Over the decades, we have gone from a state of “faith” in Europe to a state of “doubt,” even though Europe is the solution. At a time of major transitions, resilience must prevail over resignation. And because everyday Europe and the feeling of belonging to Europe are played out first and foremost at its internal borders, what if we made a societal, democratic, and citizen-centric “cross-border deal?”

Under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel MACRON, President of the French Republic, the European Forum of cross-border stakeholders returns in 2024 to the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris.

The event is organized by the MOT in partnership with ESPON, the European Commission, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the consulting firm Trans-Missions, Borders in Globalization (BIG) and the National Center for Territorial Civil Service (CNFPT). 

Three major objectives have been defined for this new edition of the Borders Forum: 

1. Challenge European political leaders in territories that concern 40% of Europe and 2 million cross-border workers (including 500,000 in France) to open the debate on a "Cross-border deal". 
2. Questioning the issues of solidarity, sovereignty and reciprocity with two days of discussions on borders, a subject that has marked the media landscape of 2024.
3. Making proposals to resolve cross-border "obstacles" by addressing very concrete subjects that impact the daily lives of residents during 10 technical workshops.
    

Highlights of the two days:

Round tables:
A societal, democratic, and citizen cross-border deal requires two key elements: solidarity and the people's trust. But will there be a cross-border "people" by 2050? Are we ready to share our sovereignty across borders? 

These will be the burning questions of the Borders Forum round tables, fuelled by the interventions of the Hungarian Minister of Public Administration and Regional Development, Tibor Navracsics, the Secretary General of the Demographic Challenge within the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Spanish Demographic Challenge, Paco Boya, the Director of the EGTC Corridor Rhine Alps, Cecilia Braun, representative of Trentino in the General Secretariat of the Euregio South Tyrol-Trentino, Elisa Bertò, the former Minister and current President of the Observatory of History Teaching in Europe, Alain Lamassoure, philosopher Gabrielle Halpern, President of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), Karl-Heinz Lambertz and Wiktor Szydarowski, Director of the ESPON EGTC.

On the second day, technical workshops will give participants an opportunity to have their voices be heard.

In that context, ESPON is organising a specific event called “Eastern borders at the crossroads: Between War and EU Enlargement”. Facing the negative consequences of the Russian war against Ukraine and the promising but challenging perspective of the enlargement of the EU, eastern border regions are actively looking for renewed and more resilient and cohesive development models. The workshop will offer the opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities for EU eastern border regions to act as wave breakers, being the first to absorb the repercussions of geopolitical shocks such as sudden changes in migration flows, security policy, public finance and private investment, trade and value chains. In this session, policy makers will provide insights into their policies and practices, shaping possible new cross-border deals and paving the way for stronger regional resilience.

Moderated by the ESPON EGTC (Nicolas Rossignol), the event includes the participation of the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiative (Mr Gyula Ocskay), the Polish Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy (Ms Patrycja Artymowska), the Regional Council of South Karelia in Finland (Ms Kirsi Vaino), the Serbian Ministry for European Integration (Ms Sanda Simić-Stambolić), the EGTC Tisza acting between Hungary and Ukraine (Ms Andrea Szabóné Cap).
 

Read the key takeaways of the ESPON session here