The European Commission launched 7 weeks ago, in the context of the 25th anniversary of Interreg, a public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions.

A lot has happened in the field of cross-border cooperation since the beginning of Interreg – but numerous obstacles, mainly legal and administrative, still exist and add a burden on cross border activities. As a result, a significant economic potential remains untapped in our border regions. We also know that Interreg financing alone cannot solve all these obstacles. With this public consultation, the Commission will therefore be able to take stock of the opinion of 185 million EU citizens living in border regions, with regard to the obstacles they are facing in their everyday lives on their cross border activities, as well as their suggestions on how to overcome them.

The consultation will run until 21 December 2015 and covers internal EU border regions, as well as border regions with Switzerland and Norway. The results will be made publicly available online in the beginning of 2016. They will also feed into a study which aims to produce conclusions and practical suggestions on how the EU and its partners can ease remaining border obstacles.

Please find the link to the consultation here: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/consultations/overcoming-obstacles-border-regions/

If you have any questions, please contact: REGIO-CONSULTATION-BORDER-OBSTACLES@ec.europa.eu