The Greater Region

The territory of Greater Region (65 400 km2) includes the State of Luxembourg, the Belgian region of Wallonia, the German Länder of Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz plus the French region of Lorraine, part of the French Grand Est region and groups 11 million inhabitants from different national, regional, and urban identities. The region originates from the management of a cross-border industrial basin. Following the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), whose policy was implemented largely in this space, an Intergovernmental Commission assembling the French and German states was initiated in 1969 and ←512 | 513→later joined by the state of Luxembourg to tackle the steel and mining industry crisis.

In 1971, this Intergovernmental Commission created a regional commission whose mission was to deal with a series of issues involving Saarland, Lorraine, and Luxembourg. The work of both commissions was limited to a territory including the SaarLorLux zone plus the German regions of Trier and Western Palatinate in 1980. Five types of changes have been taking place since then: First, the institutionalization of cooperation has intensified, including the creation of the Summit of Executives in 1995 composed of the associated public authorities which set common working priorities. Second, the presence of regional public councils and civil society representatives has been reinforced in the governance. Third, the cross-border region was extended to Wallonia in 2005. Fourth, the cross-border co-operation has been boosted by the presence of European Union (EU) funding and especially Interreg programs. Finally, the...