Euroregion Baltic has taken part in public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions organised by the European Commission. The consultations were a part of the 25th Anniversary of INTERREG.
The main purpose of this consultation was to collect experiences and opinions from citizens, key stakeholders and experts, in order to get a comprehensive overview of what obstacles persist and of their impact on the daily lives of people and businesses in border regions.
In its contribution, ERB pointed to three main obstacles still influencing the cross-border cooperation in the region – difficult physical access, legal and administrative barriers as well as economic disparities. It also argued that proposed certain measures that could alleviate some of the most immediate problems and therefore contribute to a better cooperation in the future, and underlined the importance of EU financial and support facilities such as Interreg or ENP for solving the problems on the ground.
The full text of ERB’s contribution to the consultations can be read here. As an attachment ERB also provided previously published report on the subject prepared within the Seagull II project – ERB Border Crossing Report.
The results will be published online early in 2016 on the DG Regio’s website. They will also feed into a study aiming to produce conclusions and practical suggestions on how the EU and its partners can ease remaining obstacles.