REGI

Teamwork makes the dream work: Interreg is a key EU-wide instrument promoting economic and social cross-border collaboration, aiming to reduce economic disparities, foster sustainability and consequently drive regional development. Considering newly arising challenges in Europe, what direction should Interreg take in Flanders-Netherlands and other regions to achieve its outlined goals and stay relevant to European…

Motion for a Resolution by the Committee on Regional Development (REGI)

Teamwork makes the dream work: Interreg is a key EU-wide instrument promoting economic and social cross-border collaboration, aiming to reduce economic disparities, foster sustainability and consequently drive regional development. Considering newly arising challenges in Europe, what direction should Interreg take in Flanders-Netherlands and other regions to achieve its outlined goals and stay relevant to European citizens’ needs?

Submitted by: Ace Csellak (NL), Sadik Kulaksiz (NL), Victor Meijers (NL), Eileen O’Brien (LU), Celia Peralta Schutte (NL), Florentine Smit (NL), Amelia Wilk (PL), Charlotte Verdonck (NL), and Ania Osmańska (Chairperson, PL)

The European Youth Parliament aims to unite close border regions in the EU and create a smoother transition between Member States in the everyday life of inhabitants of border regions. Furthermore, it wishes to alleviate the specific challenges border regions face through the lens of environmental, energy, and cross-border commuting issues. It ultimately seeks to foster closer cooperation between neighbouring Member States by easing administrative challenges that prevent joint action.

The above is decided upon because

  • The exchange of information on species between border regions of two Member States is crucial for increasing the impact of environmental policies.
  • The EU’s electricity grid lacks sufficient connections between Member States, causing inefficiency and capacity issues,
  • In some Member States, national regulations on energy transmission prevent effective cross-border energy transfers,
  • Administrative obstacles and communication barriers cause cross-border Emergency Medical Services (EMS)1 to face delays when crossing EU borders in critical, life-threatening situations,
  • Cross-border workers often lack sufficient knowledge about regulations in neighbouring countries, leading to underutilisation of social benefits,
  • The lack of understanding of differing cultures, habits, and mentalities between Member States’ citizens causes socio-cultural discrimination in border regions,
  • Crossing EU borders in certain parts of the EU is not optimal due to the connection of railroads between Member States to the southeast of the EU is either slow or non-existent.
  • Despite the EU’s common social security guidelines their implementation on the national and regional level is ineffective and may cause cross-border workers to fall between two tax and welfare systems,
  • Small NGOs and businesses that participate in Interreg2 projects struggle to keep up with the administrative processes and programme requirements.

To that end, the European Youth Parliament

  1. Calls upon the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) to improve the existing Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity by:
    1. promoting open-access publishing of research,
    2. creating workshops, webinars and seminars for various stakeholders such as government officials, NGOs, and businesses to share relevant information and resources;
  2. Invites the Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER) to enable efficient energy sharing between Member States by coordinating and funding the creation of transformers and transmission lines between Member States, thus harmonising their energy systems;
  3. Asks the Energy Union to facilitate conversations between Member States’ relevant Ministries on the possibility of aligning legislation regarding the sharing of energy between neighbouring Member States ;
  4. Instructs the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) to coordinate the establishment of cross-border EMS coordination hubs in strategic areas equipped with advanced communication technology and staffed by linguistically diverse experts proficient in swift protocol implementation, ensuring prompt emergency responses;
  5. Encourages Member States to establish agreements on smooth cross-border ambulance services with their neighbours following the lead of the successful  EMR Agreement or the Benelux Decision3;
  6. Calls upon the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) to prioritise the establishment of Cross-Border Coordination Points4;
  7. Invites the DG REGIO to make projects tackling language barriers in border regions a priority in Interreg A5 programmes;
  8. Further calls upon DG REGIO to fund campaigns that raise awareness on the diverse cultures, habits and mentalities of Member States’ citizens through social media initiatives and existing cultural events;
  9. Welcomes the Directorate-General for Transport and Mobility (DG MOVE) to fund programmes aimed at developing the railroad network in the Southeastern part of the EU;
  10. Proposes DG MOVE to increase the accessibility of cross-border travel by popularising cross-border rail infrastructure between Western and Eastern European countries;
  11. Calls upon the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) to propose legislation on social security in cross-border regions allowing agencies such as Eurofound to research the troublesome areas;
  12. Designates DG REGIO to simplify the administrative procedure of submitting and coordinating a project within the Interreg programme by employing personnel meant to assist small businesses and NGOs with paperwork.

Lastly, the European Youth Parliament recommends participants to

  • Educate themselves on the topic of discrimination in border regions, by looking through this report on Overcoming Obstacles in Border Regions;
  • Learn about issues people face when living in cross-border regions;
  • Participate in social events regarding cross-border communities that aim to foster conversations on developing cross-border cooperation such as the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland. 
  1. Emergency Medical Services is a system responding to health emergencies that provides lifesaving care. ↩︎
  2. Interreg is a funding scheme aiding cross-border, transnational, and interregional programmes, responding to the specific issues arising across Europe. ↩︎
  3. The EMR Agreement and the Benelux Decision are agreements between Germany and the Netherlands and between Belenux countries respectively, that enable ambulances to drive patients to the nearest hospital in a border region, regardless of the vehicle’s country of origin and the hospital’s location. ↩︎
  4. A Cross-Border Coordination Point is a public service that collects reports of cross-border issues in the region where it is set up and directs them to national authorities. ↩︎
  5. Interreg A is a strand of the Interreg programme that focuses on cross-border programmes, which cover the border regions of two neighbouring Member States. ↩︎