The environment, resources and waste

• Introduction
• Value added of cross-border actions in the area of the environment
• Possible types of action
• Example of concrete projects
• Recommendations
• Legal framework and reference documents

Value added of cross-border actions in the area of the environment

Beyond measures taken at national and local level, cross-border actions in this area have real added value since the environment does not recognise national borders. Cross-border territories are, or should become, spaces where there is shared responsibility for and management of ecosystems and a pooling of resources.
For the 2014-2020 period, the programmes financed by European funds, and notably those relating to territorial cooperation, may support actions in this area by virtue of thematic objective 6 “Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency”.

While the environment along some borders  can make communication more difficult (in the case of mountainous border regions) or be the subject of cross-border conflicts (regarding watercourses, for example), it can, in the context of cross-border cooperation, foster a common awareness and make it possible to overcome differences on either side of the border and become a vector for the convergence of policies, for peace and stability. In this way, responsibility for territories, particularly cross-border territories, goes beyond specific sectors and takes on a cross-sectoral dimension – that of sustainable territorial development.

In addition to sectoral cooperation projects, the preservation and development of the environment requires an overall approach at the level of the territories as a whole (managing mobility through coordinated town planning and transport policies; reconciling economic development and the preservation of natural resources: sustainable tourism, etc.).

Synergies will need to be set up between actions to support the environment and those developed in the fields of adapting to climate change and risk management, innovation, energy, economic development and transport, which are also objectives for 2014-2020.

However, even if cross-border environmental cooperation is a “win-win” game, the cross-border dimension is, at least at the beginning, a source of complexity and additional cost:
-    lack or difference in statistical data, absence of cross-border studies;
-    unfamiliarity with the players, legislation and modes of management on the other of the border;
-    disparity in areas of competence;
-    absence of benchmarks, consultation mechanisms and collective management tools;
-    lack of participation by the local population;
-    very variable levels of interest from elected representatives.

Moreover, local environmental players (local authorities, associations, etc.) are often limited in terms of their legal, human and financial capacity. It is therefore important that higher-level players can help them with financing and with technical and legal expertise:
- Regions (and decentralised government departments), who have a role to play both in the structuring of cross-border cooperation and in involvement alongside the local players in some projects.
- Territorial cooperation programmes (Interreg) which finance projects in the area of the environment.
- Governments and European institutions regarding the regulatory and legislative aspects.

Cross-border cooperation in the area of the environment and resource management requires the full participation of the local population, who need to be educated, informed, trained even, and involved in the management of the common territory, and of its costs and benefits, both directly and via the joint action of their elected representatives.

Here too, there is a specific cross-border aspect as it means putting in place similar national mechanisms on either side of the border, initiating and developing cross-border dialogue between elected representatives, citizens and civil society, and fostering cross-border environmental citizenship, a component of cross-border and European citizenship.