How a new initiative is helping to forge cross-border links in the EU

How to facilitate cross-border cooperation in the EU? Gorizia & Nova Gorica are one example.

Regulations change from county to country, so facilitating cross-border cooperation between localities and regions when dealing with common projects or infrastructures can be challenging.

Tomaž Konrad is Deputy director of an EGCT, and Coordinator of the Isonzo-Soča Cross-border Park, a European initiative hoping to provide a solution to some of the issues associated with cross-border cooperation in the EU. 

Here he explains his vision.

The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation is an instrument made possible by European legislation. I think today in Europe there are 70.

We are one of them, smaller than others, but that’s why we are perhaps more agile and, I can say, quite efficient.

And it’s the European Groupings that allow us to cooperate and act as a bridge on a daily basis, across all of Europe’s borders.

Why? Where does this logic from the EU and the Commission come from?

It is because one-third of the people live on Europe’s borders, and that’s a very large number of people and sometimes having those borders is a challenge. Tomaž Konrad is deputy director of an EGCT, and coordinator of the Isonzo-Soča Cross-border Park,

That’s why we have to set up new initiatives at the borders and these European Groupings are the ideal way to do this.

We work very well with others in Europe and exchange our experiences, and I think there will be many more groupings like this in Europe because it is the best and most appropriate way of identifying and finding new solutions.”