b-solutions

b-solutions is a pilot initiative to tackle legal and administrative border obstacles along EU internal land borders. It is promoted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and managed by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) as one of the actions proposed in the Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions“.

The essence of b-solutions is to provide solutions for cross-border obstacles of a legal and administrative nature. This means that border-adjacent municipalities and regions as well as cross-border entities have the chance to submit information about a border-related legal or administrative obstacle they face. Successful candidates are assigned support from the European Commission to remove these border-related obstacles.

From 2018 to 2021, four calls for proposals were launched in the framework of b-solutions, involving practitioners and policymakers to identify obstacles to cross-border cooperation and possible solutions. In total, 90 cases were collected and reviewed by experts who advised on potential solutions to overcome these obstacles in various thematic fields (cross-border public services, green deal, institutional cooperation, labour market and education). Publications including two compendiums of reports, three thematic booklets and an illustrated storytelling booklet can be found here. These publications offer a great opportunity to build capacities to handle legal and administrative obstacles in CBC, to promote the exchange of information between practitioners of cross-border cooperation on these issues, affecting most aspects of their daily work, and to raise awareness among the general public about the challenges and innovative solutions exiting in border regions.

From 2022 to September 2024, AEBR implemented the b-solutions 2.0: Solving Cross-Border Obstacles initiative.

The b-solutions 2.0 call for proposals addressed public entities and cross-border structures located along EU internal land and maritime borders as well as along EU borders with EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and IPA countries (Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina). The objective was to  promote sustainable solutions to obstacles of a legal and/or administrative nature which hinder cross-border cooperation in these border regions.

b-solutions 2.0 offered support to solve legal or administrative obstacles which hinder cooperation across borders. To support local actors, public entities and cross-border structures can receive advice from experts on how to solve such obstacles. The experts are put at disposal by AEBR.

 

As of October 2024, AEBR now implements b-solutions 3.0: Solving Border Obstacles to Facilitate Cooperation through a third grant agreement signed between AEBR and the European Commission.

b-solutions 3.0 operates mainly through three objectives, offering different types of support to identify and solve legal and administrative obstacles:

• technical support to identify potential solutions to legal and administrative obstacles (objective 1)
• mentorship and further technical support to move forward the implementation of a suggested solution (objective 2)
• grants to autonomously implement a solution to be distributed through a call for proposal (objective 3)

 

PRACTICAL ACTIONS:

• To receive support, public entities and cross-border structures are invited to inform about obstacles they face via an open call for proposals. Information on the application procedure is accessible on https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/call-for-proposals and on https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network.

 

• To identify cross-border experts with legal and consultancy skills, a call for expressions of interest is opened since 31 March 2022. More information on: https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/experts-apply.

 

• We have also opened a call for information to people who live and work in a border region: https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/call-for-information. If you have experienced difficulties in conducting activities across borders (working, going to school, commuting, setting up a business, accessing information or public services, getting reimbursed for medical costs, etc.), please inform us through the form included in the call. We will follow up on submitted cases to suggest possible solutions. The main purpose of this call for information is to identify, collect and follow up on the challenges faced by people living in border regions. 

 

Duration: From October 2024 to December 2026

AEBR role in b-solutions pilot initiative: holder of a Commission’s grant (DG Regio); manager of this initiative

Responsible persons in AEBR: Martín Guillermo Ramírez, Anna Cinzia Dellagiacoma, Mariane Bloudeau.

e-mail: b-solutions@aebr.eu

Link to b-solutions web-page: https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/

 

All reports written by the experts contracted under b-solutions are accessible here.

All the publications are accessible here.

 

 

Back to overview