9-10 November 2020, Paris

On 9 and 10 November 2020, the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) is hosting the first edition of the BORDERS FORUM and the 10th Annual meeting of the EGTC Platform in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission in Paris. The event will gather high representatives from the local, regional, national and European level including Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas and ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg and Poland. The event is organised under the high patronage of the President of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron.

The COVID-19 crisis has put borders back at the centre of political debate when European internal borders were abruptly closed due to the pandemic. This had huge effects on border regions as cross-border territories comprise about 40% of Europe and more than 2 million Europeans daily cross a border to get to work.

The objective of the Borders Forum is to create a place for discussion and a far-reaching political sounding board to highlight the needs of cross-border territories. It will bring together local, national and European players involved in cross-border cooperation, and will reaffirm their shared ambition and their place in political debate, as well as consolidate a European cross border citizens’ Alliance.

This event comes at a time when Europe is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its Interreg* cooperation programmes, the 10 years of the EGTC** Platform, and the implementation of the Aachen Treaty, a bilateral agreement between France and Germany on closer cooperation and integration.

For more information please visit: www.bordersforum.eu

Note to the editor:

* Interreg is one of the key instrument of the European Union supporting cooperation across borders through project funding. Its aim is to jointly tackle common challenges and find shared solutions in fields such as health, environment, research, education, transport, sustainable energy and more.

** European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation are a European legal instrument designed to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. It allows entities from different Member States to come together under a new entity with full legal personality.

Contact:

Carmen Schmidle

Tel. +32 (0)2 282 2366

Mobile +32 (0)494 735787

carmen.schmidle@cor.europa.eu