Regulation on the cross-border mechanism 2021-2027

Key points:

The EESC

• welcomes the proposal for a regulation presented by the European Commission on a mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context (hereafter “the mechanism”). The proposal reflects a new approach and is likely to strengthen the opportunities for cooperation based on subsidiarity between different Member States;

• considers the argument set out in the proposal to be correct, since, although there are currently several institutional instruments supporting these regions (in particular INTERREG and the EGTC), they do not have the necessary powers to take such legal measures;

• believes that the implementation of the draft regulation may contribute to the removal of historic obstacles and to strengthening the sense of European citizenship;

• encourages the European Commission to clarify all the questions likely to generate legal uncertainty so that a process perceived as complex and offering extensive and excessive guarantees will not have a deterrent effect on potential users of the legislation. It is essential to establish clearly how to encourage two neighbouring Member States to cooperate where their project designs differ;

• underlines the importance of continuously monitoring the correct application of the regulation, as it does not regulate solutions, but the process itself, and could offer a framework for countless opportunities for cooperation;

• underlines that the advantage of the draft regulation is that it harmonises rather than standardises, and the definition of its territorial scope therefore constitutes a key element of its applicability;

• believes that the proposal for a regulation works on the principle that, in order to solve a given problem, one solution would be to apply the legislation in force on the other side of the border. However, in many cases this approach is not possible. There may be no legislation on either side of the border to help resolve a given problem; the solution may then be along the lines of a model provided by a third country;

• welcomes the coordination introduced by the European Commission, and is counting on the Cross-border Coordination Points to disseminate existing good practice (cross-border programmes, etc.);

• believes that the draft regulation can contribute to further strengthening innovative and responsible European public administration, but the EESC considers it's necessary to impose information requirements on participants in order to highlight the opportunities for cross-border cooperation;
• believes that is important to avoid any possibility for backward steps in cross-border initiatives and legal practices.