of Law in Metz and online.
The 2024 edition of the Saint-Dié International Geography Festival (FIG), the annual meeting place for French-speaking geographers, will focus on border issues. In addition to this year's theme, ‘Lands’, an opportunity to explore the challenge of ZAN (Net Zero Artificialisation) and its implications, the guest territory for the 2024 edition was a macro-regional area familiar to the MOT network: the Alpine Arc.
More than a hundred stakeholders from all over France gathered in Dunkirk and on the Franco-Belgian border on September 17th and 18th, 2024, for the MOT's general assembly, at the invitation of its members: the Dunkirk Urban Community (Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque), the Nord Department and the Flanders-Dunkirk Urban Planning Agency. The event was an opportunity to highlight the richness and uniqueness of cross-border cooperation on the Franco-Flemish coast, while reaffirming the importance of cooperation in the face of the common challenges faced by border territories!
To prepare the future of territorial cooperation, the Commission launched a process of consultation with citizens and stakeholders at the end of 2023. These consultations, which will take place throughout 2024, will be carried out by each Interreg program.
The signing of the third amendment to the MOSAR agreement on September 18th, 2024 marks a new milestone in cross-border healthcare cooperation between Moselle and Saarland.
On Monday September 16th, Germany reintroduced border controls for six months to combat illegal immigration, drawing criticism from within the European Union (EU) for failing to consult with other EU countries. After the border controls already in place with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland, Germany has now reintroduced border controls with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
On September 1st, the Savoy Department and the Aosta Valley organized the first Alpine Festival at the Little St Bernard Pass.
"Easy Border" is a simple, user-friendly navigator that guides you to the right European Commission service for your cross-border needs. Whether you need help overcoming an obstacle or are looking for information, Easy Border has you covered. This intuitive tool supports individuals and both public and private organisations across the European Union, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland.
The creation of a new online platform, called StatRhena, was announced by the Upper Rhine Interreg program following its monitoring committee meeting on July 9th, 2024.
On August 27th, 2024, Franck Leroy, President of the Grand Est Region, and Winfried Hermann, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Transport, unveiled the first France-Germany Régiolis cross-border train (TFA).
