Border regions as laboratories of European integration

This was one of the central messages of the EU’s Borders Forum event, held in Paris from 21 to 22 June, under the theme ‘Cross border territories: fatalism or resilience?’.

‘Give regions more flexibility, give local actors the room to implement projects without the burden of national administration,’ said Thomas Zeller, President of the Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel, an organisation that links German, French and Swiss municipalities and cities.

Other speakers echoed his call. The refugee crisis in 2015, COVID-19 and war in Ukraine have exposed the limits of existing cross-border agreements between Member States. But resignation is not an option. Prosperous, resilient and supportive cross-border areas are needed, and can be developed with experimentation and decentralised public policies.

A fragile unity

While it was ‘magical’ what has already been achieved in cross-border areas, many aspects of life can still be improved, including cross-border agreements on taxation, the recognition of educational qualifications and access to public services for those living and working in these areas, said Marc Lemaître, head of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG Regio).

In its 2021 report EU Border Regions: Living labs of European integration, the European Commission proposes focusing efforts to improve cross-border cooperation in four areas: resilience through deeper institutional cooperation; more and better cross-border public services; vibrant cross-border labour markets; and border regions for the Green Deal. Discussions at the forum revolved around these topics.

Towards better institutional cooperation

Cross-border territories need to work together and pool resources to confront challenges like climate change, an ageing population and a declining birth rate. Many formal structures and agreements are already in place between EU countries to promote such cooperation. These include the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, and the treaties of Aachen and Quirinale between France and Germany and Italy respectively, the Benelux Union, the Freedom of Movement Council among the Nordic countries.

However, the current cooperation agreements among cross-border communities have not been sufficiently integrated into a formal, institutional structure. Weak institutionalisation translates into policies that are not adequately developed on both sides of the border, said Charlotte Halpern, researcher at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

The Border Regions report found that the degree of resilience of border areas depends largely on institutional set up and on the level of preparedness. Opportunities to cooperate with neighbours to develop cross-border regions is frequently hampered by incompatible legal frameworks. However, the competence to overcome such challenges frequently lies at the national level.

To promote the development of cross-border regions, different tools should be made available, both to local, regional and national authorities. The European Commission has proposed the ECBM as one such tool.

It would allow for the derogation of national legislation in specific projects or services, to enable the application of a single set of rules in a cross-border region. This would be a major step to overcoming legal obstacles to the delivery of a cross-border service or benefit, such as emergency medical care.

Speakers highlighted several solutions and initiatives that are moving in the right direction. The 3Land spatial planning project between the cities of Huningue, France; Weil am Rhein, Germany; and Basel, Switzerland has been underway since 2011. This unique tri-national initiative provides the opportunity for the coordinated development of local economies, residential areas and transport infrastructure.

The b-solutions initiative, which the Commission started in 2018, has shown that overcoming cross-border problems requires the involvement of several levels of authority and often needs legal changes. It also shows that the majority of obstacles are rooted in national law.

Many cases of border obstacles in 27 cross-border regions have already been addressed within this initiative, mainly in employment, public transport, healthcare and institutional cooperation. These initiatives pave the way for longer-term bilateral agreements at national or regional levels.

When there is a strong will to provide help, solutions are found. When Russia cut off Ukraine’s electricity supply in February this year, European electricity operators reached an agreement and connected the country to the EU grid within three weeks, said Damian Cortinas, member of the board at ENTSO-E, the European association for the cooperation of electricity transmission system operators.

‘As industry we look for solutions to allow us to advance together, while respecting the particularities of each country,’ he said.

Working across the border

The real test of cross-border integration occurs when a significant number of people work and live in two countries, said Tue David Bak, managing director at Greater Copenhagen, and member of the Growth Commission for an Inclusive and Sustainable Malmö.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Swedes who normally work in Denmark – and pay taxes there – worked from home. When Swedish tax authorities realised this, they demanded those affected to instead pay taxes in Sweden, causing an ‘administrative nightmare’.

Bak said the organisation got officials from both governments to start negotiations to find a solution. Structures like the Growth Commission are helping at the local level to solve problems that national authorities would normally not treat as a priority, although they are a great source of frustration for citizens.

Similarly, the cross-border cooperation committee established under the Treaty of Aachen is intended to promote French-German cross-border ties. The treaty is a first step, but a common legal framework for taxing cross-border workers is needed, said Christoph Schnaudigel, Chief Administrator of the district of Karlsruhe, Germany, and president of the Eurodistrict PAMINA.

Local authorities need more competencies to solve problems themselves, as taking matters to the national authorities is time-consuming, he said. The notion of border regions as laboratories came out strongly here too.

Seeing border regions only as work areas is too restrictive. They need to be looked at holistically. The Border Focal Point Network brings together Commission experts in cross-border issues to promote cooperation in all aspects of border region life – including education, health care, culture and civil protection – to create territories where cooperation is structured more formally. This will avoid a project-by-project approach, said Nathalie Verschelde, DG Regio’s deputy head for European cross-border cooperation (Interreg).

Public services

Many public services, particularly healthcare, are faced with the problem that they serve people at the regional and local levels but are national competencies, said Pavel Branda, Deputy Mayor of Rádlo Municipality in Czechia and member of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget at the Committee of the Regions.

This was one of the reasons for the call for local authorities to be given more room to manoeuvre in implementing projects and taking decisions without going via national authorities.

A study of cross-border public services by ESPON, a European-funded territorial observatory found that cross-border ties have strengthened since the 2018 financial crisis and that national laws affect local relationships, said Nicolas Rossignol, Head of Unit for Evidence and Outreach at ESPON.

There are already many examples of successful cooperation and ‘border blindness’ said Gilbert Schuh, Vice-President of the Moselle Department for International Relations, Crossborder Cooperation, Multilingualism and the Greater Region. He added that the Saarbrücken-Forbach region has a long tradition of bilingualism and cooperation. Their successful projects include the joint development of 30 km of bus lines carrying 80 000 passengers a year.

He credited Interreg with supporting experiments in cross-border cooperation. However, the challenge is to ensure that these become long-term features or are turned into models that are transferrable to other regions.

Some border regions are already so well integrated that the shutdown of public transport during COVID-19 along the French-Germany border was seen by cross-border commuters as ‘an aggression’, said Schuh. Thanks to local initiative, a COVID testing centre was set up along the border within four days, allowing people to cross the border for work.

Youth: a pillar of cross-border ties

As the 2021 Border Regions report states, young people have an important role to play in the development of cross-border areas.

Former Interreg volunteer Bektha Djilidjel told the Borders Forum that growing up in Strasbourg she had never experienced a physical border with Germany. She considered both sides of the Rhine as a part of her life Djilidjel said during a discussion on the role of civil society and youth in developing cross-border ties.

She realised for the first time that there was in fact a border when it was closed during COVID-19. This motivated her to better understand cross-border dynamics and led her to participate in an Interreg volunteer programme.

She realised during her volunteering work that many people in institutions are not used to having young people involved in implementing projects. Putting them in institutional environments will convince officials that not only are they there to learn, but that they can also contribute something to building cross-border ties, she said.

In addition to including them in formal structures, innovative ways have to be found to get young people involved in decisions locally. Chantal Jouanno, President of the French National Commission for Public Debate, said expecting them to attend town hall debates on projects, or asking them to fill out questionnaires would not work. Other tools should be used, for example 3D glasses to show them the outcome of a project,

To ensure that the European Year of Youth continues its good work beyond 2022, spaces have to be developed for youth to communicate with one another, and with institutions, to ensure this interaction takes place regularly, Djilidjel said.

‘Youth should not be a trend, but a topic,’ she said.

Sustainability with style

The environmental transition is an accelerator for cross-border cooperation, said Anna Karina Kolb, Director of the External and Federal Affairs Department for the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The Léman Express, which transports nearly 60 000 people between France and Switzerland daily, is an example of how the shift to cleaner transport can happen when actors on both sides of the border work together. However, a legal structure to manage the express still has to be found, she pointed out.

Cooperation to achieve the EU’s environmental aims is reflected in the aims of the new European Bauhaus. The initiative is bringing together citizens and governments, designers and artists, to reimagine sustainable living as ‘sustainability with style’, as Commissioner Elisa Ferreira said in her recorded speech screened at the forum.

Border areas can serve as living labs for the Bauhaus, which aims to ensure that the objectives of the Green Deal – sustainability and respect for the environment – are embodied in homes and workplaces.

A stronger push for green energy

EU sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February have highlighted Europe’s dependency on Russian gas and given impetus to greater cooperation within the EU on green energy projects.

Efforts to develop alternatives include hydrogen, but this requires development of a market, infrastructure and links with neighbouring countries, said Tineke Bolhuis, head of business development at Hydrogen Gasunie and project lead for a hydrogen network Zeeland, the Netherlands. Each country needs to develop their market, but at the same time there has to be a focus on EU-wide pipeline development.

According to the 2021 report, the ECBM could contribute to the development of a cross-border regulatory framework for renewable energy deployment.

The Quirinal Treaty is an example of attempts to develop a new cooperation model between France and Italy that makes provision for environmental concerns. It should promote cooperation between France and Italy at a European level to help the EU meet its 2050 climate neutrality goal.

Untapped potential

Cross-border areas represent 30 % of the EU’s population and 40 % of its territory. The Borders Forum demonstrated the importance of cross-border areas in promoting sustainable and inclusive growth and has given impetus to convincing European and national authorities to pay greater attention to these territories.

Only once there is appreciation for how border regions are contributing to Europe’s prosperity and unity will the motivation to fix problems with ‘small stuff’ like licences and taxation be found, said Tue David Bak.

The Borders Forum was hosted by the French Transfrontier Operational Mission and organised in the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. It was part-financed by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions.