Following the sixth Franco-Luxembourg Intergovernmental Commission (ICG) that took place on 19 October in Belval in the presence of the Minister of State Clément Beaune, agreements between the two countries were reached notably with respect to transport and teleworking.
Following its adoption at its first reading in the Senate on 21 July 2021, the 3DS bill (standing for “differentiation, decentralisation, deconcentration and various measures to simplify local public action”) will be examined under a fast-track procedure in the Assemblée Nationale, in France, from the beginning of December. Taking on a number of the proposals put forward by the MOT, the senators adopted a series of amendments relating to cross-border issues.
In anticipation of the reading of the 4D bill in Parliament, the MOT, on behalf of its network, has sent to the co-rapporteurs of the Senate’s Law Commission on this legislation proposed amendments aimed at strengthening its cross-border component.
The “4D” bill was presented during the Council of Ministers’ session on 12 May. It will be subject to an accelerated parliamentary procedure, and its reading in the Senate is scheduled for July.
In December 2020, under the German presidency of the EU Council, a pilot action of the Territorial Agenda was approved, entitled “A vision for a zero-carbon cross-border functional region”. Its aim is to promote and transpose in other European regions the project “Luxembourg in transition”.
Led by the Lorraine Corridor Metropolitan Pole and the Grand Est Region, on 16 March 2021 the “Grenelle des Mobilités” (“Forum on Mobility”) published a white paper setting out “nine commitments over the next ten years designed to connect Lorraine to its neighbours”.
The Greater Region’s Geographical Information System and ATMO Grand Est have joined forces in order to develop an interactive map that makes it possible to check air quality across the whole of the cross-border territory of the Greater Region.
In October 2020, the MOT was tasked by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion and the Banque des Territoires as an “action partner” in the national programme “Small Towns of Tomorrow”.
Since 31 January 2021, anyone entering France, including from other European countries, must be in possession of a negative Covid test obtained within the previous 72 hours. However, this obligation does not apply to the inhabitants of cross-border living areas (for journeys lasting less than 24 hours) or to cross-border workers.
On 9 October 2020, the final conference relating to the study “Analysis of the contributions made by the 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation programmes in the Grand Est Region”, led by the Region within the framework of the European programme Europ'Act and coordinated by the MOT and the Euro-Institut, brought together in the form of a webinar around one hundred participants.
A declaration of intention on the future of institutional cooperation in the fields of higher education and research in the Greater Region was signed on 25 November 2020 in Saarbrücken, at a ministerial conference held under Saarland’s presidency. At the conference, the ministers and representatives from the five partner regions took stock and discussed the consequences of the health crisis for cross-border cooperation between higher education and research institutions.
At its plenary assembly in October, the Grand Est CESER adopted an opinion on cross-border civil society. The MOT had been formally heard as part of the preparation of this publication.
In the context of the health crisis, all of the neighbouring countries have sought to encourage homeworking. Good news for cross-border workers: the legal uncertainty regarding the social security system governing cross-border workers has been removed until 31 December 2020.
Edited by Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth (University of Luxembourg) and Rachid Belkacem (University of Lorraine), the latest thematic issue published by the UniGR-Center for Border Studies provides an analysis of cross-border employment and related issues. Comprising seven chapters contributed by ten authors, it has a preface by Jean Peyrony, the MOT’s Director-General.
The MOT has published an analysis of the consequences for cross-border territories of the health crisis – the result of a call for experiences issued to all of its members. Organised in three main parts, it aims to set out the impacts, difficulties and initiatives linked to the management of the Covid-19 health crisis in cross-border territories.
The MOT has published on its website and on social media a series of maps showing the situation with respect to the easing of lockdown measures along France’s borders.
While the coronavirus crisis is challenging and will challenge all European health systems, the equation should be even more complex to solve on the Franco-Luxembourg border.
On 21 November 2019 the UniGR – Center for Border Studies held in Esch-sur-Alzette, in Luxembourg, its fourth Greater Region Forum, on the topic "Revitalisation of inner cities in the Greater Region". In the light of the pressure on the retail sector in the Greater Region, as well as in other cross-border regions, the discussions focused on the organisation of retailers in the face of this competition, on consumer behaviour and on possible avenues for co-development.
At the invitation of the MOT, the CNFPT (National Centre for Territorial Public Administration) and the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis, 40 people gathered on 13 November in Lille to talk about cross-border transportation. The three sessions focused on: the need for the observation of flows and the reasons for travelling (work, shopping, leisure, healthcare); the challenges encountered in drawing up cross-border mobility strategies; and the breaking-down of the strategies into territorial projects.
On 29 October, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution entitled “Fair distribution of taxes in transfrontier areas”. In the report presented by Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the Congress calls for greater cooperation between the countries concerned on this issue.
Editorial by Tristan Atmania, Deputy Director of the Territorial Attractiveness and Competitiveness Department – Saint-Avold Conurbation: "In this crucial year for Europe, our territory of the Moselle, at the crossroads of the founding countries of the European Union, and also of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region, is at a turning point in its history. In this respect, the cross-border cooperation that is already being forged in all areas of daily life represents a major asset to be developed in the context of the competition that we face with the other regions of the world. [...]"
On 13 June 2019, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Vice-President of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, presented a report entitled "Fair distribution of taxes in trans-frontier areas". It will be submitted for adoption at the 37th Congress session in October.
In the context of the preparation of its 2021-2027 programmes, DG REGIO has drawn up 38 Border Orientation Papers (BOPs) for all of the EU’s land borders. Six of these BOPs relate to France’s borders.
