During April 11th, 2024, the Director of the Franco-German center of excellence, Mrs. Birte Wassenberg, had the pleasure of inviting you to her seminar on resilience and cross-border asymmetry.
This seminar took place with the participation of central players in cross-border cooperation. The seminar on April 11, 2024 started with an introduction by Michel Deneken, who emphasized the importance of maintaining intellectual activities on national territory. He praised the Jean Monnet Center and the University of Strasbourg, ranked among the top French universities. Michel Deneken then spoke about freedom of expression, debates, exchanges, and friendships between nations. Asymmetries were mentioned as a reminder of our differences and richness.
It continued with interventions by ambassadors and consul responsible for cross-border cooperation in their respective countries as Heike Thiele, Permanent Representative of Germany to the Council of Europe, Philippe Voiry, French ambassador for cross border cooperation, Javier Hernandez Pena, Spanish ambassador for cross border cooperation and Cavallari Andrea, Italian ambassador for cross border cooperation. This is the first time that an event bringing together teacher-researchers and political decision-makers has been organized by the center. During the debates, the question of legislative scope was discussed in detail. Difficulties were also discussed, notably that of encouraging several countries to work together despite the difference in the way they approach a subject. Finally the difficulty to find solutions regarding the asymmetries of the different agenda were mentioned.
They talked about the new developments mentioned during the Turin committee in October 2023. This was the first event of this type. Other speakers addressed various topics such as the evolution of European law faculty, communication challenges in English, French, and German, cross-border cooperation, political and economic asymmetries, as well as cross-border cooperation in various fields. The cross-border police cooperation, the importance of sustainable student mobility within the European Union, as well as the challenges and opportunities of cross-border cooperation were also discussed during the seminar.
In summary, the seminar highlighted the challenges and benefits of cross-border cooperation in various fields, while emphasizing the need for effective coordination and mutual understanding to overcome obstacles and promote deeper integration between states and cross-border regions.
The seminar ended with a Flamenco show specially made by the association « Y OLE » :
