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Cross-border
economic
development
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Cross-cutting themes in cross-border economic development
Cross-border territories are therefore learning areas for
businesses, like “local international markets” that are
springboards for international trade.
Encouraging cross-border
business takeovers
Cross-border economic development may also occur through business
transfers. Along several of France’s borders (particularly the borders with
Germany and Switzerland), SMEs on both sides are wound up when
their owners retire due to the lack of new entrepreneurs to take over
the firm.
However, a potential successor may often be available on
the other side of the border.
Besides the importance of having cross-border data on available
businesses, a crucial issue is the availability of technical and legal
support to assist successors with the legal and financial procedures
that are required in a different legal system.
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There is significant potential along the French-German border
,
where the demographic situation in the bordering German Länder
leads to business owners often retiring without successors and,
therefore, to the risk of mass closure of healthy businesses and
large-scale loss of jobs. This underscores the importance of
cross-border business takeovers.
Supporting business owners to manage their succession and search
for replacements in the neighbouring country, and also identifying
future entrepreneurs to take over and advising them on negotiating
the transfer of the business are important challenges.
Business transfers require careful planning and in general, candidates,
whether they are the owners or future buyers, are ill-prepared. In addition,
there is an informal aspect of trust inherent to the sharing of competitive
information. An alternative to traditional business transfer marketplaces,
which does a better job of preserving confidentiality, must be found.
Several initiatives such as platforms, forums, seminars, B2B
meetings, etc. have been launched along France’s borders
aimed
at identifying legal and administrative obstacles to these procedures
and bringing together the relevant players and existing services for
supporting business transfers on both sides of the border.
Container terminal South, Port du Rhin, Strasbourg-Ortenau
© Jean Isenmann, ADEUS