25 years of Interreg - Call to further develop border regions and to reduce administrative obstacles
The Luxembourg Presidency organised a conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Interreg programme held on 15 and 16 September 2015 in Esch-Belval. The event which was organised in conjunction with the European Commission and the INTERACT programme allowed thirty speakers to review the history of Interreg and to present several examples of cross-border cooperation. Interreg, also known as European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), is a financial instrument of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support cooperation between partners across borders.
François Bausch, Luxembourg's Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, hailed Interreg as a programme that has "successfully contributed to developing cooperation and partnerships". He observed that Luxembourg benefited from Interreg in the 1990s to deal with floods, thanks to a specific programme dedicated to protection against flooding and watershed management of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. The Minister also announced that the results of this conference will be forwarded to the General Affairs Council of 17 and 18 November 2015.
Corina Creţu i, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, appealed in her speech for the simplification of administration, pointing to "obstacles and burdens of an administrative nature" on cross-border activities. In this context, the Commissioner also announced that the European Commission will launch a public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions from 21 September. "Our future lies in increased cooperation", she insisted. According to the Commissioner, cross-border cooperation is based on five layers: trust, connectivity, a healthy environment, risk prevention and protection, and growth and jobs.
Following these opening speeches, the conference reviewed Interreg's history and presented several examples of cross-border cooperation. Several speakers stressed the importance of the exchange of statistical data, regretting the lack of data and harmonisation of data collection, particularly in the environmental field. Another speaker regretted the "modest funding" for such a large territory. By way of reminder, the Interreg budget for 2014-2020 amounts to EUR 10 billion and covers hundreds of projects, according to the European Commission.
Health, jobs, infrastructure and the environment: examples of projects financed by Interreg
The Luxembourg Presidency organised a conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Interreg programmes on 15 and 16 September 2015
Jean-Christophe Victor, creator and presenter of the geo-politics programme "Le dessous des cartes" on Arte, showed a special programme devoted to Interreg's history. In particular, he mentioned the example of the Cerdagne hospital which provides its services on shared territory between France and Spain, in a high mountain area with a population of 32,000 residents and a large flow of tourists. Opened in 2014, this hospital is managed jointly by the public health systems of two neighbouring countries. 60% of the construction costs of the facility, which amounted to EUR 31 million, were financed by Interreg.
Another example is the Swedish town Haparanda and its Finnish neighbour Tornio which, because of their common history, decided to cooperate in the fields of infrastructure, emergency services, sports and education and to create a common tourist office. The bridge that connects the French city of Strasbourg to the German town of Kehl was also financed by Interreg.
The next session illustrated the role played by Interreg in respect of the labour market and demographic and environmental changes. One speaker referred to the difficulties that cross-border workers face, in particular language barriers, but also inadequate cross-border public transport, the recognition of qualifications and pension entitlement.
Several cross-border cooperation projects were then presented:
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-The "Brain Flow" project involving 25 regions in 15 Member States aimed at dealing with the "brain drain";
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-The NATREG project promotes cooperation between protected areas to conserve biodiversity, particularly in Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia;
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-The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), composed of 19 countries with a population of 80 million inhabitants;
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-The Poctepprogramme, cooperation between Spain and Portugal, in particular with regard to waste management, water treatment and accident and emergency services;
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-The Interreg "MED" programme for the cooperation of 13 countries bordering the Mediterranean.
On 15 September, the Luxembourg Presidency also organised a press conference held in Redange. The Secretary of State for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Camille Gira explained that the Redange site had been chosen to show examples of cooperation projects directly in the area of cooperation because, above all, it is the small municipalities that rely on cooperation and functional networking. The Secretary of State also mentioned the 170,000 cross-border workers who leave their country of origin everyday to go to Luxembourg where they represent more than 40% of the workforce. This phenomenon is the major challenge in cross-border cooperation for Luxembourg and the Greater Region.
Examples of cooperation in the world
During the second day of the conference, examples of cooperation in Africa and Latin America were presented:
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-The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), created in 1994 to strengthen the competitiveness of economic and financial activities of Member States through an open and competitive market;
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-The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) which includes the island of Réunion (a French overseas territory). This intergovernmental organisation was created in 1982 to strengthen cooperation with the Eastern and Southern Africa regions, the African continent and the South;
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-cross-border cooperation projects in Latin America and South America run by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR);
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-the "RED" project, launched in 2010 in Chile and co-financed by the EU, which aims to support the country towards decentralisation reform.
The Interreg programme, a key instrument of European integration
The second session was devoted to Interreg's future. A point raised was the need to reduce the administrative burden and make the programmes more attractive by reducing complexity and bureaucracy. Other topics discussed included the role of neighbourhood policy, the creation of multinational administrations, the lack of strategic focus of the programmes and even the migration crisis.
To conclude the conference, Walter Deffaa, Director General at DG Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission, stressed the need for Interreg programmes to be more targeted and strategic. He also stressed the importance of a "new vision" to develop border regions, reduce administrative and legislative obstacles and to simplify programmes. In this context, Walter Deffaa announced that the European Commission will launch a review ("Cross-border review") to assess obstacles in border regions and how they were overcome. "Interreg is the most European part of cohesion policy, because its purpose is to show how to cooperate across borders. This is the key instrument of European integration which should be known to the general public", he said, regretting that only 31% of European citizens living in a border region know about Interreg.
The Secretary of State for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Camille Gira stressed the importance of territorial cooperation for the construction of a common European space and highlighted the European laboratory nature of Interreg. He listed the added value that he believes Interreg brings to socio-economic, socio-cultural, institutional and sustainable development.
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