The 26th edition of the Beyond Borders Breakfast Debate, organised by the Border Focal Point Network, was successfully held on held on 11 December 2025. The debate presented the results of the Resilient Borders Initiative and showcased two Pilot projects, one from each thematic lot: Cross-Border Spatial Planning and Cross-Border Crisis Management, highlighting the new methods of cross-border cooperation fostered by the beneficiaries, the tools and strategies developed and implemented by the Pilot project partners to enhance cross-border and regional resilience, and the results of the Pilot projects and their anticipated impacts.
Our esteemed hostess, Karen Clements, moderated the discussion, welcoming the panellists and noting that the session would examine how cooperation in spatial planning and crisis management strengthens EU border regions, drawing on the Resilient Borders Initiative and two pilot projects.
The first speaker, Mr Hugo Sobral, Deputy Director-General, DG REGIO, described the event as a milestone for the Resilient Borders initiative and highlighted resilience as a cross-cutting EU priority in response to health, security and climate crises. He stressed that border regions are particularly exposed to external shocks and cautioned that border closures in times of crisis can undermine regions that depend on cross-border flows, making cooperation more important rather than less. He outlined the role of Interreg in strengthening border resilience through improved governance, evidence-based policymaking and practical pilot actions. While cooperation involves costs, he underlined that fragmentation is more costly in the long term and encouraged successful pilot approaches to be replicated and mainstreamed within cohesion policy.
The next speakers, Messrs Jean Peyrony, Director General of Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) and Martín Guillermo Ramírez, Secretary General of Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), introduced the Resilient Borders initiative. Mr. Peyrony presented the Resilient Borders Initiative, explaining that it supported 19 pilot projects across Europe on crisis management and spatial planning, funded with up to 40.000€ each and managed by MOT and AEBR on behalf of DG REGIO. Originating from lessons learned during the COVID-19 border closures and earlier studies by DG REGIO and the OECD, the pilots demonstrated the importance of trust-building, political will and joint capacity-building in strengthening cross-border cooperation. He highlighted the need to address power imbalances and institutionalise cooperation to achieve long-term impact, concluding that the pilots provide replicable models with strong potential for scaling. Mr. Ramírez highlighted the Resilient Borders initiative as an important step in recognising border regions as key actors in European integration, particularly in times of crisis. He noted the positive feedback from border regions and described border areas as operating in a permanent state of crisis due to structural and institutional asymmetries. He stressed the importance of combining crisis management with joint spatial planning to build long-term resilience and functional cross-border areas and encouraged partners to further build on the pilot actions.
Our next speaker, Ms. Pavla Štefkovičová, from the Department of Urban Strategies and Analyses, Coordination Office baum_cityregion of the city of Bratislava presented the Pilot Action “Cross-border Integration of the Functional Metropolitan Area of Bratislava”, which aims to enhance cross-border cooperation between Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. Building on nearly 15 years of Slovak–Austrian collaboration through the baum_cityregion office, the project focused on creating a governance framework to include Hungarian partners and identifying strategic thematic areas for cooperation. Workshops with mayors, regional experts and development agencies addressed challenges such as suburbanisation, mobility and harmonised planning, while also fostering networking and trust among participants. Despite some border disruptions, the project successfully developed a multilingual action plan and established the first trilateral steering body meeting, with Hungarian partners joining as observers. The initiative demonstrates the potential for long-term cross-border integration of Bratislava’s functional metropolitan area.
Following, Ms. Iva Brejzová, Head of Integrated Rescue System and Humanitarian Aid Department, Ministry of Interior – Directorate General of Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, presented the Pilot Action titled “Joint action plan for strengthening cross-border cooperation in disaster management”. The pilot action aimed at strengthening cross-border cooperation in disaster management between the Czech Republic and Bavaria, covering a 350-kilometer border region exposed to climate-related risks. It addressed differences in legal frameworks, institutional structures and communication procedures by organising three workshops on risk analysis, legal responsibilities and bottleneck identification, culminating in a final conference. Key outputs included a cross-border risk map identifying six major hazards, a competence map clarifying responsibilities and gaps and a joint action plan outlining long-term cooperation through risk-based coordination, institutional alignment and operational capacity-building. The pilot improved mutual understanding, communication and trust among crisis managers.
After the presentation of the two Pilot Actions, it was the turn of Ms Nikoletta Horváth, from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to highlight the importance of integrating the results of the pilot actions into the next generation of Interreg programs to maximise impact and create synergies. Congratulating the partners on delivering evidence-based, professionally validated action plans, she emphasised their potential to serve as laboratories for future initiatives, which can be replicated, adapted or scaled across different border regions and financing schemes. She noted that strong regional players, such as those involved in the Bratislava metropolitan area and Hungary–Croatia border, can embed these results in a bottom-up territorial planning approach. She concluded that the pilot actions provide ready-to-use solutions and models which can be transformed into flagship projects to generate a multiplier effect across border regions in the post-2027 programming period.
In closing, Mr. Ricardo Ferreira, Border Focal Point Coordinator, DG REGIO Unit D2 – Interreg, cross-border cooperation, internal borders, emphasised that the projects are actively building a more integrated and resilient Europe, improving life for people in border regions. He highlighted cooperation as the key factor, noting that connecting peers across borders and developing action plans strengthens long-term resilience. The pilots demonstrate how knowledge from Pan-European studies can be applied locally, creating practical impacts and fostering future connections. He underscored the multiplier effect of these initiatives, which inform Interact projects and cohesion policy, showing how small, targeted pilots can generate lasting improvements and guide post-2027 reforms to enhance border-region resilience.
The two poll questions that were featured on the debate were:
1. Which of the following would strengthen long-term cross-border cooperation in spatial planning? In this poll question, the participants identified three top priorities for strengthening long-term cross-border cooperation in spatial planning: establishing permanent cross-border governance structures, securing political support and commitment from authorities, and harmonising laws, standards, and regulations across borders for land use and development.
2. What would most improve long-term cross-border cooperation in crisis management? In the second poll, participants showed two clear priorities: building stable institutional partnerships between authorities across borders and adopting clear legal agreements and joint action protocols.
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