Transcript Diapositive 1

EGTCs:
THEIR DYNAMIC ROLE IN CROSS-BORDER
AND INTER-TERRITORIAL
COOPERATION
THE FRENCH EXPERIENCE
22 Mars 2011
Marie-Christine BERNARD-GELABERT
DG Territorial Entities – French Ministry for the Interior
PRELIMINARY REMARKS :
DECENTRALISED COOPERATION
PUT INTO ACTION
BY FRENCH TERRITORIAL
ENTITIES
AND THEIR GROUPINGS
SOME DEFINITIONS
• Decentralised cooperation : any action of cooperation between French
territorial entities and their groupings, on the one hand, and foreign territorial entities
on the other hand. The field of application – geographical or thematic - is very large.
Decentralised cooperation includes the actions of development aid in a North–South
context.
• Cross-border decentralised cooperation : any action of cooperation set
up between neighbouring territorial entities that belong to different States. This is one
of the most successful forms of decentralised cooperation when it aims to set up a
structure with a legal personality to manage common equipment or services.
•
The instruments created in the framework of cross-border cooperation have gradually
been opened up to inter-territorial cooperation, that is, cooperation
without the requirement of geographical continuity.
GRADUAL APPEARANCE
OF A LEGAL FRAMEWORK TO ORGANISE
CROSS-BORDER AND INTER-TERRITORIAL
COOPERATION
CARRIED OUT BY FRENCH TERRITORIAL ENTITIES
Historical background
- The first examples of decentralised cooperation appeared after the Second
World War in the form of twinning arrangements.
- In the last thirty years, laws have been passed in France (most recently on 16
April 2008) that have gradually established a legal framework for cooperation
between French territorial entities and foreign ones
- These provisions have all been codified into one chapter of the Territorial Entities
General Code (CGCT)
This recognition in French law is due to three factors:
1- the momentum of the work done by the Council of Europe
2- the French decentralisation laws of 1982-83 and 2004
3- to meet new needs generated by the development of cross-border flows
Instruments used
1- Conventional international instruments:
- France-Italy - Rome 1993
- France-Spain - Bayonne 1995
- France-Germany-Switwerland-Luxembourg - Karlsruhe 1996
- France-Belgium – Brussels 2002
2. French instruments :
- cooperation conventions
- foreign territorial entities joining public-private partnerships (SEML)
- French territorial entities and their groupings joining foreign partnerships
- the establishment of a cross-border cooperation structure governed by French
law (‘Local grouping for cross-border cooperation’ - GLCT or European district)
The players
1. French territorial entities : and their groupings
2. The State traditionally has a rôle : guarantor of compliance, the State
accompagnies and promotes cooperation between territorial entities. Under
French law, no French territorial entity may sign a convention with an entity
outside France.
NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR
CROSS-BORDER OR INTER-TERRITORIAL COOPERATION
OFFERED BY
THE EUROPEAN GROUPING OF
TERRITORIAL COOPERATION (EGTC)
EGTC : an innovative instrument
1. One legal framework throughout the European Union
2. Enables association of territorial entities of different levels and also the
State and other public bodies
3. It can be used in a cross-border, inter-regional or transnational
framework
The EGTC in French law
16 April 2008 - Articles L. 1115-4-2 et seq. of the TEGC )
1- EGTCs with their headquarters in France are governed in a subsidiary
manner by the law of « public-private partnerships »
2- The regulations allow for the participation of Third Country entities under
certain conditions. The bordering Third Country States that are members of
the Council of Europe (Suisse, Monaco, Andorre) are expressly allowed to
participate in a EGTC.
3- Prior authorisation from the regional prefect is required for participation in an
EGTC. EGTCs, as bodies governed by public law, are under the supervision
of the prefect.
EGCT : a promising instrument
➩ 7 EGTCs already set up along the frontiers of France. 6 of them have
their headquarters in France.
➩ There are about ten other projects in the pipeline.
➩ Wide variety of members : territorial entities, State, public bodies
➩ Wide variety of projects:
- Managing a community programme
- Managing a public resource or service
- Territorial development in a cross-border metropolitan area or a
Euroregion
The challenges ahead
➩ Shorten the processing time (improve information sharing between
Member States, enhance the quality of projects)
➩ Resolve the difficulties by harmonising the regulations and the national
law that governs the headquarters: e.g. employment conditions
➩ Make it easier for Third Countries to take part - upcoming ratification of
the Protocol on Euroregional Co-operation Groupings (ECGs)
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING !