Scientific support for European Territorial Cooperation. TEIN’s annual general assembly in Maastricht

The Transfrontier Euro-Institute Network (TEIN) held its annual general assembly on 25 September in Maastricht. The UPS-CESCI Research Group on Cross-Border Cooperation was represented by Zsuzsanna Fejes and Gyula Ocskay.

13 members of the network were present in person at the general assembly moderated by the coordinator, Anne Thevenet, deputy director of the Euro-Institut of Kehl. Two members followed the meeting online. The participants adopted the financial reports for the years 2023 and 2024, the budget for 2025, and the report on the workshop held in Eupen.

The participants of the meeting presented several projects. The University of Girona manages the project ACROSS including 9 universities from different (especially peripheral) regions where the research of borders is a new field of interest. The universities of Pau, Pamplona and San Sebastian plan to set up a Euro-Institute in the cross-border Basque country. The Technical University of Kaiserslautern, together with partner universities from the Greater Region prepares a project targeting the development of the conditions for harmonised cross-border spatial planning.

The questions addressed in Eupen were raised again for discussion. The participants agreed on the establishment of a coordinating working group responsible for joint research and discussed the proposal on a joint paper on the costs of non-Interreg which was presented by Gyula Ocskay and which will be finalised jointly by the end of October. It was an important conclusion of the meeting to develop the internal communication between the members to improve coordination and effectiveness.

The next general assembly meeting will be held in 2025 in Girona.