I was entrusted last March with the presidency of the cross-border strategy of Ardennes initiated in 2019 by the MOT and the Belgian intermunicipal structure IDELUX. The latter covers the territory of the Ardennes department and the Walloon provinces of Luxembourg and Namur.
The MOT, supported by sixteen partners of its network, initiated a "cross-border living areas experiment" at the end of 2022.
At the beginning of 2023, the DG REGIO of the European Commission together with the OECD have launched a pilot project for multi-level governance and the development of co-developed cross-border strategies.
With more than 200,000 border workers, the Grand Est region is a laboratory for European mobility. As a member of the MOT network, "Frontaliers Grand Est" accompanies these numerous border workers on a daily basis. Julien Dauer helps us better understand the challenges they face.
On March 10th 2023, an agreement on assistance and rescue in border areas was signed in Metz between France and Belgium. The territory covers the provinces of Namur and Luxembourg in Belgium and the departments of Ardennes, Meuse and Meurthe et Moselle in France, which together share around 250 km of borders.
Around thirty Belgian and French elected representatives met in Mons (Belgium) on February 17th to share their expectations and priorities in order to establish a cooperation strategy for the cross-border Sambre-Avesnois, with the support of the MOT.
The Scarpe-Escaut European Nature Park, located on the French-Belgian border, has obtained the "Transboundary Park" label from the European Federation of Nature Parks, Europarc.
The MOT provides tailored support to several territories to facilitate the emergence of projects and links with national and European partners as part of the "Small Towns of Tomorrow" programme of the Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires (the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion).
Published in paper format in 2020, this major publication, to which the MOT contributed, is finally available online.
On September 30th, 2022, the closing event of the QUALICANES Interreg project took place.
The environment knows no borders, and neither does the climate!
An initial Franco-Belgian steering committee on the Val de Sambre and the cross-border territory around the conurbations of Mons, Maubeuge and Charleroi took place on Friday 1 July at the Jeumont digital station.
At the invitation of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis Agency, the MOT went to Tournai on 25 May 2022 to take part in the launch of the first “European Citizens’ Space”.
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.
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.
In order to answer the numerous questions about public services with a cross-border dimension from users of travelling and permanent "France Services" advice points run by the Nord Department, the latter commissioned the MOT to carry out an experimental study in 2021.
In January 2022, the Summit of Greater Region Executives took stock at the midpoint in France’s presidency, particularly with respect to the industrial, digital and energy transitions, flood and drought risk prevention, food and promoting short supply chains, culture, youth, sport and tourism, healthcare and security.
At a time when the closure of borders highlights the issues relating to cross-border living areas and their cohesion, the provision of public services specific to these territories was the subject of a dedicated workshop at the FNAU’s last national conference.
Between June and September 2021, the MOT was commissioned by the Lille Metropolis Development and Urban Planning Agency (ADULM) to conduct an analysis of the consequences of the border restrictions in the territory of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis. The aim was to identify the issues highlighted and revealed by the crisis and the brakes on/levers for the development of the cross-border territory.
On the initiative of the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, the three EGTCs working along the Franco-Belgian border signed a memorandum addressed to France’s presidency of the EU.
On the occasion of the 42nd national meetings of the FNAU*, the MOT jointly led a workshop with the Agence d’Urbanisme Atlantique et Pyrénées (AUDAP) on the topic of public service provision and access in cross-border contexts.
This autumn, and for the second consecutive year, the MOT organised nine “territorial meetings”, so as to keep in close contact with the members of its network, and involve them in preparing its annual programme. Held successively in Besançon, Strasbourg, Lille, Annemasse, Charleville-Mézières, Nice, Urrugne, Perpignan and Metz, both virtually and in person, the meetings brought together close to 200 participants in total.
On 19 November, the French President Emmanuel Macron came to the Avesnois and the Thiérache to sign a second-generation contract between the French state and the territory.
