The annual meeting of the European Cross-Border Platform (ECBP), chaired by ECR member Pavel Branda, gathered a wide range of high-level speakers and stakeholders from EU institutions, national, regional and local administrations, as well as cross-border cooperation networks.

Marking the 20th anniversary of the EGTC (European grouping of territorial cooperation) regulation, the event provided a key platform to reflect on the future of territorial cooperation and to exchange views on its growing relevance for cohesion policy, Interreg and cross-border governance. 

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto contributed with a video message underlining how "the Commission proposal for the Interreg budget of more than 10billion euros for the next programming period demonstrates our strong commitment to territorial cooperation and European integration".

Opening the discussions, Mr Branda underlined the political and practical value of cross-border cooperation for the European project. “Cross-border cooperation, as part of European Territorial Cooperation, provides not only added value to the border regions themselves, but to the EU as a whole: It gives citizens, businesses and public authorities a direct experience of being European,” he said. The two-day meeting featured contributions from senior representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission – including DG REGIO, HOME and EAC – as well as experts and practitioners, addressing key issues such as the future of Interreg beyond 2027, the impact of border controls and the need to reconcile security with territorial cohesion, and the development of a new framework for cross-border workers.   

Discussions highlighted the increasing importance of EGTCs as operational tools capable of translating EU policy objectives into tangible results on the ground, while reinforcing cooperation between different levels of governance, as well as enhancing contacts and exchange of best practices.