On 30 May, the MOT co-ran a webinar offered by the Observatory on the Territorial Impacts of the Crisis (OITC) focusing specifically on border territories.
The MOT is a partner in the research project GeRTrUD – Gestion et régulation transfrontalière de l’urbanisation diffuse (Cross-border management and regulation of scattered urbanisation).
On 12 May 2022, a meeting of Greater Geneva’s political body for cooperation, the Franco-Geneva Regional Committee, which brings together local elected representatives and decentralised authorities from both sides of the border, met in Geneva.
Sandro Gozi, MEP, Jean de Béthune, President of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, and Christoph Schnaudigel, President of the PAMINA Eurodistrict, talk to us about governance – a crucial subject at the centre of the second day of the Borders Forum. Register now as places are limited! You can also access the event's press kit.
Supported by ten of its members, the MOT is publishing this month its first multi-partner study on cross-border teleworking and its impacts in terms of co-development. It is the fruit of nearly a year of work.
On 12 April, France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council adopted an opinion entitled “How to construct a Europe of healthcare”. It sets out 17 recommendations to establish as a political priority on the agenda of European bodies and countries “the construction of a Europe of Healthcare, based on a single model, in line with Europe’s values and tailored to the needs of citizens”.
Between late April and early May, three important topics for cross-border territories were the subject of discussions for the network’s working groups: the impact of cross-border projects on the environment; the issue of social security with respect to cross-border employment; and the definition and recognition of “cross-border living areas”. Below is a preliminary summary of the discussions.
Cross-border co-operation was at the heart of the first of the four meetings devoted to the advances of the Quirinal Treaty. This bilateral treaty between France and Italy was signed by the two countries on 26 November last year.
On 9 May 2022, at the closing ceremony of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the three Presidents of the EU institutions, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, received the conference’s final report.
On 17-19 May the conference of Europe’s outermost regions (ORs) took place in Martinique. This meeting was an opportunity for the European Commission to present its strategy for the ORs, published on 3 May, for the coming year.
The Grand Est Region, which currently holds the presidency of the Greater Region, and the Greater Region Economic and Social Committee, in partnership with the Greater Region Interreg V project “COSAN”, organised a seminar on approaches to foster resilience in the Greater Region’s healthcare systems on 28 April 2022 in Metz.
On 5 May 2022 in Metz, the Moselle Department, which has just joined the MOT, and Departments of France hosted a cross-border conference entitled “La coopération transfrontalière à travers les âges : du premier sourire au dernier soupir” (“Cross-border co-operation through life: from the first smile to the last sigh”). Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General, took part in the closing discussion.
As part of a study for the European Commission on the impacts of the measures taken on borders during the pandemic, the MOT went to Forbach on 26 April to meet users of the cross-border territory.
Elisa Ferreira, the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, and Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of the European Committee of the Regions, have their say about a major issue for cross-border areas, but not only: the ecological transition.
During this sequence programmed on 8 April as part of the Banque des Territoires and its Hub’s "Europe and Territories" breakfast shows, Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General, highlighted the major challenges of cross-border cooperation :
The Occitanie Region, the Pyrénées-Orientales Department and the Generalitat de Catalunya have announced that five cross-border bus services launched as part of the European project "ConnECT" are to be made permanent.
A new call for proposals in the framework of the "b-solutions 2.0: Solving Cross-Border Obstacles initiative" has just been launched.
The Saarbrücken Regionalverband has just published a study on planning and permits regarding projects for sites intended for major retailers in the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict, on the Franco-German border. This assignment was carried out by the MOT and the German consultancy Junker+Kruse.
Following on from their Strasbourg Declaration of 7 October 2021, the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), the MOT and CESCI met in Eupen, in Belgium, on 5-6 April 2022, at the invitation of Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the Parliament of Belgium’s German-Speaking Community and President of the AEBR.
If you are wondering how to integrate and strengthen the territorial dimension of your cooperation programmes or projects, Interact has just published a “Territorial Package” aimed at all cross-border players.
On 24-25 March 2022, at the invitation of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, the MOT had the pleasure of facilitating a Franco-Italian citizens’ forum against a very positive backdrop: the start of the European Year of Youth, the publication of the findings of the Conference on the Future of Europe, France’s presidency of the EU Council and the recent signing of the Quirinal Treaty between the two countries’ governments.
The Greater Region’s Cooperation Fund has been extended by the Greater Region Summit with a new call for projects. Its aim: "To bring the inhabitants of the Greater Region closer together and to enable them to experience the richness of exchanges across borders".
On 24 March, at the invitation of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, Thibault Devillard, policy officer at the MOT, took part in a discussion with the inhabitants of the Franco-Belgian territory.
The AEBR has launched its 2022 Cross Border Award "Sail of Papenburg" on the theme: Youth Overcomes Borders. Awarded shall be one or more outstanding activities in/of a border or cross-border region.
Every month until June, the MOT is letting Borders Forum speakers have their say about a topic that will be at the heart of the discussions.
