Local and regional representatives today adopted a resolution on the Future of cross-border cooperation in Europe. EPP-CoR members who addressed the plenary sessions taking place in hybrid format in Brussels called for specific cross-border cooperation programmes going beyond Interreg and the need to bounce back forward following the setback in cross-border cooperation due to the pandemic.
Sonja Ledl-Rossman, President of the State Parliament of Tyrol said that the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown the importance of cross-border cooperation - especially at a regional level. She said that in the Alps, for decades, cooperation networks have been set up and this helped to face challenges on mobility, energy, health and action in case of disasters. She also outlined that similar to islands and peripheral areas, mountain areas are also faced with specific challenges. In this regard, Ledl-Rossman said "A dedicated cross-border cooperation program going beyond Interreg should also be created for the Alpine cross-border cooperation networks to strengthen cooperation."
Marjon De Hoon- Veelenturf, Mayor of the municipality of Baarle-Nassau outlined that the pandemic led, among other things, to the largest decline in cross-border cooperation in recent decades. She emphasised the need to reverse this trend "Now is the time to put cross-border cooperation back at the top of the EU's policy agenda! It is up to all of us to work on this together, now. We have to learn from the lessons of the pandemic not to repeat past mistakes."
Whilst welcoming the resolution, De Hoon said that now is the time to look forward. She stated that the resolution identifies a number of essential ambitions needed including: striving for more integrated cross-border regions with focus, amongst others, on cross-border governance, healthcare and crisis management, labour market and education. "We have to achieve better coordination between member states and border regions! By removing obstacles in legislation and regulations, as well as through financing, border regions must be offered more opportunities to solve bottlenecks and seize opportunities!" she concluded.
The resolution calls on the European Commission to present a proposal for maintaining land and maritime cross-border cooperation and cross-border life in the event of an EU-wide or regionalised crisis. It highlights that the European Union and its Member States should always timely consult local and regional authorities before considering border closures, or any type of action that might impact on citizens' lives
Furthermore, the resolution calls on Member States to create Joint Cross-Border Emergency Plans per border, or even per parts of the border, to ensure better preparedness and response in case of emergency. Cities and regions also called on EUROSTAT, as well as the relevant national Statistical Offices, to systematically gather statistical data on life in cross-border areas to feed into policies and measures concerning cross-border cooperation.