Deputy Director, Centre for Cross Border Studies MISSION The Centre - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Dr Anthony Soares Deputy Director, Centre for Cross Border Studies

MISSION

The Centre for Cross Border Studies empowers citizens and builds capacity and capability for cooperation across sectors and jurisdictional boundaries

• n the island of Ireland and further afield. This mission is achieved through

research, expertise, partnership and experience in a wide range of cross- border practices and concerns.

• contributing to the increased social, economic and territorial cohesion of

the island of Ireland through:

• addressing information gaps and other barriers that constrain cross-border mobility

and cross-border cooperation through research and provision of resources, tools and

• ther practical support;
• promoting and improving the quality of Cross-Border Cooperation between public

bodies, and between public bodies, business and civil society; and

• improving the capacity of people involved in social and economic development of

the island to engage in mutually beneficial Cross-Border Cooperation

• 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (Strand II)
• EU Sustainable Development Policy
• EU Territorial Co-operation Programmes
• (INTERREG & PEACE)
• EU Cohesion Policy

EU 28 EU 27

EU Council Guidelines

In view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including with the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal

• rder (Para 11).

EU Commission Directives (Annex) Nothing in the Agreement should undermine the objectives and commitments set out in the Good Friday Agreement and its related implementing agreements; the unique circumstances and challenges on the island of Ireland will require flexible and imaginative solutions. […] Existing bilateral agreements and arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom, such as the Common Travel Area, which are in conformity with EU law, should be recognised [para 14].

• Cooperation at the Norway-Sweden Border designed as the EEA (Erik

Hagen, INTERREG A Programme Manager, Hedmark Regional Administration)

• The Norway-Sweden Border: Overcoming obstacles (Annika Daisley,

Project Manager, Border Obstacles, Svinesundskommittén)

• French Cooperation with Switzerland (Mr Maxime Lefebvre, French

Ambassador for Transboundary Cooperation)

• Question and Answer Session

Cooperation at the Norway-Sweden border and the EEA

Dublin 16th May 2017 Erik Hagen Program manager Interreg Sweden-Norway

The European Economic Area (the EEA)

The EEA «Two-pilar structure»

The Interreg Sweden-Norway partnership

The Interreg Sweden-Norway «two pilar structure»

EU Commission

EU Audit Authority Swedish Government Monitoring Committee Norwegian Government Auditor General of Norway Managing authority, first level control Swedish secretariat Steering Committe North region Steering Committee Central region Steering Committee South region

Co-work

Norwegian Secretariat North region Norwegian Secretariat Central region Norwegian Secretariat South region

”Models of Cross-Border Cooperation for a Post-Brexit Context”

The Norway-Sweden border:

Overcoming obstacles

16th May Dublin

• The EU’s basic principle is that there should be free

movement of people.

• EU citizens have the right to travel to another EU

country and to stay there for a longer or shorter time.

• The Schengen cooperation complements the rules
• n free movement.
• EU citizens are allowed to stay longer than three

months to:

• work or run their own business
• study
• live in retirement

What does the EU agreement

• n free movement mean?

EU external border

Nordics

This is the Svinesund Committee

• A political collaboration between Østfold and Västra

Götaland. We create opportunities for business, jobs and development between countries.

• The Svinesund Committee works with the mandate
• f its members and The Nordic Council of Ministers.

Four focus areas

Border obstacles/opportunities Blue growth Tourism Green growth

An active border region with great potential

• The Sweden-Norway border is one of the EU’s external borders and one of the

longest.

• A customs border that affects businesses and people, but also a border crossed by

most commuters between Sweden and Norway.

• The border region is the most densely populated and accounts for the largest trade

exchange.

The Nordic region focuses on facts

Most trade is with Norway and Germany (2016)

• Swedish exports to Norway: EURO 12,9 billion (13,1 billion to Germany)
• Equivalent to about: 10% each of Sweden’s total exports.
• Swedish imports from Norway: EURO 10,3 billion (23,6 billion to Germany)
• Equivalent to about: 8% of Sweden’s total imports. (18% to Germany)

Most commuting in the Nordic region takes place between Sweden and Norway

• Nearly 60,000 Swedish commuters and part-time commuters earn their income entirely or partly from Norway.
• The border region between Oslo and Gothenburg sees the most commuting compared to other regions along

the Swedish-Norwegian border.

Many Swedish companies establish operations in Norway

• Around 2,000 Swedish foreign-controlled companies in Norway.
• Equivalent to about 30% of all foreign-controlled companies in Norway.
• Denmark in second place, with approximately 900 companies.

Definition: What is a border-obstacle?

• "Any obstacle that prevents, hampers or restricts the potential of people to operate freely across the

national borders" (Nordic Council of Ministers)

• When we talk about border obstacles, we put them into one of three categories:
• Formal obstacles
• Informal obstacles
• Administrative obstacles

Border obstacles, Sweden-Norway

• Border obstacle work is conducted within the Nordic cooperation.
• Main focus on citizens, businesses have lower priority.
• Sweden-Norway is the EU’s external border, the EEA agreement does not cover the EU

customs union and the EU’s internal market.

• The customs border creates barriers that hinder trade for businesses.

From border obstacles to border opportunities

• Border obstacles occur regionally and must initially be addressed regionally to

reach the Nordic level.

• Don’t see obstacles where there aren’t obstacles.
• We need to create a regional structure which can cooperate at national

and Nordic level.

• Border obstacles are now being discussed in the EU, with the Svinesund

Committee in the working group.

Some examples that affect business between Sweden and Norway

• Entrepreneurs having to put up their house as a guarantee

to get job on the other side of the border.

• Complicated VAT management for conference purchases.
• Long processing times – cross-border commuters may

have to wait six months to get parental money.

• National cross-border commuters are missing in national statistics.

How do we work to overcome border

• bstacles?
• Arrange information seminars together with border-related actors.
• Increase the potential of solving border obstacles.
• We are also involved in a project to increase movement across the border.

Annika Daisley Svinesundskommittén

Potential for business between Sweden and Norway?

• If we assume that 1% of business between Sweden and Norway is hindered by border obstacles, it would

mean EURO 250 million in lost business.

• 21% of companies responding to one of the Nordic Innovation surveys said that the reason they did not

conduct business across the border was because they did not know the rules and that they could not find information on laws and regulations. This can be interpreted as the amount of lost business.

Large, attractive regions are the winners of the future

The potential lies in our differences – but we must be ‘moderately’ different.

annika.daisley@svinesundskommitten.com Mobile: +46 733 35 85 12

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Freedom of Movement Council

Nordic Council of Ministers 38

The Transboundary Cooperation of France with Switzerland

Maxime Lefebvre May 16th 2017

I I – The EU-Switzerland Relation

• Free Trade Agreement of 1972
• Two Packages of Bilateral Agreements (1999 / 2004) - including free

movement of persons and application of Schengen and Dublin conventions

• Negotiation of a new framework Agreement (internal market)

II II – Sig ignification of f the French-Swiss Boundary ry

• Free Movement of Persons and Workers / coordination of social systems
• Switzerland doesn’t belong to the Customs Union ( Customs control,

Border Control Points)

• Switzerland cooperates on the basis of its own interests (Federal State,

Cantons)

III III – An efficient Transboundary ry Cooperation

• Transboundary dialogues
• Specific solutions :
• Sharing of Income Tax (Transboundary workers)
• Rhone River
• Bâle-Mulhouse Airport
• INTERREG Programmes