The 13th episode of the Beyond Borders: Breakfast Debate Series was conducted on the 21st of September 2023. This iteration covered the topic: “How would a new European legal tool solve cross-border obstacles?”. The debate followed recent discussions taking place on the European Parliament on the BRIDGEU (Border Regions’ Instrument for Development and Growth in the EU) mechanism and the overwhelmingly positive acceptance it received, evident by the positive votes it collected (521 positive votes out of a total of 570). The 13th Breakfast Debate hosted key stakeholders and cross border actors that discussed the recent history of efforts to further eliminate administrative and legal obstacles that still persist in border regions, the promised benefits that could be derived from a new possible proposal and what future developments could be expected on this front. 

The debate was initiated by our esteemed host, Lord Andrew Lansley who introduced the polls of the Debate and laid the floor for DG REGIO expert Dirk Peters. Mr Peters elaborated on the process that was initiated in 2015 through the Luxemburg presidency of the European Counsil, that involved the work of DG REGIO, and elaborated on the contextual justification for an EU wide cross border tool. 

The discussion was further enriched through the valuable inputs from Christa Kammerhofer-Schlegel, policy analyst in the European Parliamentary Research Service, who discussed the impact, in economic terms, of different scenarios for further cross border cooperation, leading to the conclusion that an EU wide tool would have the biggest positive impact for the European Union. The EP analysis points to a potential economic impact of 123 billon € in yearly GVA. 

Following that, mr Thiemo W. Eser, head of the International Affairs and European Territorial Cooperation Division for the government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg took center stage to provide his inputs on the discussion. These concentrated in further exploring what the actual recipe for further eliminating persistent obstacles should be through the better use of all mechanisms available including the new tools. The bottom up, place based and time-limited approach was put forward with specific emphasis on tailor made solutions that maintain the autonomies of the involved authorities.

Consequently, MEP Sandro Gozi, the rapporteur of theBRIDGEU file in the European Parliament, then took centre the stage to present the specifics and rationale of the new proposal. Mr. Gozi detailed the revived efforts to introduce his proposal on the BRIDGEU, explaining how he drafted the report with constant stakeholder consultations. He then presented the details of the new proposal and what those would mean for central & local governments, as well as, cross-border regions. Certainly one of the strengths of this proposal is its voluntary basis which ensures that an instrument is in place but no government is forced to use it if they don't want to. This flexibility comes as the result of previous discussions and efforts to introduce such an instrument, which failed due to the lack of such a provision.

Finally, Pavel Branda, deputy mayor of the Radlo municipality and CoR member gave his own perspective by emphasizing the importance for such a tool, especially in further boosting cooperation efforts that already have a long history in border regions. 

The event closed with responses to a quick round of questions stemming from the discussion created in the chat and the topics of the polls that engaged speakers on providing examples of where the new tool might assist, what its most important elements are and what the future holds in terms of further developments.

If you are interested in delving deeper in this discussion, you can 

• ? watch the video of the 13th Breakfast Debate here
• ? read our article on the Plenary discussion and voting on mr Gozi’s proposal that took place in the EU parliament here
• engage in our polls and the speakers' comments here and here

Stay tuned to the Border Focal Point Network so that you don’t miss any of our upcoming Breakfast Debates.