The Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau EGTC results from a partnership between France and Germany, involving 868,014 inhabitants in a 2,176 km²'s area.
This EGCT was established to build strategies, to plan and implement projects in a cross-border territory. The EGTC has given the Eurodistrict a legal status, budget, and a common secretariat in place of two.
Review of activities in 2016
Tasks
The EGTC is a grouping of cities working on cross-border projects and activities. It can either be partner of projects with its own funds, or project promoter with EU funds (for example Interreg). It implements cohesion policy in a concrete way. The EGTC can take on all possible roles in implementing ETC programmes: project manager, project partner, provider of co-financing, etc. It can facilitate civil society groups to generate cross-border projects that can receive EU funding. With the Interreg Programme, the EGTC will set up the 3rd generation of Interreg financial support for "micro-projects" 2014-2020 (assistance for project preparation, administrative support...). The EGTC was active during 2016 in a wide range of topics in relation to ETC: economy, employment, education, bilingualism, social policy, environment, civil society, culture, sport, citizen participation, etc.
The EGTC has implemented the Europe 2020 Strategy through numerous actions: Employment, climate change and energy (cross-border tram Strasbourg-Kehl and bus Erstein-Lahr), education (Fund for bilingualism), poverty and social exclusion (Fund for young refugees), public health (cross-border projects for risk reduction of drug use), etc. The EGTC promotes the development of joint strategies of economic growth, social cohesion and sustainability. The strategy is decided by the EGTC’s Council, which is composed of 25 French and 25 German elected representatives. It also fosters the joint management of public services, i.e. through the working group on prevention and security, with public services and authorities from France and Germany.
Challenges or issues
Differences in national and regional competences may slow down the functioning of projects in fields that are handled differently across EU MS (i.e. health, employment and social inclusion). An example is health insurance in general or certificates issued at sports events in particular. Also one obstacle for the EGTC is the heavy administration of EU-funded projects.
Budget
€ 850,000 provided by a membership fee per member proportional to the population (about € 1 per inhabitant).
EU-funded projects and programmes in phase of imple-mentation in 2016
Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau: un marché de l'emploi à 360°- ein auf 360° offener Arbeitsmarkt: total project budget of € 2,147,99.20 (€ 1,073,599.60 co-funded by the EU); budget implemented by EGTC € 187,026.30
Staff (in FTE)
7 permanent employees
