Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "Strategies for promoting cross-border and inter-regional cooperation in an enlarged EU — a basic document setting out guidelines for the future"
Date: 2002-03-13
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EC recommendation, EU publication, cross-border cooperation, enlargement of the Union, international cooperation, local authority

12.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 192/37

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Strategies for promoting cross-border and inter-
regional cooperation in an enlarged EU — a basic document setting out guidelines for the future’

(2002/C 192/09)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the obligation incumbent on the European Commission and the Council under
Article 265 of the Treaty to consult the Committee of the Regions on cross-border and inter-regional
cooperation;

having regard to the many comments and recommendations on cross-border and inter-regional
cooperation made in numerous Committee of the Regions opinions, and particularly opinion CdR 145/
98 fin (1) on Cross-border and transnational cooperation between local authorities (rapporteur:
Mr Niederbremer) and opinion CdR 269/2001 fin (2) on the employment policy aspects of EU enlargement
(rapporteur: Mr Volker Schimpff);

having regard to the Council of Europe Resolution of February 1974 on cooperation between local and
regional authorities in Europe and the decisions of the 1999 European Council in Berlin;

having regard to the General Regulation on the Structural Funds (No 1260/1999) and the Interreg III
guidelines which emphasise the importance of cooperation efforts along external borders, especially with
the accession countries;

having regard to the Communication from the Commission on the impact of enlargement on regions
bordering candidate countries adopted on 25 July 2001 (COM(2001) 437 final) which proposes a series
of actions based on a better coordination of existing policies and the creation of new measures and the
allocation of additional financial support to the external border regions;

having regard to the results of the survey carried out by the Association of European Border Regions on
behalf of the Committee of the Regions;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 181/2000 rev. 2) adopted by the Commission for Regional
Policy, Structural Funds, Economic and Social Cohesion and Cross-border and Inter-regional Cooperation
on 18 January 2002 [rapporteurs: Mr Rombouts, Mayor of ’s-Hertogenbosch (NL/EPP), and Mr Kauppinen,
Mayor of Kuhmo (FIN/ELDR)];

whereas it is desirable, in terms of the future of European integration, and especially enlargement, to
present a comprehensive strategy on cross-border, inter-territorial and transnational cooperation, that
takes into account the growing need for the regional and local authorities to enter new, broad, structured
forms of cooperation, with enlargement in mind,

adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 43rd plenary session of 13 and 14 March 2002
(meeting of 13 March).

I. General

1.
Cross-border, inter-territorial and transnational cooper-
ation is a top priority for the EU as it strives to achieve
integration and to curb the economic and social fragmentation
brought about by national frontiers. This goal is reaffirmed in
the Second Cohesion Report.

2.

a)

b)

This applies to cooperation between:

non-central authorities of the current Member States;

non-central authorities of the current Member States and
non-central authorities of the applicant countries;

(1) OJ C 51, 22.2.1999, p. 21.
(2) OJ C 107, 3.5.2002, p. 94.

c)

non-central authorities of the current Member States,
applicant countries and countries bordering on the
enlarged EU to the east and south.

Special attention needs to be paid to the situation of island
regions, upland regions and peripheral regions as well as to
the regions at the present borders of the EU with the accession
candidates.

3.
Cross-border, inter-territorial and transnational cooper-
ation contributes to the creation of a ‘Citizens’ Europe’, a
Europe in which people learn to know one another and to
understand and respect their diversity, ‘se connaître pour se
comprendre’. The most important goal is not to bring states
together but to bring people together.

C 192/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12.8.2002

4.
In order to ensure better distribution of information,
greater visibility and good coordination of Member States’ and
the Commission’s actions, the European Commission has also
invited the Member States to establish the Interact programme,
which shall cover a wide range of activities to support the
implementation of the three Interreg Strands and benefit the
border areas with accession countries and other external
neighbours. The Interact programme is specifically focused
upon the immediate needs of the Interreg initiative and aims
directly at
the Interreg programmes and
the involved actors and projects. The Interreg Community
Initiative is split in three strands and a large number of
individual programmes. Thus accompanying actions are of
high importance in order to safeguard the added value of
cross-border, inter-regional and trans-national cooperation.

the support of

5.
As a result of the European integration process which
has been taking place in recent years and the increase in EU
action in almost all areas falling within the remit of territorial
authorities, EU territorial authorities have had to contend with
a situation in which policy-making has become ever more
complex. Within this broader context, authorities have become
more dependent on strategic interaction with other local and
regional authorities in the EU; they have thus become an
essential part of the European ‘multi-level governance model’.

6.
Cross-border, inter-territorial and transnational cooper-
ation occurs above all in cases where all the parties involved
stand to gain advantages in the administrative, social, econ-
omic, cultural, infrastructural or technological fields. Lasting
cooperation therefore has a chance of success only if it has a
popular basis and if cooperation takes place between all the
parties involved.

Various definitions have been employed for ‘cross-
7.
border,
inter-territorial and transnational cooperation’. The
Committee of the Regions proposes that the definitions set out
below be used as a starting point. All forms of cooperation,
taken together, are referred to as ‘trans-European cooperation’.
Distinctions may be drawn between the following forms of
cooperation:

— ‘cross-border cooperation’ implies bi-, tri-or multilateral
cooperation between local and regional authorities (semi-
public and private players may also be involved in this
context) operating in geographically contiguous areas.
This applies also in the case of areas separated by sea;

public and private players may also be involved in this
context) operating in non-contiguous areas;

— ‘transnational cooperation’ implies cooperation between
national, regional and local authorities in respect of
programmes or projects. This form of cooperation covers
larger contiguous areas and involves players from at least
two EU Member States and/or non-EU states.

Such cooperation is even more difficult to get started
8.
with regions of third countries than within the European
Union. Regions at external borders face the complexity of
cross-border and trans-national cooperation with tools, that
are very little compatible (Interreg and Phare, Tacis, MEDA).
This is particularly irksome, especially for cooperation with
the accession candidates, with whom intensified cooperation
is particularly urgent in view of their forthcoming accession to
the EU. With accession of new Member States the external
border will change and new regions will be involved in
Interreg-programmes
external border. However,
especially at the external borders with Russia and the NIS there
is a very high difference in the living standard and a great need
in developing joint mechanisms and instruments.

the

at

II. Cross-border cooperation

9.
The most important goal of cross-border cooperation
between local and regional authorities in the EU is to bring
about the integration of areas divided by national frontiers and
having to face common problems which require common
solutions.

10.

Factors which promote cross-border cooperation:

— there is a long tradition and a large amount of experience

of cross-border cooperation;

— mutual confidence and reciprocal cooperation, based on

the principles of partnership and subsidiarity;

— the existence of appropriate common structures for cross-
border cooperation between local and regional authorities
at strategic and programme level;

— the existence of a cross-border development blueprint or

programme;

— ‘inter-territorial cooperation’ implies bi, tri- or multilateral
cooperation between local and regional authorities (semi-

— the availability of adequate funding.

12.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 192/39

11.
ation:

Factors standing in the way of cross-border cooper-

— well-defined common goals and priorities in respect of

joint action;

— legal restrictions imposed by national and EU legislation;

— the existence of appropriate, specific structures for man-
aging cooperation and implementing specific projects.

— differences as regards the structure and responsibilities of
the various levels of administration on either side of the
respective frontiers;

14.
ation:

Factors standing in the way of inter-territorial cooper-

— lack of political will, particularly at national

level, to
remove existing barriers by introducing new laws or
establishing bilateral agreements;

— this form of cooperation is a matter of

temporary
and selective importance and is associated with the
achievement of short-term objectives;

— limited experience of programme-development and pro-
gramme-management on the part of local or regional
authorities;

— problems in coordinating the various sources of funding
(e.g. lack of interoperability between Interreg III C, Phare/
CBC and Tacis/CBC; principle of territoriality in the
ERDF);

— cultural differences and existence of language barriers.

— a lack of tradition as regards cooperation;

— a lack of funding and staff and the existence of language

barriers;

— absence of remits to engage in cooperation;

— the absence of a general legal instrument.

— legislation at EU level, which does not correspond to the
conditions (e.g. Regulations on Phare/CBC, TACIS/CBC
and ERDF regarding Interreg III A).

IV. Transnational cooperation

III.

Inter-territorial cooperation

12.
The main goals of inter-territorial cooperation, after
that of enabling the parties to get to know each other, are to
enable the parties to learn from each other and to find joint
solutions to joint problems.

Other fundamental goals of inter-regional cooperation include:

— improving the effectiveness of policies and instruments
for regional development and cohesion, in particular in
regions lagging behind in development, regions with
structural weaknesses and regions in the throes of
restructuring;

— encouraging cooperation in specific areas defined by the
Commission (e.g. RTD and SMEs; the information society;
tourism, culture and employment; business and the
environment, etc.).

13.

Factors which promote inter-territorial cooperation:

15.
Transnational cooperation between all levels of auth-
orities within the Member States is currently of importance
above all
in the fields of spatial development and spatial
planning, where the aim is to achieve the integrated develop-
ment of large areas spreading over at least two Member States.

16.

Factors which promote transnational cooperation:

— experience in the field of spatial planning and the

existence of a European vision of cooperation;

— a decentralised approach with a strong local/regional
basis and a high level of involvement of decentralised
authorities;

— cooperation in a well-run common structure at a strategic

level;

— an efficient network structure involving all the parties to

given programmes;

— close linkage between strategic programme objectives
and individual transnational cooperation projects.

— the availability of strong political support;

Factors standing in the way of transnational cooper-

17.
ation:

— the existence of strong partnerships for the purpose of

— low level of involvement of local and regional authorities

cooperation;

in this form of cooperation;

C 192/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12.8.2002

— differences in the approaches to spatial planning pursued

by the parties to cooperation;

22. Mutual understanding and internal development
through external cooperation should be the guiding principles
of cooperation.

— lack of strong transnational partnerships in respect of

programmes and projects;

— highly complex transnational decision-making processes;

— lack of clear allocation of responsibilities and formal

structures;

In principle, cooperation should be a ‘bottom-up’
23.
process. The role of ‘higher authorities’ must be primarily
that of creating the preconditions (legal and financial) for
cooperation.

— inadequate project management;

— lack of financial instruments and lack of linkage between
financial instruments, in particular with regard to non-
EU countries;

— conflicting or excessively complex administrative require-

ments emanating from the EU.

V. Conclusions and recommendations

The Committee of the Regions attaches considerable
18.
importance to the use of unambiguous definitions in respect
of cross-border, transnational and inter-territorial cooperation
and recommends the Commission,
the Council and the
European Parliament to use the definitions set out in this
opinion as a starting point.

In view of

the importance of cross-border,

19.
inter-
territorial, and transnational cooperation for the European
integration process and cohesion within the European Union,
the Committee recommends that the EU, the Member States
and local and regional authorities should continue the existing
policy and intensify it in a number of respects.

20.
These forms of cooperation are important for the EU
as a whole, but in the next few years must be given to
cooperation with the candidate states. Islands and upland and
peripheral regions deserve special attention, as do the less
developed regions and those with structural insufficiencies.

21.
The European Union should thus have a longer and
expansive view to develop all the border regions of the EU. In
the near future, many of the candidate countries will be EU
Member States. Because not all border regions in third
countries have drawn up development plans, cooperation
could at the outset be limited to countries with Phare CBC and
Tacis CBC programmes. Later there would need to be a specific
all-inclusive common strategy on common development
actions in all regions of the European Union which border on
third countries.

The Committee of the Regions basically welcomes the
24.
measures taken by the European Union and the European
Commission with regard to border regions. It takes the view
that every Commission action in this field is worthy of
support. The Committee does,
in this respect, welcome
the Commission’s intention to provide border regions with
substantial assistance under the action programme which it
adopted in July 2001. The Committee, however, still considers
the contents of the relevant Commission communication
insufficient and welcomes the improvements in the promotion
of competitiveness in border regions decided in the budget for
2002 and — to a lesser extent — for 2003. It calls upon the
Commission to report regularly on the development of the
situation in the border regions and also to make proposals for
improving the promotion of competitiveness in the border
regions after 2002. However, the complex administrative rules
for implementing the Interreg/Structural Funds regulations
contribute to a substantial obstruction of cross-border cooper-
ation. Therefore the Committee of
the Regions asks the
Commission to make the administration of Structural Funds
programmes less bureaucratic and more user-friendly in line
with the Commission reform. Especially, a very important
common action is to coordinate all the common efforts to
support the development of border regions on both sides of
the border of the EU. Especially Interreg-, Meda-, Tacis-,
Phare-, TEN- and ISPA- instruments and programmes should
compose more compact and coordinated support systems. It
should also be considered whether a new type of common
cooperation programme should be developed instead of two
different programmes, i.e. Tacis/Phare and Interreg, on the
border regions.

25.
To promote the implementation of different pro-
grammes it is also important to further develop and build up
Euroregions with the regions of third countries. In this context
the idea of creating specific ‘European Cooperation Areas’
(ECA), launched by the AEBR, should be thoroughly investi-
gated. Local and regional authorities should anyhow get more
power and liability to develop their own border areas.

26.
This opinion sets out a series of factors which have a
positive or negative impact on cross-border, inter-territorial

12.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 192/41

and transnational cooperation. It is proposed that the following
measures be taken to promote the abovementioned forms of
cooperation:

a) At national

level,

legal provisions and rules must be
adapted in such a way that cross-border cooperation can
take place on a legal basis (and particularly a public-law
basis).

b) A ‘border-area clause’ must be included in new national
legislation which may hamper cross-border inter-terri-
torial and transnational cooperation, to the effect that no
worsening of cooperation in border areas as a result of
new legislation can be allowed, and that cross-border
entities with legal personality, comprising territorial auth-
orities from both sides of a border, can be set up.

c)

d)

e)

f)

The legal framework within which cross-border cooper-
ation between territorial bodies is pursued must guarantee
and facilitate participation by those levels of authorities
that have the necessary powers to carry out such cooper-
ation.

The European Union must check its own administrative
regulations to see whether they obstruct cross-border
cooperation. It must also stimulate the adaptation of
national
legislation. The process of such adaptations
should be periodically assessed.

The European Union should take the initiative in carrying
out appraisals of existing legal
instruments for trans-
European cooperation and in improving these instru-
ments.

The European Commission should also take the initiative
in formulating framework legislation on cross-border,
inter-territorial and transnational cooperation,
in the
form of a framework regulation covering areas of Euro-
pean cooperation. The recommendations put forward in
the study published by the Committee of the Regions on
trans-European cooperation could provide a starting
point for such a regulation.

g) When adjustments are next made to the Treaty estab-
lishing the European Community, the importance of
trans-European cooperation can be demonstrated by
making the following adjustments to a number of articles
in the Treaty:

— the first paragraph of Article 158 should be amended
to read as follows: ‘In order to promote its overall
harmonious development and to encourage bal-
anced and sustainable development of the territory
of
the Community shall
develop and pursue its actions leading to the
strengthening of its economic and social cohesion.’

the European Union,

— the first paragraph of Article 159 (third sentence)
could be amended to read as follows:
‘The Com-
munity shall also support the achievement of these
objectives by the action it takes through the Structur-
al Funds ... the European Investment Bank, other
existing financial
the Community
instruments,
Initiatives and the establishment of a legal instru-
ment for creating “European cooperation areas”.’

— a second paragraph, worded as follows, could be
added to Article 160:
‘The Community Initiatives
have the aim of promoting trans-European cooper-
ation. The European Regional Development Fund
shall also pursue this goal which is to be achieved,
in particular, through participation in joint measures
in support of the harmonious, balanced and sus-
tainable development of areas involved in cross-
border,
inter-territorial and transnational cooper-
ation.’

h)

In view of the importance of trans-European cooperation
to the European integration process, adequate funding
should also continue to be made available in the future.
On the occasion of the next review of the Structural
Funds — or even earlier — a substantial part of the
available resources must be earmarked for these forms of
cooperation.
In this context consideration should be
given initially to cooperation with the candidate states
and non-EU states. Trans-European cooperation does,
however, also remain an important instrument in the
integration process in respect of the existing Member
States. In this context, particular attention must be paid
to those regions which currently constitute the border
regions with the candidate states.

i)

In order to ensure optimal effectiveness and efficiency in
the use of funding, the various sources of funding should
be better coordinated. Especially the Interreg- MEDA-,
Tacis-, Phare-, TEN- and ISPA- instruments and pro-
grammes should compose a more compact and better
coordinated set of support systems.

— an article on trans-European cooperation should be
included, along the lines of Article 151 on cultural
cooperation;

j) Member States and the European Union must encourage
the setting-up in every Member State of information
centres where citizens, public authorities and companies
can put questions about obstacles to cross-border, inter-
territorial and transnational cooperation.

C 192/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12.8.2002

k)

The Committee of the Regions calls upon the European
Commission to issue within two years a White Paper on
in which the recommen-
trans-European cooperation,
dations made in this opinion and in the survey are further
developed and synthesised as a cohesive policy. This
White Paper could be drawn up by a European Com-
mission working party, made up of representatives from
the DGs involved, the Member States, the Committee of

the Regions and the representative European associations
of non-central authorities.

27.
The Committee of the Regions asks the Council of
Ministers, the European Commission and the European Parlia-
ment to take account of the recommendations set out in this
opinion when further fleshing out
the policy on trans-
European cooperation.

Brussels, 13 March 2002.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘The problems of island regions in the European
Union in the context of enlargement’

(2002/C 192/10)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 12 June 2001, in accordance with the fifth
paragraph of Article 265 of the EC Treaty, to issue an opinion on The problems of island regions in the
European Union in the context of enlargement and to instruct Commission 1 for Regional Policy,
Structural Funds, Economic and Social Cohesion and Cross-border and Inter-regional Cooperation to
undertake the preparatory work;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 301/2001 rev. 2) adopted by Commission ‘Regional Policy,
Structural Funds, Economic and Social Cohesion and Cross-border and Inter-regional Cooperation’ on
18 January 2002 [rapporteur: Mr Christos Paleolo´ gos, Mayor of Livadia´ (EL/PES)];

having regard to Article 158 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, together with Article 154 and Declaration
No 30 attached to the Treaty;

having regard to the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Nice in December 2000
(paragraph 55 and declaration);

having regard to the European Spatial Development Perspective;

having regard to the 2nd Report of the European Commission on Economic and Social Cohesion (January
2001);

having regard to the report of the European Parliament Committee on Regional Policy on the problems
of island regions in the European Union (March 1998);

having regard to the own-initiative opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (July 2000) ‘Guidelines
for integrated actions on the island regions of the European Union following the Amsterdam Treaty’
(Article 158);