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A new status for the Eurodistrict Strasbourg/Ortenau

Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasburg

The Strasbourg-Eurodistrict Ortenau was created October 7, 2005, following a joint proposal of Gerhard Schröder and Jacques Chirac during the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. It brings together the town of Strasbourg, the German Ortenaukreis and the five major cities of Offenburg, Lahr, Kehl, Achern and Oberkirch. On February, 1st 2010, a prefectural order established the European grouping for territorial cooperation (EGTC) for the Eurodistrict and Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasbourg, was elected as its first president February 4.

The establishment of the European grouping for territorial cooperation for the Strasbourg - Ortenau Eurodistrict local authority is a very important achievement. How does this new status facilitate cross-border cooperation for the Eurodistrict?



I see the EGTC as a new step in the Eurodistrict’s adventure rather than a result. This new European status will make our lives easier because the Eurodistrict will have a legal existence, which means it will have a dedicated budget, its own staff; it will become a much more efficient body for action and coordination. With this status, we may now apply directly to administer the funds from the European programme Interreg, under the shape of funds for micro-projects, which will allow us to support many private initiatives. With the EGTC, we begin to develop real cross-border cooperations, where everything was decided unanimously and we are now moving towards more co-decision making, with an alleviated decision making process (majority voting, single chair instead of two spokespersons). But clearly, the EGCC is more than just a milestone achievement, as our goal, stated in the agreement creating the EGCC is to obtain an \"evolution of the constitutional, legal and conventional framework in order to turn the Eurodistrict into a new form of inter-municipal border”. With the EGTC, we intend to show what we are capable of, but we are not going to lose sight of our goal of becoming a pilot area, a real \"European laboratory\" , which will be a land of experimentation with, possibly, a special legal and fiscal status .



What are your main priorities for this new border community?



There are three stages: first the implementation of our General Secretariat composed out of five people. The Eurodistrict needs this structure to become completely operational; recruitment is ongoing. We shall then launch a participatory approach to collect the expectations of the population, civil society and business. Finally, on this basis, we shall develop a multi-year action program, with priorities that depend on what we shall gather from the participants during the consultation.

What I can tell you is that the Eurodistrict will intervene primarily in areas that affect all our citizens, including those not used to living astride the Rhine: for example, environment protection (because we have a river and an atmosphere in common) and economic development (the sharing of our facilities, our infrastructures, and the richness of our territory will strengthen our attractiveness in the competition with the other large cities).



How do you see the evolution of the Eurodistrict in the future? What do you think will be its main challenges?



They are manifold: strengthen the international prestige and attractiveness of our territory, adopt a common approach to environmental and mobility issues and create a common cultural area by working on culture and the strengthening of bilingualism. Finally, strengthen the status of European Capital of Human Rights and Democracy that Strasbourg has.

I think in the future, we will go through a stabilization phase, including also a regulatory evolution in the EGTC, which will undoubtedly respond to certain limits. But I also trust the State’s desire to support the European status of Strasbourg, by giving it legal status. This is necessary in order to enable it to experiment with innovative solutions for border areas, and even for European harmonization.



The EGTC status allows the Eurodistrict to keep a political, financial and operational autonomy. Are there still legal and administrative boundaries?



Yes, they are still numerous. Today, the status of EGTC still requires for the validation of many decisions to be ratified by each community member and this does not simplify things ... The EGTC can not be delegated tax authority by its members, unlike French inter-municipalities. It can not be given regulatory power, which makes impossible, for example, the development of an urbanity plan or a plan for urban transport across borders.

And that is without counting all the skills that are not local, but which belong to the state, even though they directly affect the residents of a border like the Eurodistrict. I think here for example at the numerous difficulties related to the double taxation, social security, retirement, etc. ...



How do the citizens of the Eurodistrict consider this new evolution? What will be the impact of this new status on the citizens?



For the moment, the Eurodistrict creates important hopes but also lots of questions. Indeed, many of its accomplishments are still unknown (in the field of vocational training, administration, aid to cross-border school exchanges, etc.). With the new EGTC, and the new secretariat, we hope to give the Eurodistrict much better visibility. The consultative process will be an opportunity to communicate and hear our citizens’ expectations. We will be able to do more concrete actions for them.



You were president of the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) between 1997 and 2001. How do you see the evolution of the cross-border cooperation in France these last ten years?



The creation of the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) symbolizes the beginning of awareness at the national level. After a long period of stagnation, the projects have increased, but much of them depended more on the political will of the local authorities. The legal framework has long persisted in ignoring the cross border question. But the law is gradually adapting itself to the need of the local authorities. The “general code of local authorities” has therefore introduced in 2004 the concept of “European district”, and then integrated the 2006 EU regulation establishing the EGTC. Things are evolving at their own step. Today, the State seems to have realized the importance to adapt the law to the border regions’ situation. It remains to see if words will be followed by actions.