The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau Results and prospects Frank Scherer, Governor of the Ortenau County and Vice-President of the Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau
A strong territory in the middle of Europe 107 municipalities (FR:56 GR:51) with 915.000 inhabitants An area of about 2.368 km² About 376.000 employed persons About 60.000 students Several european institutions: • European Parliament • Council of Europe • European Court of Human Rights An excellent transport infrastructure: railways (TGV- ICE), motorways, airports and ports 2
The Eurodistrict in the Upper Rhine Valley Interconnected with the 3 other Eurodistricts : • PAMINA in the north • Region Freiburg / Central and Southern Alsace in the middle • Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB) in the south Participates in the EU programme INTERREG Upper Rhine for crossborder cooperation: • 109,7 millions € for the Upper Rhine for the period 2014-2020 3
A network of partners Institutional members • The Eurométropole Strasbourg • The 3 groupings of municipalities Benfeld, Erstein, Rhine • The French state • The Ortenau county with its 5 major towns: Offenburg, Lahr, Kehl, Achern and Oberkirch Partners of the cross-border cooperation • Upper Rhine Conference • Upper Rhine Council • Trinational Metropolitan Area of the Upper Rhine • Euro-Institut • Infobest network • European Consumer Center The civil society 4
The origins • January 2003 Franco-German Declaration during the celebration „40 years Elysee-Treaty“ • 2003 – 2005 Preparatory works • October 2005 Setting up of the Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau • October 2008 „Declaration of Lahr“ with new orientations • February 2010 Setting up of the EGTC Strasbourg-Ortenau • February 2015 Enlargment on the french side: 28 new municipalities 5
The organisation Board of the Eurodistrict • 50 members (25 on each side F / G) • Board sessions (at least 3 times a year) • Ruling: simple majority Executive board (elected by the board) • 16 members: President & Vice-President & 14 further members • Executive board sessions (at least 3 times a year) One President and one Vice-President • Elected by the board for a period of 2 years, alternately F / G Working groups on the different subjects treated 6
The organisation • The General secretariat is administrated by a general secretary and a team of 5 employees • a yearly budget of 850.000 € with the following contributions: 50% France (Eurométropole de Strasbourg + the three groupings of municipalities Benfeld, Erstein, Rhine + the french state) 50% Germany (Ortenau county + the five largest towns of the district, i.e. Offenburg, Lahr, Kehl, Achern and Oberkirch ) • the budget is spent as follows: about 1/3 for own projects and participations about 1/3 for the support of other people’s projects about 1/3 for the running of the administration • 400.000 € EU fund (Interreg) for „people to people“ projects financed in different fields such as culture, sports, education, bilingualism, etc. 7
Political Goals as laid down in the statute • Improve the day to day life of the citizens of the Eurodistrict • Cooperation in complementary fields in order to achieve a better synergy (e.g. medecine, employment, vocational training) • Transform the Eurodistrict into a model of european integration going far beyond a simple cooperation by developing a cross border form of administration and a new political culture of shared decisions • Involve the citizens in the development of the crossborder territory through participation (e.g. Eurodistrict Convents) • Reinforce the European dimension of Strasbourg 8
Projects and fields of action � Health Setting up of a common health zone First steps: cooperation between hospitals in special fields like epilepsy, onkology and emergency medicine (common data base for hospital beds in case of emergency) Setting up of a german-french clinic for addicted people in Kehl • Transports Europass ticket for all trains, busses and trams in the Eurodistrict at a cheap price Free transport for pupils in the Eurodistrict during the summer holiday (august) Feasibility study to ameliorate crossborder public transports with proposals of action Tram extension to Kehl in 2017 9
Projects and fields of action • Bilingualism and education Special fund of 40.000 € dedicated to bilingualism Lobbying for bilingualism in the Upper Rhine Valley • Culture Generous financial support of innovative cultural projects like the bilingual theatre BAAL Novo (300.000 € over 5 years) • Economy and employment - Support of crossborder vocational training in order to combat youth unemployment in France and maintain a qualified workforce in Germany - European Week of Entrepreneurship - Common presentation of the crossborder region at the international estate fairs of Munich (Expo Real) and Cannes (MIPIM). • Start Hop Project to encourage start ups (80.000 € in 2015) 10
Events • Direct participation of the people through: Citizens´ Convents Online votings • Discussion forums Multimodal transports Green economy Bilingualism and education • Sports events KM Solidarité (chidren´s run) Marathon Cycling tour 11
Funding of projects through: • Traditional grants for external projects Financed by the own budget (abour 1/3 of the yearly budget) • Special fund dedicated to bilingualism 40.000 € • EU-fund for «people-to-people microprojects» (INTERREG/European Regional Development Fund) nearly 400.000 € were granted in the last 3 years to support people’s projects in different areas like sports, culture and bilingualism Application for a new microprojects fund is under way (Interreg V 2014-2020) 12
Challenges and lessons learned • Difficulty of setting up a new bicultural administrative culture • Challenges for the staff who has to speak both languages perfectly (native speaker´s level) and be at ease with the political and administrative systems of France and Germany • As an EGTC is also governed by the law of the Member State in which it has its registered office, it is very important to choose the Member State with the most flexible legal system for the registered office • An ingenious choice of the national law applicable prevents frustration and saves a lot of time 13
Challenges and lessons learned • Necessity to become more efficient in our decision making process. • This could be achieved through the fusion of the two decision making bodies (66 members at present) into one unique organ • Because we are acting in a new political field and inventing new forms of crossborder cooperation, as well as a new form of joint governance, we need to learn from the past and adapt step by step „as we go and grow“. 14
Future developments and the new regulation on EGTCs Compared to the first EU-regulation of 2006, the amended regulation of 2013: • simplifies the establishment and functioning of EGTCs, e.g. the statutes are now considered as an internal rule and don‘t have to be approuved by each Member State any more • makes it possible to use an EGTC to jointly manage public services such as services of general economic interest and allows further private or public law actors in this sector to become members of an EGTC • Therefore, common public undertakings in fields such as transports, education, child care, medical care and matters of social needs should be possible in the future, provided that the national regulations allow them • this means real opportunities for the Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau and the possibility of becoming more competences from our states 15
Future developments and the new legislation on EGTCs • EGTCs are structures not mainly made to spend EU-funds more easily, but first of all a european legal instrument to implement a new kind of governance in crossborder regions • Therefore, they should take advantage of the new regulation in order to make and implement more common decisions • At present our Eurodistrict is discussing with the States on the possibility of being given more competences in specific fields such as public transports and education • Together we are stronger and have more possibilities to build a territory with a better quality of life in many different fields (education, health care, transport, competitiveness, sustainability, etc.) 16
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! 17
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