Cross Frontier Group urges progress with EGTC

The Cross Frontier Group has urged the Gibraltar Government to push ahead with a longstanding project that aims to strengthen cross-border economic cooperation.

The issue was raised during the annual San Roque seminar organised by the University of Cadiz, during which members of the group set out the proposal for creation of a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation [EGTC].

The EGTC is a European legal instrument designed to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation.

The EGTC is a legal entity and enables regional and local authorities and other public bodies from different member states to set up cooperation groupings with a legal personality.

The EGTC is unique in the sense that it enables public authorities of various EU member states to team up and deliver joint services, without requiring a prior international agreement to be signed and ratified by national parliaments.

It can also be set up between an EU member and a third country.

The initiative was initially welcomed by the Gibraltar Government and regional authorities in Spain, namely the Junta de Andalucia.

But while the agreements to establish the EGTC have been drafted, they have yet to be agreed and finalised.

Pressed on this by members of the Cross Frontier Group, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the matter was still being analysed by government lawyers.