Public Services
- Introduction
- The contribution of public services to the cohesion of cross-border territories
- Pooling the provision of cross-border public services
- Elements involved in the implementation of cross-border cooperation in the area of public services
- A great variety of projects
- Improving the coverage of the services provided to local populations in cross-border territories
The contribution of public services to the cohesion of cross-border territories
It is essential for all citizens and businesses to have access to high-quality and affordable services of general interest in order to combat social exclusion and foster the social and territorial cohesion of cross-border territories.
Cooperation in the areas of health care, child care, care for the elderly, assistance to disabled people and the organisation of cross-border hospital treatment contributes to the promotion of the social cohesion of the territory (see the topics “health” and “social inclusion”).
Cooperation in the education, training and employment services sectors (see the topics “employment” and “education, training, languages”) plays a key role with respect to growth and employment. The organisation of cross-border networks in the area of transport (see the topic “transport”) is also crucial in order to increase workers’ mobility while at the same time promoting environmental policy by reducing road congestion.
While the issue of services of general interest is not directly addressed in the Europe 2020 Strategy, they contribute to the achievement of the objectives set with respect to intelligent, inclusive and sustainable growth. It is therefore a cross-cutting topic that relates to all of the 11 priorities set forth by the regulations for European funds for the 2014-2020 period; Priority 11 “enhancing institutional capacity and an effective public administration” represents a direct link with the role of SGI.
