Quai d’Orsay - Communique - Making daily life easier for those living in border areas: the Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CCT) puts forward concrete proposals (22 January[...]

The Franco-German Cross-Border Cooperation Committee (CCT) met in Colmar on 22 January, Franco-German Friendship Day and the anniversary of the signing of the Elysée and Aachen treaties, under the joint chair of the German and French Europe ministers, Mr Gunther Krichbaum and M. Benjamin Haddad. Their ambition: to strengthen integration of the border regions and make life easier for their residents.

This meeting of the committee, established under the Treaty of Aachen, was aimed at implementing the commitments made at the Franco-German Council of Ministers (CMFA) in Toulon. During the proceedings, which took place at Haut-Rhin Prefecture, the two ministers and secretaries-general for Franco-German cooperation presented the road map on cross-border cooperation, endorsed in August at the CMFA in Toulon, to simplify daily life in cross-border areas by reducing some of the administrative formalities in particular.

The two ministers both called for the meeting to be as productive as possible. Reviewing 2025, Ministers Krichbaum and Haddad noted significant progress inter alia on the implementation of the Lauterbourg agreement on apprenticeships and the aim to broaden them to include students on work-study programmes in Germany. The work done by France and Germany therefore enabled contractual documents and procedures to be finalized, making it possible for the agreement to be implemented in full from autumn 2026.

They also highlighted the fruitful discussions on the issue of postings, which have a key role in promoting competitiveness in the cross-border region.

The requirement for a systematic impact assessment of national legislation on cross-border areas has also been established, with the launch of a cross-border reflex ("Grenzraumcheck") initially trialled on the French-German border.
The removal of certain barriers to mobility, thanks to the strengthening of cross-border and connecting services through the combination of SNCF Voyageurs and DB services, was also welcomed.

On this basis the CCT approved its programme of activities for 2026, which includes setting up a working group on public health cooperation and facilitating mobility (regulatory framework for cross-border bus connections, accessibility of the Independent Port of Strasbourg): essential issues for workers and residents on both sides of the border.
For Mr Krichbaum, "the CCT has become a genuine laboratory for reforms, which makes concrete progress possible on reducing administrative formalities and simplifying the daily lives of residents on both sides of the border." M. Haddad said that "this format reflects the importance of working flexibly with local stakeholders to address specific challenges facing their communities and thus meet the expectations of our fellow citizens."

This highly constructive CCT meeting therefore confirmed the central importance of this dialogue format when it comes to developing bilateral relations, in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of the Treaty of Aachen, through a close partnership between the various German and French administrative and political bodies involved in these issues of territorial proximity.