EUROPEAN COMMISSION Objective 3 Territorial Co-operation Workshop 3: EUROPEAN GROUPING OF CROSS BORDER COOPERATION DG Regional Policy Brussels, 21 February 2005

Questions of Member States l What is the value added of a Commission regulation compared to the existing instruments? l To what extent is the EGCC optional? l What is the law applicable to projects of cross-border cooperation? l What about the conflicts with national laws?

Questions of Member States l What is the financial responsibility of the Members of the EGCC and of the Member States? l What is the role of the Commission in the creation of the EGCC? l Is the participation of partners from third countries in an EGCC possible?

What is it? l an instrument at the disposal of regional and local authorities of 2 or more Member States l a grouping invested with legal personality capable of acting on behalf of its members l to facilitate and promote the crossborder- transnational and interregional cooperation of MS regional and local authorities in order to reinforce the economic, social and territorial cohesion

Why a community instrument? Because there has been a request - of regional and local authorities - of the committee of the regions, to provide a legal instrument with a capacity to act recognised in each Member States upon its creation

What is the legal basis? What is the legal basis? Article 159 of the Treaty is the legal basis for conducting actions to promote economic ans social cohesion outside the scope of the structural funds

Optional use of the EGCC l Within the scope of the structural funds implementation, Member States may decide to delegate to a EGCC the responsibility to manage an operational programme for territorial cooperation (art 18 of ERDF regulation)

Outside the scope of the implementation of the structural funds: regional and local authorities may create EGCC, respecting institutional and legal frameworks of the MS concerned. Optional use of the EGCC

Provisions to establish the EGCC - Composition - Competencies - Agreement: Tasks of a grouping - Statutes - Organs - Budget - Publicity What is there in the regulation?

Composition and identification of the competences and tasks Composition - Member States and/or - regional and local authorities and/or - public bodies The Agreement passed by the members includes: - tasks delegated to the EGCC, duration and dissolution - responsibilities of each of the members among themselves and with respect to third parties

l law applicable to its interpretation and enforcement (from one of the member state) l responsibilities hold by its members vis-à-vis the EGCC and third partners l modalities of mutual recognition in the field of control l conditions for granting concessions or public service delegations to the EGCC (on the basis of the national law applicable ) NB: Powers of public authority (police or regulatory power) cannot be delegated to the EGCC. Agreement (through convention)

Tasks of the EGCC l implement cross-border, transnational or interregional cooperation programmes co-financed by the Community l or any other action of cross-border cooperation transnational or interregional cooperation without community financial intervention

Tasks of the EGCC l its tasks are those delegated by the members to the EGCC according to their own competencies thanks to the institutionnal sytem of MS l It acts on behalf of its members and has the legal capacity accorded to the legal entities by national legislation

Statutes l Adopted by the members on the basis of the agreement l Include : mobjective and tasks of the EGCC mrelations of the EGCC with the members mseat morgans

Statutes mdecision making procedures of the EGCC mmodalities of its functioning (personnel management) mmodalities of the members' financial contributions mapplicable accounting and budgetary rules mmodalities for financial control and external audit Upon adoption of the statutes, the EGCC has the capacity to act

Organs l A director l An assembly if so decided by the EGCC l Others as envisaged by the statutes

Budget The EGCC establishes : - An annual provisional budget adopted by the members - An annual activity report Financial liability remains with delegating bodies on a pro-rata basis according to their contribution to the budget, until debts are eliminated (unlimited responsibilities)

Publicity l Publication in the OJEU of the agreement establishing the EGCC mname of the EGCC mits objective, mthe list of its members  the address of its seat. Consequence of the publication: recognition of the legal capacity of the EGCC in each Member State. Consequence of the publication: recognition of the legal capacity of the EGCC in each Member State.