"What projects could be implemented at the level of research and higher education between the major technological and research centers?" 

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"Cooperation takes place between research laboratories within the framework of major framework agreements, but the reality is decided through bilateral research agreements. An office of the University of Nice, located in Valrose, deals precisely with the support for research laboratories with the ALCOTRA program Myself, I am attached to the CERDACFF of the Côte d'Azur University and we recently signed an agreement with the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (the Italian equivalent of the CNRS) as part of the DITER research program."

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"From your experience, is cross-border cooperation fluid enough? Does it have enough means to face the major challenges facing our territories?" 

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"The question of means is not crucial, even if we can always hope for more funds. It is the reproducibility and capitalization of achievements that is important. We must build continuity between generations, so that we get out of a cycle where we build a house and then tear it down and rebuild it again. We have to be the doctors for people who don't see the stakes, and as we say from nowadays, being in "whistleblowers" in order to establish a certain "culture of cross-border" in the population, especially young people. Another challenge, it is necessary to succeed in identifying the different approaches and the difference in life of the people of the 2 sides of the border to better understand and articulate cooperation.”

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"How important is the Quirinal Treaty, signed on November 26, 2021 between Italy and France?"

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"This Treaty is historic. In it there are a dozen articles, but we are mainly working on article 10 because it specifically concerns cross-border cooperation. Andrea Cavallari and Philippe Voiry are the Ambassadors who have been responsible for establishing the Franco-Italian roadmap. The Quirinal Treaty is an important step for cross-border cooperation, especially in our territories. It specifies in particular the aspect of support for integrated cross-border cooperation areas and the promotion of communication between the populations of border regions. With this in mind, the European Park Alpi-Marittime Mercantour EGTC is specifically included, and consolidation is desired. Other important aspects are included, such as the desired structuring of cross-border cooperation by setting up a Cross-border Cooperation Committee In short, it is a Treaty which bodes well for progress in cross-border cooperation. re concerning our region specifically and the bordering Italian regions."

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"You often talk about cross-border culture, what does it represent for you?" 

 

"It represents the transmission between generations, it makes it possible to articulate the codes of thought and the cultural and operational differences between Italians and French. 

On the scale of the organization of the territories, programs such as ALCOTRA are only 32 years old and therefore funding is very recent. It often comes up in the collective mind that we have been financing for 32 years, but that it was as if we had just started, especially among the younger generations. This is why the culture of cross-border work is so important, through university training in this field and by improving the way young generations look at strengthening cross-border cooperation. The quality of the teams working in the various organizations including the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis is recent. At the University of the Côte d'Azur, we organize Masterclasses, which is for us a way of responding to cross-border culture by allowing the creation of a network of young people who can act on the different European borders. It is true that in our territories, we are at the start of the process, and that cooperation between France and Germany, for example, is more developed, as is that with Spain. The Quirinal Treaty can be an excellent engine for its development, like the Élysée Treaty between France and Germany."

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