Public EC consultation on cross-border obstacles

The European Commission’s DG REGIO launched an online public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions. Citizens and stakeholders that are active in border regions have the opportunity to share their opinion until 20 September 2020.

In view of the new political priorities of European policy post-2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, DG REGIO seeks to take stock of the implementation of the EC communication on “Boosting Growth and Cohesion in EU Border Regions”. Against this background, the consultation aims at gaining insights into the state of play and needs of communities living in border areas.

Boosting cross-border interaction

The European Union has 40 internal land border regions, which represent 40% of the Union’s territory and close to 30% of the EU population. Hence, the economic performance and quality of life in border regions has a large impact of the overall performance in the European Union. Nevertheless, border regions are largely perform less well than other regions within EU member states from an economic point of view. Furthermore, access to public services and hospitals or education is lower in border regions. Administrative and legal obstacles are hampering the cross-border dynamic in border regions. Hence, the European Commission adopted its Communication on “Boosting Growth and Cohesion in Border Regions”. The Communication sets out actions to enhance competitiveness and cohesion in border regions. These actions are going beyond EU funding and address legal and administrative cross-border obstacles.

Support for public authorities

In order to support public authorities and cross-border stakeholders in reducing cross-border obstacles, the European Commission created a “Border Focal Point” within the European Commission. In doing so, DG REGIO is providing the knowledge of EC experts in cross-border issues, who offer advice to national and regional authorities on legal and administrative obstacles to cross-border interactions.

At the same time, DG REGIO finances the b-solution intiative that is implemented by the Association for European Border Regions (AEBR). This initiative supports public authorities with concrete analyses of legal and administrative challenges in cross-border service provision or cooperation. Together with legal experts, public authorities are drafting next steps to overcome these cooperation barriers. The b-solutions initiative is currently publishing its 3rd call for proposals. Applicants can submit their proposal until 21 September 2020.