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Cross-border
economic
development
Project factsheets
Bihartean and Euro 3
What do Bihartean and
EURO 3 consist of?
EURO 3 and Bihartean are two EEIGs (European
Economic Interest Groupings) created with the aim
of promoting cross-border economic activities and the
overall development of the cross-border territories.
The EURO 3 EEIG
was created in 1991 by chambers of commerce
in the French-Belgian cross-border region (Armentières-Hazebrouck,
Kortrijk (Courtrai), Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing, Mouscron, Ieper (Ypres)
and Tournai) with the name EURO 6. As a result of the various mergers
which took place between these chambers, the EEIG took the name
of EURO 3 in 2007 and now includes the chambers of commerce of
Greater Lille, West Flanders (VOKA), Wallonie Picarde, and the French-
Belgian Chamber of Commerce of Northern France.
EURO 3 has the objective of providing a forum for the exchange
of ideas, adopting common positions and the development of
concrete proposals for cross-border economic issues concerning
the development of businesses, and stands alongside the Lille-
Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis EGTC to provide services to SMEs.
A similar, but more recent structure,
Bihartean
has brought together
the Bayonne-Pays Basque CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
and the Cámara de Comercio de Gipuzkoa since 2010. Bihartean
formalises the long-standing cooperation between the Basque chambers
of commerce, which had to draw up agreements in order to carry out
joint activities (trade fairs, economic promotion, etc.).
This EEIG aims
at supporting businesses in their cross-border projects, developing
joint economic activities and creating joint training provision.
French-Belgian cross-border meeting, Euro 3 project