Annual Meeting

On 10 and 11 June 2026, Brussels hosted the annual meeting of the European Cross-Border Platform, bringing together actors from border regions, cross-border entities, and European institutions to exchange views on the future of cross-border cooperation.

The event took place at a moment when cross-border cooperation remains central to European Territorial Cooperation and to the broader project of European integration. While important progress has been made in recent years, people in border regions still encounter obstacles in areas such as employment, healthcare, commuting, and administrative procedures. The event was facilitated by Sabrina Mansutti and Roland Gaugitsch and brought together around 70 participants onsite and online, including representatives from European institutions, statistical authorities, regional administrations and organisations working on cross-border cooperation.

For Vereniging Deltametropool, this wider context resonates strongly with our own commitment to independent spatial research and dialogue on metropolitan and cross-border challenges. The discussions in Brussels confirmed that cross-border cooperation benefits from shared knowledge, practical experience, and a willingness to translate lessons into concrete policy solutions.

The discussion showed how employment and commuting data continue to dominate cross-border analysis, because they capture the economic integration side of EU free movement. But housing affordability is the missing layer, especially when it comes to whether cross-border integration is sustainable for vulnerable groups. At the same time, spatial practitioners still lack relational cross-border data and consistent access, which constrains spatial development, regional collaboration, and innovation.

We invite you to join us! Help us identify data limitations currently holding back your work, and develop practical solutions together.

This event connected closely to our wider commitment to exploring how borders shape the ways we see, live, travel, plan, and coexist. The spatial challenges we face today – housing, mobility, energy, climate… – can no longer be addressed within administrative and national boundaries alone. They require an integrated, cross-border approach. Read more and contribute. 

We look forward to continuing these conversations and contributing to the further development of cross-border cooperation in the years ahead.