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Cross-border
economic
development
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Territory portraits: economic development on different borders
Players in cross-border economic
governance
The economic dimension is one of the components of institutional
cross-border cooperation:
- at the level of the Greater Region as a whole (via the Summit of the
Executives, the Interregional Parliamentary Council and the Economic
and Social Council of the Greater Region),
- and at more local level (e.g. the SaarMoselle Eurodistrict).
The territory’s consular chambers have also forged links in order to give
better support to businesses.
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The chambers of crafts and trade have notably set up a cross-
border body, the
Interregional Council of Chambers of Crafts
and Trade
, in order to present common positions vis-à-vis other
players, to work to resolve the problems faced by businesses
(exporting, providing services on the other side of the border,
recruitment, etc.) and to share good practices.
Many interregional initiatives are carried out by partnerships launched by
the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and Luxinnovation, the National
Agency for Innovation and Research, and involving the equivalent bodies
in the neighbouring countries in the area of support for businesses
and innovation.
In a general way, it is sometimes difficult to coordinate all of the partners
owing to their number and the large territory covered by the Greater
Region (projects, including those financed by the Greater Region
INTERREG programme, are mainly bi- or trinational) and also to the
institutional asymmetries (a State vs. a French region, a Belgian federal
entity and two German Länder).
The French Government also plays a role in governance via DIRECCTE
Lorraine,
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which notably monitors cross-border economic exchanges and
employment, as well as having a supervisory role regarding procedures
(competition, fraud and worker secondments).
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Direction régionale des entreprises, de la concurrence, de la consommation, du travail et de
l’emploi - Lorraine: the Lorraine Region’s Directorate for Businesses, Competition, Consumers
and Employment.