At the Committee of the Regions plenary session in Brussels, mayors and regional presidents urged EU lawmakers to simplify the rules for delivering cross-border infrastructures and public services to citizens, and set out ways to improve a key legal tool, the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC). Representatives also launched a platform for public authorities setting up and running such cross-border bodies.

Direct cooperation between regions and cities delivers concrete benefits for citizens, such as the joint supply of utilities or services in border areas. The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, or EGTC, is an EU tool, a legal framework, to minimise the red tape of these cross-border projects.

The Committee of the Regions' proposals regarding the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation are based on an extensive consultation of existing EGTCs, regional and local authorities as well as other stakeholders. One of the key issues raised by the CoR is the lack of coordination that has dominated the past five years. This resulted in a patchwork of national implementing measures that are not necessarily compatible with each other. The Committee opinion therefore urges clearer guidance from the EU institutions on how to apply the concept in national law. Another obstacle is that national capitals often take a long time to process requests for setting up EGTCs, which the CoR wants to reduce.

Paradoxically, some EGTCs have reported problems when applying for EU funding. Sometimes their multinational nature is not recognised and projects are rejected on grounds of an insufficient number of nationalities represented, or on grounds of an unclear legal status. The Committee therefore urges that more information on the concept be made available to administrations at all levels, including the European Commission. The CoR also repeats its call for a specific EU funding programme to support fledgling EGTCs.

To follow up its proposals and to feed practical experience back to Brussels, the CoR has also launched an EGTC Platform, which was welcomed by the Hungarian Presidency of the EU for the next semester, represented by the Secretary of State for Public Administration and Justice Bence Rétvári.

European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC)

The European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation is a unique statute under European law that was created in 2006 after intense campaigning by the Committee of the Regions (CoR). Since then, 16 cross-border areas have set up EGTCs, bringing together more than 320 public authorities from across Europe, with many more in the pipeline. The European Commission will propose to the European Parliament and the Council a review of the current legal framework before the summer, providing a window of opportunity to simplify procedures even further.

Committee of the Regions President Mercedes Bresso, who drafted a report on the issue in 2008, emphasised regional and local authorities need efficient tools to deliver results for their citizens.