Many of the border obstacles that keep hindering the cooperation along the internal borders of the European Union result from the existence of different legal systems and administrative procedures at a national level that, when meeting, create uncertainties and complexities.

Under the 2nd call for proposal of the initiative b-solutions, twelve are the obstacles selected within the thematic area “institutional cooperation”.

They involve institutions operating in different sectors, from tourism to the waste management, from inter-universities cooperation to the personnel provision within the EGTCs.

Take a look at the list below and discover more about the successful cases:

 

Making EGTCs more powerful: legal certainty for provision of personnel to the EGTC
Eucor-The European Campus (DE-FR-CH)

The aim of the EGTC is the coordination of the scientific and the administrative collaboration between the member universities. In order to activate as much as possible the inhouse competencies of the member universities for the collaborative projects, the personnel is delegated directly from the academic institutions (provision of personnel). However, the legal classification of the VAT payment in this matter needs to be clarified.

 

Cross border tourism package

QuattroPole e.V. (LU-FR-DE)

The European Union Directive 2015/2302 has recently been translated into the respective national legislation and these new regulations have especially tightened the information requirements and increased the liability risks for travel agencies and tour operators that are now impossibilitated to keep selling the cross-border tourism package created by QuattroPole.

 

Elaboration of a cooperation protocol aimed at simplifying LT-PL cross-border institutional cooperation in emergency management

Vilkaviskis District Municipality Administration (PL-LT)

When an accident occurs on the Lithuanian side of the border, it would take only 15 minutes for the fire-rescue team based in the close Polish town of Wizajny to reach the area. Nevertheless, the absence of legal basis and administrative procedures on this field prevents the team to do it and, therefore, limit the empowerment of a joint border emergencies management plan.

 

Simplifying cross-border mobility that hinder free movement of minor people crossing borders to carry out cultural, sports or educational exchanges

EGTC Galicia-Norte de Portugal (SP-PT)

In the territories / towns close to the border of the Euroregion Galicia North Portugal one of the biggest obstacles for a smooth cross border relationship is related to the regulation for carrying out school exchanges of minors (travelling without their parents / guardians) between the two states. Nowadays, the bureaucratic requirements for a child going from Cerveira to Tomiño, two towns separated by less than 200 meters, are the same as for a trip to Paris and  it requires the hand in of specific authorisations to the authorities of both Spain and Portugal, whose cost may exceed the 600 Euros.

 

Administrative common barriers in European cross–border area that block the real implementation of environmental management system

Axencia Galega da Calidade Alimentaria – AGACAL (SP-PT/SP-FR)

While implementing the project WETWINE, AGACAL found some remarkable obstacles, namely some limitations posed by a group of legal and political regulations that are not unified between territories and that block a correct transfer and applicability of the real results to the wine sector, which has a significant economic impact  throughout the territory of the South-West Europe

 

Cross-border share of municipal management services

Arrabona European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Ltd (HU-SK)

The Grouping is implementing a project (called ’Builcogreen’) that aims to enhance institutionalised cooperation between the urban service provider companies and institutions (such as municipalities, NGOs, etc.) of the border region. Theoretically, the machines used for different purposes (e.g. to cut down larger trees, to shift snow, baling, etc.) can be rented from each other by using an online database. However, it is not clear if the trucks and other larger vehicles and special tools having the necessary technical approvals in Hungary can use public roads in Slovakia and vice versa.

 

Improvement of cross-border communication and care for cross-border children and young people

Gemeente Winterswijk (DE-NL)

Different systems of child and adolescent care and contrasting administrative procedures prevent an effective management of difficult cases involving vulnerable youngsters and families. This becomes a major problem when children live on one side of the border and go to school on the other side. Incidents and problems are not reported or recorded and are not addressed in a coordinated way since there is no clear division of tasks and responsabilities.

 

Cross-border transport of CO2 as a resource for Industrial processes

Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen (NL-BE)

North Sea Port and companies located in the area have some severe problems concerning obstacles hindering improvement of sustainability policy/circular economy. In particular, there are confusing laws and requirements concerning the construction of cross-border pipelines, the usage of the existing ones, the nature itself of CO2 as a waste product and a lack of information on national designated environmental areas and strategic spatial planning.

 

Feasibility study for the consolidation of the circular economy concerning the WEEE in the cross-border area of Spain and Portugal

Diputación de Pontevedra (SP-PT)

The absence of unified environmental management criteria concerning the waste of electrical and electronic equipment  (WEEE) on both sides of the border prevents the Diputacion de Pontevedra to efficiently implement its project “Sustainable cross-border strategy for WEEE” aiming at the creation of a secondary raw materials market. The creation of a harmonized market and a full adoption of a circular economy system in the area would lead to an increase of job opportunities and would encurage innovation on both sides of the border.

 

Bulgarian-Romanian Institutional Cooperation Constraint (BRICC)

University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev” (BG-RO)

Since 2002, in line with the adoption of standards of Bologna process in Bulgaria and Romania, BRIE has been providing joint 2-year master programmes for international students, who have been admitted on the grounds of jointly agreed prerequisites. However, changes in national legislations of the two States concerning the higher education systems, have posed several obstacles in terms of recognition of the prior learning experiences of the applicants, limiting their recruitment and an incisive joint implementation of the academic activites.

 

Obstacles and solutions for the joint establishment and use of facilities for shared cross-border public services: French-German crèches case study

EGTC Eurodistrict SaarMoselle (FR-DE)

 Several problems occurred while trying to develop public crèches at a cross-border between France and Germany. Differences in national legislations that prevent the creation of these kind of structures were found in the following  matters: cofinancing,  tax implications (property tax, VAT…), staff qualification and safety rules. The abscence of harmonised management systems, therefore, results in the impossibility of implementing quickly and effectively public services.

 

Joint to Protect Children - Cross-border cooperation on the speed of information between public services in the protection of children in distress.

Município de Elvas (PT-SP)

The recurring movement of families across the border leads to a difficult management of the social services in support to to vulnerable children, since there is not a joint Spanish-Portuguese system. When this happens, the national social and youth protection services of the families are in complete lack of information, which, in many cases, worsens the child/youth endangerment situation. Furthermore, there are many cases of duplication of social allowances intended to support families with economical dependency. This translates into an over expenditure of government resources between the two countries.