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Cross-border
economic
development
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Cross-cutting themes in cross-border economic development
In order to better grasp all of the regulatory and operational aspects
of cross-border economic activity, it is in businesses’ interest to
have staff trained in these specific and evolving issues.
Rather than transferring staff from one country to the other, which masks
local specificities, SMEs prefer to mix up nationalities within teams in
order to strengthen the intercultural nature of their staff and thus maintain
up-to-date knowledge of framework conditions. The new generations
of workers are generally receptive to this cross-border openness.
However, regarding fields of detailed expertise such as social and tax
law, the level of training of the workforce appears to be increasingly
crucial for monitoring in these areas to be carried out effectively. The
cross-border employment market and the relevant public employment
services are therefore advised of these types of requirements and of
the high level of technicality expected by recruiters, which requires that
greater consideration be given to the specific needs of businesses at
the level of cross-border employment areas.
Assistance to businesses, especially SMEs, features in the ongoing
reforms in France.
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The law of 31 December 2012, which set up the Banque Publique
d’Investissement, provides for the appointment of specialists in
cross-border economic development to regional policy committees
in the regions concerned (border regions).
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The NOTRe law also provides for the economic development
strategy document of each region concerned to include a cross-
border component.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development is
working to promote France’s attractiveness in order to make it
a priority for the country’s embassies and diplomatic network,
through special representatives, “regional ambassadors” and its
new agency, Business France.
In a nutshell...
Cross-border territories along France’s borders have highly
diverse economic structures. Cross-border economic
development is therefore assessed from
different
perspectives
.
The knowledge and innovation economy
is one of these
perspectives, and has become one of the priority objectives of
EU cohesion policy. It is possible to collaborate across borders
on innovation and technology transfer through groupings of
businesses and the linking up of research laboratories and
universities on both sides of the border (competitiveness
clusters).
Cross-border exports
are also one of the possible areas of
work with micro-enterprises and SMEs: this helps to develop
expertise to export beyond the cross-border territory and thus
promote the growth of these businesses.
Cross-border business transfers
ensure that firms
(microenterprises, SMEs) continue to operate following the
retirement of the business owner.
Cross-border provision of services
, facilitated by the
“Services” directive, must be taken into account in cross-border
economic development, with many craft enterprises working
across borders (e.g. the construction sector).
Tourism
is an example where competition and cooperation
are inseparable, with both numerous synergies and projects
(especially in rural and mountain areas) and persisting
competition in the promotion and marketing of products.
Retail activities
also have their own cross-border rationale,
using the advantages in the territories (lower prices, more
abundant supply, etc.) to extend catchment areas to the other
side of the border.
Lastly,
business support
reveals a lack of permeability between
the public and private spheres. Businesses mainly expect
technical, rather than financial, assistance from the public
sector, i.e. assistance in understanding (simplified) framework
conditions, and especially in identifying support resources and
providers, as well as their territorial coverage, which must be
cross-border in nature.