- Representation of Interest
- Representation of Interest at European Level
- Regional Organisations
- Nordic Council of Ministers
European Union
European Parliament
As far as the European Union is concerned, AEBR is in regular contact with:
- the European Parliament (spokespersons of the parties and Members of Parliament), follower/suiveur on cross-border cooperation, and the REGI Committee (on Regional Development);
- other Committees that can be of interest for AEBR members (e.g. transport, tourism, institutional issues, social issues, external relations,),
In the middle of the 1970s the European Parliament (Committee on Regional Policy) became active on initiative of the AEBR. The reports by the Members of Parliament Gerlach (1976), Boot (1981) and Poetschki (1985) are particularly worth mentioning, as they included proposals on how to improve the legal framework for cross-border co-operation (e.g. Euro-associations) and recommendations to the European Commission on how to actively promote cross-border co-operation. The AEBR contributed to reports on daily border problems, commuters, trans-European networks, etc.
AEBR keeps close contacts with Members of Parliament, Committees and the Secretariat of the European Parliament. These efforts have led to practical results:
- a specific EU budget line for cross-border co-operation (1987) and the amendment of Article 10 of the European Regional Funds (ERF), both of which allowed the implementation of pilot projects in the area of cross-border co-operationsupport to the INTERREG Initiative, PHARE CBC, TACIS CBC, MEDA and CARDS;
- development of a EU regional policy that covers border regions all across Europe;
- study about cross-border and inter-regional co-operation (1996);
- hearing of AEBR on issues relating to INTERREG I, II A, IIIA and IV;
- EGTC;
- Nomination of a "follower" on cross-border cooperation.
The AEBR also mobilized the Parliament towards the introduction of Cross-Border Cooperation as a regular topic in the agenda, particularly at the REGI Committee, and the nomination of a suiveur on cross-border issues. AEBR is regularly represented in the meetings of the Committee on Regional Development.
European Commission
The European Commission (particularly DG Regio, but also DG Enlargement, DG External Relations, DG Competition, DG Social Employment and Social Affairs, DG Energy and Transport, DG Research). Contact partners are the responsible Commissioners, Directors General, Directors and desk officers.
Co-operation with the European Commission dates back to the 1970s and was initiated by the first President of AEBR, Mr. Alfred Mozer who was then Head of Cabinet of Sicco Mansholt, Commissioner for Agriculture. At that time, the Commission was primarily responsible for agricultural issues and the coal and steel industry. However, due to the movement towards a Political Union and the enlargement to Southern and Northern Europe, spatial development and regional policy became ever more important.
The preparation of the European Single Market in 1992 clearly showed that the border and cross-border regions at the EU internal and external borders had to cope with particular problems.
This was taken into account by putting into place
- a new Regional Policy, including the establishment of the EU regional funds, which also facilitates cross-border co-operation;
- the European Community Initiative INTERREG, in close co-operation with AEBR;
- special programmes, such as PHARE CBC for the associated countries (1994), and TACIS CBC for border areas in Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Moldova (1996);
- the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), which contains a particular section on cross-border co-operation;
- the EGTC (1 August 2006);
- ENPI (29 November 2006) and IPA (1st January 2007);
- the Territorial Agenda (presented in May 2007)
- the Lisbon Treaty (entered into force on 1st December 2009 ), which contains a special reference to cross-border regions in article 174 (ex article 158 TEC);
As a European regional organization that specifically deals with cross-border co-operation, AEBR has gained an invaluable know-how, which the EU has been using for decades:
- e.g. when developing cross-border Action Programmes (and later Operational Programmes), which, to a great extent, lie on concepts presented by AEBR in the beginning of the 1980s;
- when setting up cross-border structures;
- when drafting INTERREG Communications, etc.
IINTERREG III A and its most important features, such as joint programmes, cross-border structures and joint accounts were, to a great extent, based on practical experiences and proposals made by AEBR in order to ensure a better cross-border structuring of INTERREG. This fruitful co-operation had been particularly productive since the implementation of the LACE Observatory for cross-border co-operation in 1990. This project was initiated by AEBR and financially supported by the European Commission.
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