France: Coming soon: a French-Italian «Euro-territory»

The French departments of Alpes-Marimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, the Italian Provinces of Imperia, Cuneo and Turin, and the Region of the Aosta Valley have the ambition to grasp together the opportunities offered by the Lisbon Strategy and the new EU framework for sustainability adopted in june 2006. The creation a French-Italian « Euro-Territory » before the end of this year is due to : – strenghthen the territorial cohesion of the area ; – shift the balance of economic activities towards the South of Europe, through better interconnection and use of the information and communication technologies ; – work on the conservation and upgrading of the resources of the territories and establish transalpine competitiveness centres recognized in Europe ; – integrate this « Euro-Territory » into a broader transalpine Euro-Region ». This initiative intends to be supported by the 2007-2013 European programming period. www.espaces-transfrontaliers.org