Three cities form so-called ‘Euro-district’

Kortrijk (West Flanders), Tournai (Wallonia) and Lille (in France) have agreed to work together to form a so-called ‘Euro-district’. The aim of the project is to join forces to tackle common cross-border problems.

Monday morning authorities from 14 public bodies of the three cities signed an agreement to establish the eurodistrict.

The cooperation between Kortrijk, Tournai and Lille establishes a Euro-metropolis of close to two million inhabitants. This is the first cross-border cooperation agreement of its sort in the European Union.

Together, the authorities of the three border cities will discuss and collaborate on cross-border issues such as cross-border work, mobility, public transport, cooperation between hospitals and emergency services, and measures to combat crime.

According to the mayor of Kortrijk, Stefaan De Clerck the border cities have been working together for a while.

This is the first time however that representatives of the cities have sat down officially to work on concrete measures that will benefit the citizens of the cities.

Source: Flanders News via Expatica Belgium, 29 January 2008