BROCHURE_DEV_ECO

Cross-border

economic

development

Territory portraits: economic development on different borders

Greater Region

(Belgium - Luxembourg - France - Germany)

Comparison of framework

conditions

The Greater Region – an area made up of Luxembourg, Lorraine,

Wallonia, the German-Speaking Community of Belgium, Saarland and

Rhineland-Palatinate – displays very variable framework conditions due

to the fact that four countries participate in it. It is in the Belgian part

that labour costs are the highest (€38 an hour in Belgium, compared

with €35.7 in Luxembourg, €34.3 in France and €31.2 in Germany in

2013

), with the differential with the other regions of the cooperation area

being more marked in the production sector than in the services sector.

Source: Eurostat, 2013.

In general terms, Luxembourg is more attractive than the other regions

from the point of view of business taxes (lower employers’ contributions,

absence of an equivalent to the territorial economic contribution, overall

lower compulsory contributions) and labour market regulation, which is

much more flexible. Moreover, public investment, notably with respect

to equipment and infrastructure, is more sustained in the Grand Duchy,

which enhances its competitiveness from the point of view of investors.

Luxembourg’s attractiveness means that property prices are extremely

high on its territory as well as in the bordering areas. The conurbations

of Thionville, Arlon and Trier, as well as the Moselle corridor along the

A31 motorway, have seen a sustained rise in house prices over the

past few years.

Source: Lemaire Report,

Le transfrontalier, une opportunité pour les agglomérations et les

territoires: assumer la concurrence et développer la cohésion

, 2008.

Portrait of a territory

FRANCE

Meuse

Meurthe-et-

Moselle

WALLONIA

LORRAINE

BELGIUM

GERMANY

PED of Longwy

RHINELAND-

PALATINATE

Luxembourg

SARRE

INTERREG

Greater Region

Vosges

Brussels

Metz

Nancy

Saarbrücken

Trier

LUXEM-

BOURG

Namur

50 km

Alzette-Belval

Eurodistrict SaarMoselle

North Sea

EGTC

German-speaking

Community of Belgium

Secretariat to

the summit of the

Greater Region