Inspraakronde regels voor grensoverschrijdende samenwerking georganiseerd (en)
The Committee of the Regions today launched a Europe-wide consultation of regions and cities on EU rules for cross-border cooperation. Organised jointly with the European Commission, the EU Council presidency "trio" and the Interact Programme, the consultation formally kicked off with a conference in Cáceres, Spain. Its results will feed into the review of the relevant EU legislation, which is scheduled for 2011.
Following an initiative of the Committee of the Regions, since 2006 the European Union has made available to local and regional authorities a purpose-built tool for cross-border cooperation: The so-called 'European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation', or EGTC. Regions and cities wishing to develop joint projects can set up such EGTCs without major administrative barriers or approval procedures by national capitals. On the basis of a solid organisation with legal personality, they can apply for any kind of EU or national funding and combine it with private funding in public-private-partnerships. The forthcoming review of the EGCT regulation presents a window of opportunity to improve the concept even further in view of local experiences.
The consultation questionnaire is targeted at EU member states, EGTCs already set up or under preparation, local and regional authorities and other stakeholders. It focuses mainly on the lessons learned so far and the legal questions that the review should address. The questionnaire also aims at identifying the concrete added value and the future potential of the EGTCs.
The results will be presented in Brussels during the OPEN DAYS in October, and will feed into the Committee of the Regions' own-initiative opinion on the review of the EGTC regulation. Prepared by Alberto Núñez Feijóo (ES/EPP), President of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, this opinion is scheduled for adoption by the Committee of the Regions plenary in early 2011.
The consultation questionnaire and further information is available in all official EU languages at www.cor.europa.eu/egtc. Contributions can be sent to egtc@cor.europa.eu by 20 July.
Background:
Developing cross-border projects at the regional and local levels used to be a difficult and lengthy process, as they often involved the negotiation of bilateral state treaties by national governments.
In 2002, the Committee of the Regions had therefore urged the other EU institutions to create a stable legal framework for cross-border cooperation in Europe. Following intense CoR campaigning, the EU regulation establishing the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) was finally adopted in July 2006.
Europe's regional and local authorities have set up 13 EGTCs so far, with many more in the pipeline. For instance, the new cooperation model paved the way for Europe's first jointly managed hospital on the Franco-Spanish border in the Pyrenees. A list of existing and planned EGTCs is available at the CoR website.
Related links:
Visit the CoR's website: www.cor.europa.eu
The Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives. The mission of its 344 members from all 27 EU Member States is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.