Cross-border cooperation is a long haul. That is why the Franco-Spanish Barcelona summit of 17 October is to be welcomed as a major step forward.
For years now, regional and local authorities across the Pyrenees have been forging many kinds of relations, at all levels and in various areas: our three border regions, most of the French departments, some local administrations and the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz Urban Community have formed partnerships with their trans-Pyrenean counterparts. In 1995, the Bayonne Treaty gave new impetus to these efforts by introducing a minor legal revolution into our highly Jacobin national legislation: French local authorities can now take part in groupings of local authorities governed by Spanish law; this has allowed Hendaye to join Irún and Hondarribia in the ‘consorcio’ of Txingudi. More recently, the Working Community of the Pyrenees, whose members are regional bodies, has chosen that same status of ‘consorcio’.
Yet progress remains very slow and the local councillors (of whom there are still too few) who resolutely embarked on this road all too often felt they were fighting a lost cause. It was not for lack of political will. What we lack is the ability to organise ourselves effectively to promote common projects in fundamentally different political, legal, administrative and cultural contexts. The problem is one of organisation or, as we now call it, of ‘governance’. That reminds me of the letter that appeared a few years ago in the agony column of a major French women’s journal: ‘I love him. He loves me. Our parents agree. What should I do?’
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La coopération transfrontalière est une longue marche. C’est pourquoi il faut saluer la grande première qu’a constituée le sommet franco-espagnol de Barcelone le 17 octobre.
Voilà des années que, par-dessus les Pyrénées, les collectivités territoriales ont engagé des relations multiples, à tous les niveaux, sur des sujets variés : nos trois régions frontalières, la plupart des départements, certaines communes, la Communauté d’agglomération de Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz ont engagé des partenariats avec leurs homologues tras los montes. En 1995, le traité de Bayonne a donné une impulsion nouvelle à ses efforts en introduisant une petite révolution juridique dans notre droit national très jacobin : les collectivités locales françaises sont autorisées à participer à des regroupements de collectivités de droit espagnol, ce qui a permis à Hendaye de s’unir avec Irun et Fontarrabie dans le consorcio du Txingudi. Plus récemment, ce même statut de consorcio a été choisi par la Communauté de travail des Pyrénées, qui rassemble les entités régionales.
Toutefois, ces progrès sont restés très lents et les (encore trop rares) élus locaux qui se sont résolument engagés dans ce chantier ont eu trop souvent l’impression de labourer la mer. Non pas que la volonté politique fasse défaut. Mais nous ne parvenons pas à nous organiser efficacement pour faire avancer des projets communs dans des contextes politiques, juridiques, administratifs et culturels fondamentalement différents. C’est un problème d’organisation ou, comme on dit aujourd’hui, de « gouvernance », qui me rappelle cette missive relevée, il y a quelques années, dans le « Courrier du cœur » d’un grand journal féminin : « Je l’aime. Il m’aime. Nos parents sont d’accord. Que faire ? »
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Silence. After months of impassioned debate in France, silence has reigned where Europe is concerned since 29 May. Silence among the partisans of a ‘yes’ vote, laid low by their setback. A more unexpected silence among the victors in the ‘no’ camp, unwilling to face the fact that there was never any ‘plan B’. Silence among observers and in the media, happy at last to return to the delights of national politics.
Last weekend, the UMP broke this silence. The party which took the lead in the defence of the Constitution could have been, should have been the party most weakened by the setback. Not a bit of it. Having come to terms with its internal divisions, it has emerged united, whereas the socialists continue to tear themselves apart. Sunday after Sunday, by-elections bear witness to its remarkable vitality. And under the firm direction of Nicolas Sarkozy, it is the first political party in Europe daring enough to relaunch the European debate after the major crisis of last spring. That was the purpose of the Convention at the Mutualité in Paris, which was attended by many figures from all over Europe. What was the outcome?
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