The third meeting of the intergovernmental group initiated by Luxembourg and France took place on 14 December 2016 in Brussels. The discussions focused on the drafting of a final report that will set out the outline of the new European legal tool – the European Cross-Border Convention (ECBC) – proposed by the group and designed to help overcome cross-border obstacles.
The “law relating to external action of territorial authorities and to the cooperation of overseas territories in their regional environment” was adopted on 5 December 2016.
The CGET has published a study - available in English - on the involvement of the private sector in European territorial cooperation programmes (INTERREG).
An international symposium entitled “European territorial cooperation bodies, institutional and material aspects”, was held on 10 February 2017 at the University of Valenciennes.
The 5th “Trans/frontières et dialogue des disciplines” [Cross/borders and dialogue between disciplines] Master-class was held in Marseille from 18 to 20 January 2017, on the topic “Young professionals and neighbourhood/proximity relations within the European Union? Between Conflict and Cooperation”.
The ceremony to mark the setting-up of an EGTC for the PAMINA Eurodistrict on the Franco-German border took place on 11 January 2017 in Haguenau. This new status is being accompanied by changes in the structure's governance, the main aims of which for 2017 are set out here.
After 30 years of cooperation in the PAMINA area and 14 years operating as a local grouping of cross-border cooperation (LGCC), the member local authorities agreed on the principle of turning it into an EGTC.
The MOT assists players involved in cross-border cooperation through studies and expert assignments. In 2016, it carried out or began work on 12 operational studies.
Michel Charrat, the President of the European Cross-Border Grouping and Treasurer of the MOT, gives us his analysis of the implementation of the vote in February 2014 in Switzerland, which was aimed at restricting the number of foreign workers.
Kussbus is a Luxembourg start-up which has just launched an innovative home-work shuttle service in the Luxembourg-France-Belgium-Germany border territory.
This publication examines how policy actors involved in cross-border co-operation contribute to the regional integration process in West Africa.
A report by the Senate released on 14 December 2016 sets out proposals to improve the care given to French disabled people in Belgian institutions.
The MOT took part in the fourth and final meeting of Cross-Border Review experts that took place on 15 December in Brussels.
At a meeting in Belfort on 1 December 2016, a framework agreement bringing together seven universities in the Franco-Swiss Jura Arc was signed, putting in place a "Community of Knowledge".
The Cerdanya Hospital, which is located on the border between France and Spain in the Catalan Pyrenees, is an unprecedented example in Europe of cooperation in healthcare (between the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and France).
To be able to treat someone rapidly after a stroke requires coordination between local emergency services and specialist neurology and neurosurgery departments.
Endorsed on 23 November 2016 by the plenary session of the National Commission for Decentralised Cooperation (CNCD), the "Diplomacy and Territories" White Paper of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development is online on the website of the DAECT (Délégation pour l'action extérieure des collectivités territoriales (Delegation for the External Action of Territorial Authorities).
At the request of Luxembourg's Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructures, acting on behalf of the different bodies of the Greater Region's Summit, a consortium led by the North Lorraine urban planning agency (AGAPE) in collaboration with the MOT, the urban planning agencies of Metz (AGURAM) and Nancy (ADUAN), and the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, carried out an assignment to assist with the drawing-up of the Greater Region's territorial development plan.
The Territorial Observatory's 2016 Report on the topic "Employment and Territories" has just been published by the General Commission for Territorial Equality (CGET).
Nearly 200 people gathered on 8 December 2016 in Geneva for the signature of the "Greater Geneva Territorial Project 2016-2030", a third generation conurbation project: "We want to move from a financial rationale to a common political vision. We want to make Greater Geneva a collective, shared project that is led by the territory's citizens and stakeholders. We want to work towards the concrete and effective realisation of projects."
A seminar organised by the ESPON programme and the Slovak presidency of the EU Council was held in Bratislava on 7-8 December 2016. Its objective was to promote the use of ESPON's findings and tools in decision-making processes, and to discuss future issues for European territories.
On 13 December in Strasbourg, the European Commission presented a revision of the European rules on the provision of unemployment benefits for cross-border workers and also for job-seekers in another Member State, in order to facilitate labour mobility.
"There are borders that can be easily crossed and others that are impassable; there are visible borders and invisible borders; there are political, economic and cultural borders… This first atlas devoted to borders helps us to better understand the issues that are concealed behind the lines that separate or link peoples."
The 5th Franco-Luxembourg intergovernmental commission (IGC) for the strengthening of cross-border cooperation was held on 21 November 2016 in Luxembourg, in the presence of Harlem Désir, Secretary of State for European Affairs (FR), and Corinne Cahen, Minister for the Greater Region (LU).
