Credits: Interreg Alpine Space / European Commission / Eusalp Alpine Region
COOPERATION
FRANCO-ITALIAN CROSS-BORDER
What prospects?
A place to learn more about the cooperation between our territories.
ALPIMED CLOSING EVENT
A SITE, FOR WHAT REASON?
25-year-old Franco-Italian student, having grown up in Nice, in a region where Italy is omnipresent in various forms aspects, I was able to notice sometimes, of a lack of transmission of what was achieved at the level of our bordering and cross-border territories.
Thus, this site will want to be a modest testimony of the action of men and women, acting for the common good on both sides of the border, within the framework of European projects of major importance for French and Italian issues.
Who am I?
MARZETTI Loïc
I am Loïc MARZETTI, I am 25 years old and I am a student in a double degree program at Master's level between the University of the Valley of Aosta (Economy and Politics of the Territory and Business) and the University Côte d'Azur (Franco-Italian Relations). From a young age, I developed an attraction for Italy, its heritage, its culture. My career was initially oriented in this direction, during college and high school then, I continued in tourism studies (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur du Tourisme and Professional License in Tourism Management and Innovations), a professional career during and after resulted in this domain. Without ever losing the attraction and passion for Italy, I returned to studies in Applied Foreign Languages with a view to then entering the Master's program that I am currently following. My project is, directly or indirectly, to participate in the development of the territories bordering the Mediterranean Alps and to take part in the cooperation between them.
What is cross-border cooperation?
Cross-border cooperation is a matter with imprecise outlines, multifaceted and multidisciplinary.
A definition may be given by the Madrid Outline Convention: "Any consultation or territorial authorities coming under two or more contracting parties as well as the conclusion of agreements and arrangements useful for this purpose". Another definition is given by the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière, the MOT: "It is a local cooperation approach between local public entities coming under different national legal orders around common issues".
The construction of Nation-States can draw the contours of the birth of cross-border cooperation: from 1945 to 1979: "the time of the pioneers", from 1980 to 1990 "the official recognition of cooperation" and since 1990 "the cooperation encouraged by European Union through Interreg programs".
The geographical and human realities of the external and internal borders of the European Union can also be used to define "cross-border cooperation".
France has 35 maritime and land borders, the largest border of France is with Brazil (730 km).
The Italian-French borders are both terrestrial and mountainous, covering 515 km from the triple point France - Italy - Switzerland (Mont Dolent) to the shores of the Mediterranean at the level of Menton (France) and Ventimiglia (Italy), and maritime between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.
According to the European programs, the cooperation covers an area of 53.3 km2 for 5.6 million inhabitants. On the French side, it includes Savoie and Haute-Savoie (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region), Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region - South Region ), and on the Italian side the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley, the Provinces of Turin and Cuneo (Piedmont region), and the province of Imperia (Liguria region). It covers 1840 municipalities (90% of them with less than 5000 inhabitants) and 2 metropolises, Turin and Nice.
The Italian-French border territories are areas that have experienced the effects of globalization and European construction.
What areas of cooperation?
COOPERATION BETWEEN NATURAL AREAS:
The Bouches de Bonifacio Maritime Nature Reserve in Corsica and the Maddalena Archipelago National Park in northern Sardinia, which form the Bouches de Bonifacio International Marine Park. In 2012, this site became the first EGTC (European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation) for an international marine park.
L'Mont Blanc area between France, Switzerland and Italy.
The Vanoise National Park and the Gran Paradiso National Park.
the Regional Natural Park of Queyras and 4 Natural Parks of Piedmont (Mont Viso), which became the "Mont Viso Cross-border Biosphere Reserve."
The Mercantour National Park and Alpi Marittime have also become EGTC, a legal form allowing the operational realization of cooperation projects.
COOPERATION BETWEEN MARITIME AREAS:
The RAMOGE Agreement (Saint Raphael, Monaco, Genoa) in favor of sustainable and integrated coastal management.
Project BluConnect aimed at listing and mapping port activities in the Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Corsica, Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia.
The ALPIMED Interreg-Alcotra Integrated Territorial Plan
(Alpes Latines COopération TRAnsfrontalière - Alpes de la Méditerranée) and its components INNOV, CLIMA, PATRIM and MOBIL.
ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND EMPLOYMENT:
A network of chambers of commerce (CCI Alp-Med) with 36 chambers and 124,000 km2 covered.
The FRI-Start Project aimed at networking for incubation and acceleration of innovation.
The Marittimo-Tech Project: cross-border StartUp accelerator.
TOURIST-CULTURAL COOPERATION:
The PITER Route aiming at the enhancement around the France-Italy-Swiss borders around Mont-Blanc.
The PITER ALPIMED and its PATRIM version aimed at creating a cross-border tourist destination.
COOPERATION IN EDUCATION:
Cross-border educational cooperation agreement between the Academy of Nice and the Rectorate of Liguria (Ufficio Scolastico Regionale)
The French School of Ventimiglia.
The FEAST Project between the University of Savoie Mont-Blanc and the University of the Aosta Valley.
Agreement between the University Côte d'Azur and the University of the Aosta Valley for a double degree program.
RISK MANAGEMENT COOPERATION:
PITEM Risk, which develops interactive communication tools to improve risk management and operational training for actors.
The Proterina 3 project, which aims to combat climate risks related to flooding.
The MAREGOT project which aims to manage coastal erosion in the Franco-Italian maritime area.
TRANSPORT COOPERATION:
The Cannes-Nice-Ventimiglia TER line
The Nice-Cuneo TER line
The Lyon-Turin high-speed line
The Fréjus, Mont-Blanc and Col de Tende tunnels
The sea motorway project between Nice and Genoa.
The GEECCTT-ILES project, which aims to create an EGTC for the joint management of cross-border transport services and connections between the islands.
HEALTH COOPERATION:
The cross-border cooperation agreement between the Menton hospital center and the Imperia health agency.
The creation of two cross-border nursing training institutes (IFSI) in Menton and Imperia and a cross-border local perinatal center (CPP).
The PROSANTÉ project aimed at facilitating access to healthcare on both sides of the border.
The PITER Coeur'Alp which aims to guarantee access to care for the communities of the Hautes-Vallées.
What legal framework?
The France-Italy Bilateral Cultural Agreement of November 4, 1949, precursor of European construction, aimed at promoting the development of their relations in the field of letters, sciences and arts.
The Treaty of Rome of March 25, 1957 establishing a common European market, a rapprochement of the economic policies of the Member States and closer relations between the States.
The Madrid Framework Convention of 21 May 1980: founding act of cross-border cooperation between territorial communities and authorities.
The Rome Agreement between Italy and France signed in 1993 establishing an infra-state cooperation framework for cross-border cooperation on French borders.
The Quirinal Treaty signed on November 26, 2021 and its article 10 dedicated to cross-border cooperation. In particular by the recognitionance of the border as a living area with a common destiny and the creation of a cross-border cooperation committee.
The MAPTAM law of 2014 which aims to give more autonomy to local authorities. It wants to be a law of modernization of the territorial public action and affirmation of the Metropolises.
Law No. 2022-217 of February 21, 2022 or "3DS Law" relating to differentiation, decentralization, deconcentration and carrying various measures to simplify local public action. For the first time in terms of a law, there is a cross-border chapter.
What founding texts?
The Partnership Charter between the City of Nice and the municipalities of Apricale, Dolceacqua, Isolabona, Perinaldo, Pigna and Rocchetta Nervina.
The partnership protocol between the Municipality of Genoa and the Nice Côte d'Azur Urban Community (now Metropolis).
The Friendship Pact between the City of Nice and the City of Turin.
The Framework Partnership Agreement between the Government of the Principality of Monaco and the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis in terms of innovation and economic development.
The Cooperation Commission between the Principality of Monaco and the French Republic.
The Local Cross-Border Commission for Franco-Monegasque Cooperation
The Intergovernmental Commission for the improvement of Franco-Italian links in the Southern Alps.
This site is designed as part of a double degree course between the University of the Aosta Valley and the University of the Côte d'Azur at Master's level. This is a double degree program in Economics and Politics of Territory and Business and Franco-Italian Relations. Therefore, the focus is on collaboration between these two nations. Particularly, the course taking place in Aosta the first year and in Nice the second year, the dimension of cross-border cooperation is important and significant. They are also two cities, although inserted in different contexts, which have great common points at the historical level, in particular linked to the Reign of the House of Savoy and subsequently, with the annexation of Nice to France in 1860. These territories are closely linked culturally to France as far as Aosta and its valley are concerned and to Italy as far as Nice is concerned.
This site will deal particularly with the Nice region, and the initiatives set up to strengthen cross-border cooperation between Nice, Monaco, Liguria and Piedmont mainly. The 2020-2030 strategic orientation plan of the Cross-border Cooperation Scheme drawn up by the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis is a concrete example of the path undertaken a few years ago, and which continues and is added to initiatives relating to different fields: economic and cultural in particular.
Through this site, I will try to explain the history of cross-border cooperation between the Nice region and the neighboring regions of Italy, to explain the issues, the strengths, the strengths and the weaknesses. I will explain the cross-border cooperation areas which are involved and active and will mention the most important and successful projects (Interreg Alcotra, Interreg Marittimo, Alpimed...).
Intermetropolitanity being one of the fundamental aspects of this cross-border cooperation, I will shed light on the issues of tripartite cooperation between France, Monaco and Italy and Nice, Monaco, Turin and Genoa, giving rise to a cross-border basin of more than one million inhabitants.