Cross-border cooperation on the Upper Rhine, High Rhine and Lake Constance
Cross-border cooperation on the Upper Rhine, High Rhine and Lake Constance is cooperation in the border regions of Germany , France , Switzerland , Austria and Liechtenstein . It is part of the European unification process and, with its integration successes, is considered exemplary for other border regions in Europe.
history
Upper Rhine
Immediately after the Second World War , the borders were largely sealed off. Cross-border cooperation in humanitarian aid took place on the Upper Rhine , for example in the form of school meals, clothing gifts and recreational days for children in Switzerland. Basel-Mulhouse Airport was built in 1946 as the first Franco-Swiss project in cross-border cooperation. In 1987 it was renamed “EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg” and received a trinational airport advisory board.
The reconciliation especially between German and French was advanced rapidly after the war. Father Jean du Rivau , Prof. Joseph Rovan , Wilhelm Hausenstein and later also Alain Poher and Hans Filbinger were involved in the association BILD (Bureau International de Liaison et de Documentation), which was founded in Offenburg in 1945/48 . Joseph Rey , Lord Mayor of Colmar , initiated the first cross-border meetings between politicians. This resulted in the community interest group Middle Alsace-Breisgau CIMAB (Communauté d'Intérêts Moyenne Alsace-Breisgau).
In 1971, at the instigation of the Swiss Association of Regio Basiliensis and the Freiburg District President Dr. Hermann Person held regular tri-national talks as part of the “Conference Tripartite”. The German-French-Swiss government commission was founded in 1975 as part of the “Bonn Agreement” . The Tripartite Regional Committee was established in the south of its mandate and the Bilateral Regional Committee in the north. From 1982 the government commission recommended mutual information on environmentally relevant projects, plans and incidents. The tripartite and bilateral regional committees have been meeting as the German-French-Swiss Upper Rhine Conference since 1992 . Technical working groups were set up under their umbrella, which initially worked out recommendations and reports and increasingly developed projects.
Upper Rhine
On the Upper Rhine , the German-Swiss Spatial Planning Commission, founded on a national level in 1973, was for a long time the only body that covered the entire region. It was mainly focused on spatial planning , but also concerned with the environment , transport and culture . The High Rhine Commission was founded in the same year on the basis of the “Karlsruhe Convention”, which came into force in 1997 and concerned the cooperation between regional authorities and local public authorities between Germany , France , Switzerland and Luxembourg . It sees itself as a communication platform and an instrument for practical problem solving. The office of the High Rhine Commission is located in Waldshut-Tiengen .
Lake Constance
The International Water Protection Commission for Lake Constance was founded as early as 1959 with the aim of coordinating the efforts of the neighboring states to keep the lake clean. In 1972 the Lake Constance Conference was founded , initially as an informal platform for the countries bordering Lake Constance to clarify issues of spatial planning , environmental protection and transport . Founding members were Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Vorarlberg and the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen , Schaffhausen and Thurgau . It was renamed the International Lake Constance Conference (IBK) in 1979 and gradually expanded to include the cantons of Zurich , Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden and the Principality of Liechtenstein .
In the 1980s and 1990s, numerous commissions were founded in the fields of transport , culture , education / science / research , public relations , the environment, and health and social issues, and many projects were implemented through their work.
EU policy
In 1990 the INTERREG programs of regional policy of the European Union set new impulses for cross-border cooperation . For the first time, only cross-border projects were financially supported by this increasingly better endowed funding instrument. Since the EU funding is dependent on co-financing from the project partners from the border regions, the investments triggered by this are approximately twice as high.
On the Upper Rhine and Lake Constance, the EU also supports the EURES labor market networks . Another institution also funded by the EU is the cross-border consumer advice service “Euroinfo Consumer” in Kehl .
Interreg-A Upper Rhine
In the first two editions of the program from 1990 to 1999, a total of 211 projects were funded in the Upper Rhine- Middle-South and PAMINA areas with grants totaling ECU 51.05 million . In the third edition of INTERREG III A from 2000 to 2006, a total of 159 projects were funded with 45.1 million euros in the two program areas; in the fourth edition, from 2007 to 2013, 67 million euros were estimated for the Upper Rhine.
Interreg-A Alpenrhein-Bodensee-Hochrhein
In the regions on the Upper Rhine and Lake Constance, the INTERREG programs I to III (Alpenrhein-Bodensee-Hochrhein) funded a total of 262 projects with EUR 27.28 million. The fourth program edition is estimated at 23.8 million euros.
Joint cross-border bodies
Upper Rhine
State bodies that deal with cross-border cooperation on the Upper Rhine are the German-French-Swiss government commission with the Upper Rhine Conference , and the Upper Rhine Council .
The German-French-Swiss government commission , secured by state treaty, is the umbrella of the state cross-border cooperation on the Upper Rhine. The working body is the Upper Rhine Conference subordinate to it. The plenum of the ORK meets once a year, the presidium two to three times a year. The Joint Secretariat in Kehl , which is administered by the Freiburg Regional Council, organizes the plenary and presidium meetings, implements the resolutions of the Upper Rhine Conference, carries out public relations work and establishes regular contact between the Upper Rhine Conference and the other parties involved in cross-border cooperation . It consists of the delegation secretaries from Germany, France and Switzerland, supported by numerous working groups and expert committees. The Upper Rhine Conference has a common budget. The seat of the Joint Secretariat is the Villa Rehfus in Kehl in the immediate vicinity of Strasbourg . The joint secretariat is accompanied by a coordination committee in which the co-financing states Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate , the French state , the Conseil Régional d'Alsace , the Conseil Général du Bas-Rhin , the Conseil Général du Haut-Rhin , as well as the Swiss cantons of Basel-Stadt , Basel-Landschaft , Aargau , Jura , Solothurn and the Regio Basiliensis are represented.
The Upper Rhine Council is a body of cooperation between elected politicians from the state parliaments , regional, general and cantonal councils as well as municipalities . Its task is to accompany the activities of the Upper Rhine Conference, to initiate cross-border projects and to support the joint development.
Upper Rhine
The international body for cooperation on the Upper Rhine is the High Rhine Commission. It is a mixed state-communal cooperation body between the districts of Waldshut and Lörrach on the German side and the cantons of Aargau and Schaffhausen on the Swiss side.
Lake Constance
At Lake Constance , the neighboring countries and cantons work together in the International Lake Constance Conference. At its head is the Conference of Heads of Government. Your work program is prepared by the standing committee and seven technical commissions. The IBK has a common budget. The IBK office is in Constance . In addition, MPs from the mandate area of the IBK work together in the Parliamentary Conference on Lake Constance. It meets twice a year and focuses on the areas of economy , the environment , transport , tourism , culture , educational policy and health . The longest tradition of cooperation has international treaty-regulated commissions for the protection and use of the lake, for example for water protection or the regulation of the Rhine inflow.
Cross-border institutions
In the European competence center in the “Villa Rehfus” in Kehl, several cross-border institutions work together under one roof: the advanced training facility “Euroinstitut”, the consumer advice service “Euroinfo Consumer”, the joint secretariat of the Upper Rhine Conference and the citizens' advice center “INFOBEST Kehl / Strasbourg”.
As information and advice centers for cross-border issues between Germany, France and Switzerland, four information and advice centers (INFOBEST) were set up in 1991, based in Village-Neuf , Vogelgrun / Breisach , Kehl / Strasbourg and Lauterbourg . They form a network as contact persons for citizens, associations, companies, administrations and politicians and also organize cross-border projects themselves.
Coordination offices in the states
The state chancelleries are usually responsible for cross-border cooperation at the regional level. For Baden-Württemberg, the regional council of Freiburg plays a central role in coordinating cross-border cooperation . For this purpose, the office for cross-border cooperation and European affairs was set up in 1986 under the long-term management of Wilderich von Droste zu Hülshoff . Both the Joint Secretariat of the Upper Rhine Conference and the office of the International Lake Constance Conference are linked to this staff unit in terms of budget and organization. The country's personnel in the cross-border institutions are also posted from there. Numerous coordination tasks in the cooperation at all Baden-Württemberg external borders are carried out there on behalf of the state government.
The international coordination office of the Regio Basiliensis and the representatives for external relations in the Swiss border cantons perform similar tasks for the cantons of north-western Switzerland. In Alsace, the Secrétariat Géneral pour les Affaires Régionales et Européennes (SGARE) and coordinators at the Région Alsace and the two Alsatian départements perform corresponding tasks for the French state.
Measures and projects
Upper Rhine
The Upper Rhine is regarded as a model region for cross-border cooperation in Europe , in which numerous projects have been implemented. Examples are the Infobest points along the border, the trinational youth parliament and the Upper Rhine Youth Fund, joint disaster relief exercises, a joint fireboat on the Rhine, the Museums-PASS-Musées , cross-border nature conservation projects, the establishment of a joint center for the Franco-German police - and customs cooperation and the “Trischola” student and teacher exchange program.
After the main obstacles to cross-border cooperation have so far been dismantled, a European metropolitan region is to be created in the future, one of the strongest economic regions in Europe. To this end, the four pillars of the metropolitan region (politics, economy, science / research, civil society) are activating the potential to promote the competitiveness of local companies , to achieve top performance in research and to increase civic engagement.
The densely populated, trinational region on the Upper Rhine with around 6 million inhabitants is suitable for this because it is geographically, economically and culturally strongly intertwined. It has a high level of economic efficiency, is an important trading and transit zone with a dense road and rail network, several Rhine ports and airports ( Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg , Strasbourg and Karlsruhe / Baden-Baden ) and, according to current forecasts, will be in the next Years of population continued to grow , mainly through immigration .
Upper Rhine
More than 130 encounter projects were carried out on the Upper Rhine with the help of INTERREG funds. a. the German border region was involved in the Swiss initiative slowUp , a car-free adventure day. In addition, a regional development concept for the Upper Rhine was developed in 2005, for which the main topics of education, overarching traffic development, game corridors , spatial population development and tourism were defined.
Lake Constance
Successes of the cooperation on Lake Constance in the areas of education and culture were the founding of the International Lake Constance University , the artists' meeting meet. each other in Vaduz and the joint cultural sponsorship awards . In addition, measures to reduce ammonia emissions are currently being worked out, the International Lake Constance Conference (IBK) awards an annual energy promotion award and a cross-border air quality analysis was carried out as an INTERREG project. In the field of economy , six economic chambers in the region work together in the Association of Lake Constance Chambers of Commerce and Industry . The Lake Constance region is also involved in the Xchange apprentice exchange program. In addition, the InterregIV project “Positioning the International Lake Constance Tourist Region to optimize destination management ” started on November 4, 2009 . As partners and participants in this project, representatives from tourism, business and politics from four nations have created the conditions for future destination management under the specific conditions of a multinational destination.
literature
- Regional Council Freiburg (Ed.): Four decades of small foreign policy for Baden-Württemberg - the Regional Council Freiburg in cross-border cooperation
- Région Alsace, Direction de la Coopération et des Relations Internationales (Ed.): 11th Three-Country Congress Upper Rhine - Model for Development and Cooperation . Congress report
- Martin Nagelschmidt: The Upper Rhine multilevel system. Institutional conditions and functional challenges of cross-border cooperation in Europe , Regio Basiliensis, Schwabe Verlag Basel, Basel 2005
Web links
- To the GZ in BW
- Regional Council Freiburg, Office for Cross-Border Cooperation and European Affairs
- State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg
- Karlsruhe Regional Council
- State Chancellery Rhineland-Palatinate
- Structure and Approval Directorate South
- Regional Council of Alsace
- Préfecture de la Région Alsace
- Conseil Général du Bas Rhin
- Conseil General du Haut Rhin
- Basiliensis region
- Upper Rhine Conference
- International Lake Constance Conference
- High Rhine Commission
- Interreg IV - Alpine Rhine-Lake Constance-High Rhine
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.sgp-ssp.net/cont/fileadmin/pdf/bulletin_sgp-ssp/2006_08/breitenmoser.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.igkb.de/
- ↑ http://www.rheinregulierung.at/
- ↑ http://www.infobest.org/DE/acceuil_de.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Upper Rhine EuroRegion: OBERRHEIN Statistical Data 2006 ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 360 kB)
- ↑ http://www.hochrhein.org
- ↑ http://www.bodenseekonferenz.org
- ↑ http://www.dasbodenseeprojekt.eu/
