Income from household wealth (capital gains on property, real estate income, etc.) received in France is subject to social security deductions. However, the European Court of Justice confirmed in 2015 that people who are affiliated to the social security system of another country should not be taxed to fund the French social security system.
At its plenary session in February, the Committee of the Regions adopted an opinion entitled "Missing transport links in border regions".
On 1 March 2017 in Brussels, Anne Sander, MEP and vice-president of the MOT, hosted the 5th meeting of the EP Working Group on Cross-Border Cooperation. After the digital age, healthcare, Schengen and employment, the topic this time was the institutional initiatives underway at European level to remove obstacles to cross-border cooperation.
The White Paper published by the European Commission on 1 March 2017 sets out five scenarios, each giving an idea of how the EU might look in 2025 depending on the choices that Europe will make.
The annual meeting of the network on 15 March in Belval gave the MOT's new members the opportunity to speak, and these new members were presented to all of the participants.
The Pamina Eurodistrict is launching a digital version of a board game called "Le Passe-partout" ("The Master Key") to help schoolchildren learn about the rich cultural heritage of the Franco-German territory and encourage bilingualism.
On 28 February, the MOT made a presentation at the Ministry of Territorial Development, to students from the European section of the Lycée Marcel Pagnol in Athis-Mons, as part of a day devoted to finding out about Franco-German cooperation organised by the Franco-German Office for Youth.
In February, the Strasbourg-Ortenau put in place an online geographic information system (GIS) that provides citizens with information about daily life in the cross-border territory (schools, markets, charging points for electric cars, etc.).
The MOT’s new presentation brochure presents the major challenges of cross-border cooperation at three levels: local, national, and European, and then details the actions of the MOT at each level.
Jointly organised by the Committee of the Regions and the MOT, this conference brought together more than 60 participants, on 3 February in Brussels. Its objective was to present best practice in the area of risk prevention and crisis management in cross-border zones: forest fires (ES-PT), flooding in the Nisa Euroregion (DE-CZ-PL), seismic risks in the Alps (FR-IT-CH), risks in mountainous regions (FR-ES) and more generally, civil protection (EGTC Euregio Senza Confini IT-AT).
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the MOT will be holding a large European conference, in partnership with the Committee of the Regions, in Brussels from 30 November to 1 December. The goal will be to take stock of the last 20 years of cooperation, to show the ground covered and the progress made in the service of cross-border territories, but also to debate persisting obstacles and the solutions to implement, particularly in the context of an ambitious European policy post-2020.
In September 2016, with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the World Future Council, the MOT took part in a study tour from Copenhagen to Brussels, via Germany and the Netherlands.
France and Germany have announced for the end of March the setting up of a test zone between the two countries for experimenting on the road with connected and autonomous vehicles.
The vice-president of the MOT; Joël Giraud, member of parliament for Hautes-Alpes, is demanding special arrangements in border areas for authorisations for minors leaving the country.
“A shared region and shared risks must not be faced with obstacles to the carrying out of missions by emergency services in emergency situations.”
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.
