European Territorial Cooperation and its instruments: a decisive tool to boost EU's competitiveness.

The public hearing 'European Territorial Co-operation and its instruments', organised by the EPP Group, focused on the future Regulations on European Territorial Co-operation (ETC) and European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation (EGTC), which are currently being considered by the European Parliament.

"The new specific Regulation on the ETC must be a quantitative leap towards an ever-closer Union through an enhanced and simplified cooperation across borders. The ETC is part of our response to the crisis: pooling our assets to tackle our common challenges, here lies the key to a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth," one of the initiators of the event, Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid MEP, said.

Joachim Zeller MEP, the European Parliament Rapporteur for the Regulation on the EGTC, said: "In face of the current revision of cohesion policy, we have to strengthen and better promote this instrument at local, regional, national and also EU level in order to boost territorial cooperation across European borders. The proposed improvements will lead to more legal certainty and a smooth functioning of existing EGTCs as well as enhanced access and attractiveness for possible partners. By this means, the EGTC could become the primary instrument of territorial cooperation."

Lambert van Nistelrooij MEP, EPP Group Coordinator in the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament, said: "Cooperation across national borders in innovation and research and development has a clear added value for Europe to face the major challenges such as climate change, energy and demographic changes and will boost the EU's competitiveness."

According to Michael Schneider, President of the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions, the proposed Regulations not only contribute to the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives, but they also facilitate the coming together of a wide range of actors for the common good. "The EGTC can be a useful instrument for the management of Structural Funds and a decisive tool for meeting the objectives of the EU cohesion policy."