Euregio: a fruitful cooperation
A Belgian student at an English-language programme in the Netherlands. A Dutch patient having knee surgery in Germany without his insurer even blinking an eye. A German national, working in the Netherlands, who can exact the same pension as her counterparts in Germany. Impossible? Not if you live in Euregio Maas-Rhine.
From tentative beginnings in mid-1970s, the partnership of five regions - Germany’s Aachen region, the Dutch Limburg Province, the German-speaking Community in Belgium and the two Belgian Provinces of Liege and Limburg - has developed into a fruitful co-operation between institutes of all kinds. In 1991, the Euregio Maas-Rhine Foundation was established to co-ordinate the co-operation and to manage the funds.
The aim of the Foundation is to make the cross-border region more attractive and liveable for its citizens. Mobility and language competence stand high on the list of priorities, while economic development provides the basis for other activities. In a bid to attract investors, the Foundation is initiating a Euregional statistical office which will provide relevant Euregional data and figures.
lnterreg Programme
The Foundation provides financing for its initiatives from different sources. Its main source is the European Commission’s Interreg programme, which is currently in the middle of its third phase. Since 1991, when the first phase of the programme was launched, Interreg has helped launch such diverse projects as the Euregional transport timetable, cross-border health care and the the “Hora est” partnership between universities of applied sciences in the Euregio.
However, the EU enlargement will affect the amount of finances in the future. But the Euregio does not fret. “We have other possibilities of financing our initiatives,” said Alexander Homann, Foundation’s spokesman. “One of them is a type of participation fee the partner regions pay each year and the other is a regional fund. Both are completely independent of the Interreg,” he said.
The three-year rotating chairmanship of the board has this year been taken over by the Governor of the Liege Province, Mr Paul Bolland, who says one of his main priorities will be the support of the language strategy activities. “This strategy aims to improve language skills within the Euregio, starting from the youngest,” said Mr Homann. The Foundation plans to support incentives that are related to language teaching and learning, while it will also declare the year 2005 the Year of the Languages within the Euregio.
The plan is to bring the Euregio closer to its 3.8m inhabitants by a complete revamp of the foundation’s outdated website.
Moreover, the Foundation will start publishing a newsletter and teaching material to introduce Euregio Maas-Rhine to the youngest.
Source: Crossroads print issue, March 2004
