SaarLorLux
Encyclopedia
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux, (French
also SarLorLux), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, is a Euroregion
of five different regional authorities located in four different European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations, organizations, clubs and people. Member regions represent different political structures: the sovereign state of Luxembourg
; Belgium
's Walloon region
, comprising the French
and German speaking
parts of Belgium
; Lorraine
, a region of France
; the French départements Moselle
and Meurthe-et-Moselle
; and the German
federal states of Saarland
and Rhineland-Palatinate
.
There is no well-defined structure of SaarLorLux nor even an exclusive definition of its size. Instead, there exist multiple forms of cooperation and contractual relations among all or several members. Sometimes instead of SaarLorLux, the term 'Greater Region' is used, short for the more formal 'Greater Region of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and (Western-) Rhineland-Palatinate.'
The region of SaarLorLux was settled by the Celt
ic tribes of the Treveri
and Mediomatrici
. The Treveri lived in the south of Belgium, Luxembourg, western Rhineland-Palatinate, and northern Saarland. Lorraine and the southern Saarland were inhabited by the Mediomatrici. Both tribes were conquered during the Gallic Wars
by the Roman
legions of Julius Caesar
. The area became part of the Roman province
s of Gallia Belgica
, Germania Superior
, and Germania Inferior
.
Barbarian invasions forced the enfeebled Roman Empire to abandon possession of the area in the fifth century. The region became a part of the Frankish Empire
. After the death of Louis the Pious
in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the Germanic custom of partible inheritance
, and the Treaty of Verdun
in 843 divided the empire into three. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair I
became Holy Roman Emperor
and ruler of the central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom among them into Lotharingia
, Burgundy
and (Northern) Italy. The core area of SaarLorLux lies within the borders of Lotharingia.
The struggle to gain control over Lotharingia was the cause of centuries of struggle and war between the two other Franconian kingdoms, which later formed the states of France
and Germany
.
Until the 18th century the area remained part of the Holy Roman Empire. Then the region was divided. Lorraine
became French, Luxembourg
became an independent state, and the Walloon Region was a part of the new Kingdom of Belgium. The predecessors of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate were part of Prussia
and Bavaria
.
As a result of these events, the inhabitants of the region were on different sides in the Franco Prussian War of 1870-71, World War I
, and World War II
. The region was divided by the fortifications of the Maginot line
and the Westwall. Saarland, Lorraine and the German-speaking community of Belgium
even changed sides (in the case of Saarland and Lorraine, four times). Today's borders were established in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Today, the greater region is situated along both sides of the border between speakers of the German and French languages. 11,182,975 people live in an area of about 65,400 km².
Situated in the center of the European Union, it contains highly populated urban sections along the rivers. These areas include industries, especially mining and steelworking. Rural areas are dominated by agriculture.
is a sovereign nation with full autonomy. Each of the four départements of the French region of Lorraine is twice the size of the whole nation of Luxembourg.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has a population of 476,187 people in an area of 2586 square kilometres (998 sq mi).
Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy
with a constitutional monarchy
, ruled by a Grand Duke
. It is the world's only sovereign Grand Duchy
. The country has a highly developed economy, with the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the world.
The city of Luxembourg
, the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the European Union. Luxembourg lies on the cultural divide between Romantic Europe and Germanic
Europe, borrowing customs from each of the distinct traditions. Luxembourg is a trilingual country; French
, German
, and Luxembourgish
are official languages. Although a secular state
, Luxembourg is predominantly Roman Catholic.
Until 1867, the city of Luxembourg, the Gibraltar
of the north, was a federal fortress of the German confederation
. In the 20th century, Luxembourg was twice occupied by German armies.
In the middle of 20th century, the economy of Luxembourg was dominated by the iron and steel industries.
Then, a structural change took place, which transformed the country to an international financial center with more than 200 banks and over 800 financial institutions and insurance companies, generating more than 20% of the GNP of Luxembourg. Today about 66% of workers are employed in the service sector, and less than 2% work in the steel industry.
states of Saarland
and Rhineland-Palatinate
are part of the federal system of Germany. They hold far-ranging authorities, although some decisions concerning international treaties are assigned to the federal government.
Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany
. The capital is Saarbrücken
. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1.051 million inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German Flächenländer ("area states"), i.e., those that are not City States (Berlin
, Bremen
and Hamburg
).
It is named after the Saar River
, which is a tributary
of the Moselle River
(a Rhine tributary) which runs through the state from the south to the northwest. One third of the land area of the Saarland is covered by forest, one of highest percentages in Germany. The state is generally hilly; the highest mountain is the Dollberg with a height of 695.4 metres (2,281.5 ft).
Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border that includes the capital of Saarbrücken.
In 1919, Saarland was created from the communes where the steelworks and coal mines were located and the associated workers lived
.
From 1920 to 1935 and from 1947 to 1956, Saarland was economically affiliated with France.
In 1957, 65,000 persons were employed in 18 coal mines, by 2006 only 6,300 in one mine remained. A comparable process happened with the steelworks.
(federal states) of Germany
. It has an area of 19,846 km² and about 4.048 million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz
. The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate was established on 30 August 1946.
The main axis of the state is the Rhine river that forms the border with Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in the southeast before running across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhine Valley is bounded by mountain chains and forms a landscape containing some of the most historically significant places in Germany.
The Eifel
and Hunsrück
mountain chains are found on the west bank of the Rhine in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, while the Westerwald
and Taunus
mountains are found on the east bank. The hilly land in the southernmost region of the state is called the Palatinate forest (Pfälzerwald).
These mountain chains are separated from each other by tributaries of the Rhine: the Moselle
(Mosel), the Lahn
and the Nahe.
Economically prosperous zones exist along the eastern borders, while in the western part of the state, there are structurally backward, rural regions.
Lorraine is one of the 26 régions of France
. Its two main cities are Metz
(administrative capital) and Nancy. The region's name is derived from the medieval Lotharingia
.
Lorraine
consists of four départements, Moselle
, Meurthe et Moselle, Meuse
and Vosges
. Each of them is as big as Luxembourg and the Saarland together. Two of these départements, Vosges
in the south and Meuse
in the west, only have small interests in the SaarLorLux region, because they are far away from the shared border. Together, they have a population of about 2.338 million people on 23,547 km2.
Lorraine is part of the centralised administrative system of France
. Therefore many of the decisions necessary for cooperation in the SaarLorLux region have to be cleared through the central government in Paris.
The current région of Lorraine is larger than the historical duchy of Lorraine which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern région includes provinces
and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper. These are:
Lorraine borders the French regions of Franche-Comté
, Alsace
, and Champagne-Ardenne
. The location of Lorraine led to it being seen as a strategic asset. As the crossroads of four nations, it had a very important role in European affairs. Lorraine has many rivers running through it, which include the Rhine, Moselle
, Meurthe
, and Meuse
.
From 1871 to 1918 and during World War II, Lorraine was part of Germany. During the last 40 years, most jobs in the formerly dominant industries of steelworking, coal mining and textiles were lost.
with its five provinces and two communities has far reaching competencies in relation to economics, infrastructure, regional planning and foreign trade.
Wallonia occupies the southern part of Belgium. It has an area of 16 844 km² (55.18% of Belgium) with 3.436 million inhabitants and comprises the following provinces:
French
is the official language in most municipalities. German
(with facilities for speakers of French) is the official language in nine eastern municipalities which belonged to Germany until 1918 and now form the German-speaking Community of Belgium
. Several French-speaking municipalities have facilities in Dutch or German (or both). In a survey conducted by the Universite Catholique de Louvain
in Louvain-La-Neuve
and published in June 2006, only 19% of Walloons stated that they were able to speak Dutch. In contrast, 59% of respondents from the Flemish Community
claimed to speak French. From the mid seventies the number of jobs in coal mines and steelworks was reduced from 135,000 to 35,000 today, but these industries are still dominant the region. The region heavily depends on subsidies, paid by Flanders
, the other Belgian region.
Founding members of the SaarLorLux region are the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the German federal state Saarland and the French region of Lorraine. This classic Saar Lor Lux region spreads over an area of 36,700 km² with about 4.7 million inhabitants.
The term Saar-Lor-Lux was coined in 1969 by Dr. Hubertus Rolshoven, founding president or the IRI ("Institut Régional Intracommunautaire", now " Institute of the Greater Region") and president of Saarberg, the former organization of coal mines in the Saarland. The term recalls the close historical and economic ties among the coal mines and steelworks of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, creating a unified economic region. Facing the same severe economic problems of a crisis in the steel and coal industries, the partners began informal talks, discussing how to solve the shared problems and how to improve the region. In the 1970s, these talks began to be more formalized, when official governmental commissions, first between France and Germany only, then including Luxembourg, began their work.
The formal founding act of SaarLorLux was an agreement between the governments of the French Republic (Republique Francaise), the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Grand-Duché de Luxembourg) concerning collaboration in the border regions, made on October 16, 1980. This agreement is the legal base of a boundary-crossing cooperation of administrations and institutions to promote the economic, cultural, touristic and social development of the region.
Step by step, the cooperation originally exclusive to Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg was developed to include the Greater Region
of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and the French-speaking Belgians, the German-speaking Belgians and the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. There was no formal process of enlargement that included new regions in all aspects of cooperation in SaarLorLux. The new members did not enter every instrument of collaboration; they only joined single treaties or aspects of cooperation.
Therefore, there is not one all embracing structure any more. Now, there are different bilateral and multilateral treaties among different members, creating different grades of cooperation without clear separation from each other.
The original term only includes the founding members which were the three regions of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, the so-called triangle of coal and steel industries.
The term also refers to the cooperation of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg with the regions of Walloon and Rhineland Palatinate or parts of these two additional regions.
One of these combinations, also called SaarLorLux, is Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg-Trier-Westpfalz. Trier and Westpfalz are the western parts of Rhineland-Palatinate. For example there is a SaarLorLux-ticket, which can be used on all trains of this greater region.
Another combination is Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, and Rhineland Palatinate or Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, the French community of Belgium, and the German speaking community of Belgium.
The official name of government organizations usually uses the names of all participants. The summit of the SaarLorLux region has the official name "Summit of the greater region Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, French community of Belgium, German speaking community of Belgium".
Almost all the meanings of SaarLorLux include the three original members and exclude all other regions except the five members or parts of them.
There are many alternative names: SaarLorLux +, Saar-Lor-Lux-Westpfalz-Trier, Saar-Lor-Lux Wallonie Rheinland Pfalz, and Greater Region.
The government of Luxembourg wishes to use the term greater region to represent Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, the French community of Belgium, and the German speaking community of Belgium, but within and outside the European Union, several other greater regions are beginning to develop. For example in the greater region of Switzerland, Alsace Baden-Wuerttemberg the use of the term greater region refers to this region. There is no realistic chance of an international agreement requiring the use of the term greater region to be restricted to SaarLorLux.
The participants are:
This summit conference is the central political organ of the interregional cooperation of the enlarged SaarLorLux region.
Its task is the predefinition and declaration of general political decisions. The conference takes care of problems and questions concerning the cooperation and gives suggestions on solutions and developments.
There is a group of delegates of the member states who form a standing committee, able to come to decisions in times between the conferences, to prepare conferences, to translate the general ideas of the conferences into practical work and to control the task groups appointed by the conference.
Each of the five members sends a delegation, led by a head of delegation and supported by a delegation secretary. Within the French delegation there is a high representation of the central state, because many of the subjects of the commission are topics within the responsibility of the central state.
The Regional Commission meets once a year in a formal session with prepared documents and resolutions. The sessions are presided by a chairman from one of the member states. Every year a different state provides the chairman. Each delegation consists of five or ten members. In addition to the formal session the heads of delegation have informal meetings, prepared by the delegation secretaries.
The Regional Commission does not have employees or funds of its own. Necessary expenses are directly paid by the members. The delegation providing the chairman also provides the necessary workforce.
There are working parties, which form the operational part of the Regional Commission, reporting on a regular basis to the Regional Commission. Their topics are economic affairs; road links, transport and communications; environment; social affairs; culture; higher education; regional planning; tourism; security and prevention; education; and regional planning.
The regional commission formed a working group of the statistics agencies and a working group of the land surveying office.
the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies
,
the Saar Landtag
,
the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag,
the Lorraine Regional Council
the Provincial Council
of the (Belgian) Province of Luxembourg (later replaced by the Walloon Regional Council)
formed the interregional parliamentary council.
This council promotes the economic, social and cultural role of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region and tries to develop a perspective for crossborder cooperation.
Participants are the five presidents and six appointed members of each the parliaments and assemblies within SaarLorLux. They meet once a year. Five standing committees report to the council:
Members of the Charter are:
These universities encourage relations between the parties to the Charter, promote teacher, scientist and student exchanges, develop inter-regional study programmes leading to common degrees
, and establish common research structures. They foster cooperation on law, French and German literature, geography, environmental science, computer science, materials science, history, culture and sports.
The year saw a combined cultural program, sharing the motto "Crossing borders together". The programme was intended to reflect the creativity, the energy and the common future of this European region.
There is a multilingual hotline connected to the house to give information to interested citizens and to answer questions. The hotline can be used free of charge from anywhere in the greater region.
Most of these forms of private cooperation are working on a binational or trinational level, including only parts of the region or including groups or organizations outside the region.
and Strassbourg) are situated just some miles across the borders, close to SaarLorLux.
In terms of the European Union
SaarLorLux is defined as a European Border Region
(short form: Euroregion or Euregio), which means a single European transboundary region that is an "amalgamation of regional and local authorities from both sides of the national border, sometimes with a parliamentary assembly" with "cross-border organisations with a permanent secretariat and experts and administrative staff", basing on national foundations or international treaties, and a Greater Region (also macroregion
), a territory that consists of multiple regions or subareas within different states of the European Union.
is a programme of the European Union designed to stimulate cooperation between member states on different levels, especially to diminish the influence of national borders in order to attain equal economic, social and cultural development of the whole European Union. SaarLorLux is beneficiary of several Interreg projects.
The region currently receives funding for projects of Interreg III A, while applications are filed for Interreg IV A projects, which run until 2013.
This lack of cooperation is not based on a lack of will. In some instances, there is no political power to make the decision to cooperate. The only partner with complete power is Luxembourg, represented by its prime minister. All other members that share the summit table have only limited power. For decisions, they have to consult their central or federal governments in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. Many of the decisions of the Summit are nothing but a declaration of the goodwill of the participants.
Administrative structures vany among the different countries represented in SaarLorLux. French villages may only have a hundred inhabitants and a constant need to clear decisions with a higher level of government. German community associations of several districts with thousands of inhabitants have constitutional rights of self government.
The members of SaarLorLux face the same problems. The economy of all members was founded on coal mining and steelworks. Now, they are all trying to perform the same structural change. Because the economic structures resemble each other so closely, there is little possibility for differentiation of fields of activity to complement one another.
With the exception of Luxembourg, the citizens of SaarLorLux do not speak the other languages of the region. The main foreign language spoken is English. About 120,000 people cross the borders to work in another country. 90,000 of these work in Luxembourg. This is the result of an enormous difference in living standards. These differences in wealth complicate the search for solutions to shared problems.
Many citizens of the regions are not aware of SaarLorLux. For a citizen of the town of Tournai, in the west of Wallonia, the nearest neighboring region of SaarLorLux is about two hundred kilometers away. For him, the nearest European neighbor is the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, five kilometers away.The same situation exists for the region of Mainz
in the east of Rhineland Palatinate, which is part of the Rhein Main area and the southern départements of Lorraine. The region seems to be too big to form a common identity for all.
and former prime minister of Luxembourg.
A central intention is the bilingualism of the region. While for about one hundred years, especially in France, the extinction of everything but the national language was the intention of the state, now the value of bilingualism is understood. French and German are intended to be common languages on equal footing within the whole region, including common media for the interregional audience. This coordinates with the plan to create cross border schools, giving students the opportunity to gain access to jobs within the European Community and international enterprises. There are intentions for interlinked higher education, research, and innovation, with statements of marks, examinations and diplomas bearing the seal of SaarLorLux. The Charter of Academic Cooperation is an attempt to combine the higher education establishments of the Region. A university of the region shall be founded.
The politicians also hope to form a single employment market within the common economic area resulting in a multinational workforce and a transfer of knowledge. Part of the plan calls for the provision of uniform social welfare standards over the whole territory with new kinds of social networks encompassing all members of society. A cross-border Academy for the Social Professions is visualised, providing the social institutions with first class staff. A Centre for Social Information, still to be created, shall inform the public about the provisions and social institutions in the Greater Region.
Great hopes are taken from the good geostrategic position of the region at the center of European infrastructure, combined with the area's great potential for absorbing increasing trans-European traffic, making the region a traffic hub for all modes of transport. The new high-speed East-West railway link, which was opened in 2007, is seen as a first step.
Public transport shall be linked to cross-border transport for travellers.
In 2020 the region shall be an area with a homogeneous population possessing solid infrastructure and many interregional networks and urban agglomerations. Therefore, national spatial planning
policies have to be abandoned in order to enable networks of cross border services. An Interregional Council (CI) is planned as a central political organ of the Greater Region of SaarLorLux. Another task of the CI is the coordination of central missions at the interregional level. Permanent staff of the Council shall be a secretariat, assisted by five agencies, to develop and realize all central projects. The eight summit delegates agreed that the areas of multilingualism and culture, science and research, tourist marketing, the economy and employment, and transport should be studied.
The delegates agreed on the construction of a timetable to realize the Zukunftsbild 2020 platform.
Zukunftsbild 2020 is already included in interregional programmes of development. It is part of Interreg III-A-Programme eBIRD. It is an object of reference within the research project "Blueprints for regional foresight" of the Research Directorate General of the European Commission.
and the signing of the Schengen Agreement
.
The launch of the Euro gave the citizens of the border region the possibility to trade across the border without the need for advanced arithmetic operations to calculate the price, when one German mark
s was about three French franc
s and about twenty Luxembourgian francs or Belgian franc
s. The Euro negates the need for SaarLorLux to have currency of its own.
The Schengen agreement brought the removal of border posts and border checks. Today, for citizens of the European Union the neighboring village across the border can be reached the same way as a village in one's own country. Although this agreement was signed on a river boat on the river Moselle
near Schengen, at the border triangle of Lorraine, Luxembourg and Saarland, it was not created especially for the use of the region, but the whole of the founding members: the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, and now 28 European States.
The other possibility for advancement is on an informal level. People are beginning to understand their position along the border as an opportunity. The French go shopping in Saarland because the prices are lower. The Germans cherish French shops for the freshness of the food and the wider range of products. Near the border crossings of Luxembourg, the streets are lined with gas stations.
People are relocating to villages on the other side of the border, where houses are cheaper or taxes lower, although there still is not much willingness to become part of the other society. Mayors of villages along the border of southern Saarland and Lorraine report serious problems with Germans who are living there but wish their children to be exempted from French compulsory education, because they do not speak French and want their children to be educated by a German school on the other side of the border. German villages face the same problem with students from Luxembourg.
The future of SaarLorLux will be the sum of many such single projects and cooperations, made by single persons, groups and villages, in addition to the political paths.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
also SarLorLux), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, is a Euroregion
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
of five different regional authorities located in four different European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations, organizations, clubs and people. Member regions represent different political structures: the sovereign state of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
; Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
's Walloon region
Walloon Region
The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three federal Regions of Belgium, and its capital is Namur. It comprises, as defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium, the provinces of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur...
, comprising the French
French Community of Belgium
The French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...
and German speaking
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...
parts of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
; Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
, a region of France
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
; the French départements Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.- History :Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French...
; and the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
federal states of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
and Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
.
There is no well-defined structure of SaarLorLux nor even an exclusive definition of its size. Instead, there exist multiple forms of cooperation and contractual relations among all or several members. Sometimes instead of SaarLorLux, the term 'Greater Region' is used, short for the more formal 'Greater Region of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and (Western-) Rhineland-Palatinate.'
Shared history
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic tribes of the Treveri
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
and Mediomatrici
Mediomatrici
The Mediomatrici were an ancient Celtic people of Gaul, who belong to the division of Belgica. Julius Caesar shows their position in a general way when he says that the Rhine flows along the territories of the Sequani, Mediomatrici, Triboci or Tribocci, and Treviri. Ptolemy places the Mediomatrici...
. The Treveri lived in the south of Belgium, Luxembourg, western Rhineland-Palatinate, and northern Saarland. Lorraine and the southern Saarland were inhabited by the Mediomatrici. Both tribes were conquered during the Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
by the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
legions of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. The area became part of the Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
s of Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica, the Belgae, consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes...
, Germania Superior
Germania Superior
Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany...
, and Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
.
Barbarian invasions forced the enfeebled Roman Empire to abandon possession of the area in the fifth century. The region became a part of the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
. After the death of Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the Germanic custom of partible inheritance
Partible inheritance
Partible inheritance is a general term applied to systems of inheritance in which property may be apportioned among heirs. It contrasts in particular with primogeniture, which requires that the whole inheritance passes to the eldest son, and with agnatic seniority where the succession passes to...
, and the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun was a treaty between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms...
in 843 divided the empire into three. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair I
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I was the Emperor of the Romans , co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria , Italy and Middle Francia...
became Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
and ruler of the central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom among them into Lotharingia
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
, Burgundy
Upper Burgundy
Upper Burgundy is the part of Burgundy east of the Jura mountains, that together with the western County of Burgundy from 868 formed the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy, encompassing both sides of the Jura mountains range...
and (Northern) Italy. The core area of SaarLorLux lies within the borders of Lotharingia.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Until the 18th century the area remained part of the Holy Roman Empire. Then the region was divided. Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
became French, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
became an independent state, and the Walloon Region was a part of the new Kingdom of Belgium. The predecessors of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate were part of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
As a result of these events, the inhabitants of the region were on different sides in the Franco Prussian War of 1870-71, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The region was divided by the fortifications of the Maginot line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
and the Westwall. Saarland, Lorraine and the German-speaking community of Belgium
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...
even changed sides (in the case of Saarland and Lorraine, four times). Today's borders were established in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Situated in the center of the European Union, it contains highly populated urban sections along the rivers. These areas include industries, especially mining and steelworking. Rural areas are dominated by agriculture.
Luxembourg
LuxembourgLuxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
is a sovereign nation with full autonomy. Each of the four départements of the French region of Lorraine is twice the size of the whole nation of Luxembourg.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has a population of 476,187 people in an area of 2586 square kilometres (998 sq mi).
Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
with a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
, ruled by a Grand Duke
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. It is the world's only sovereign Grand Duchy
Grand duchy
A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy...
. The country has a highly developed economy, with the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the world.
The city of Luxembourg
Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
, the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the European Union. Luxembourg lies on the cultural divide between Romantic Europe and Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
Europe, borrowing customs from each of the distinct traditions. Luxembourg is a trilingual country; French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish language
Luxembourgish is a High German language spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 320,000 people worldwide speak Luxembourgish.-Language family:...
are official languages. Although a secular state
Secular state
A secular state is a concept of secularism, whereby a state or country purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state also claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and claims to avoid preferential...
, Luxembourg is predominantly Roman Catholic.
Until 1867, the city of Luxembourg, the Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
of the north, was a federal fortress of the German confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
. In the 20th century, Luxembourg was twice occupied by German armies.
In the middle of 20th century, the economy of Luxembourg was dominated by the iron and steel industries.
Then, a structural change took place, which transformed the country to an international financial center with more than 200 banks and over 800 financial institutions and insurance companies, generating more than 20% of the GNP of Luxembourg. Today about 66% of workers are employed in the service sector, and less than 2% work in the steel industry.
Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate
The GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
states of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
and Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
are part of the federal system of Germany. They hold far-ranging authorities, although some decisions concerning international treaties are assigned to the federal government.
Saarland
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
. The capital is Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1.051 million inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German Flächenländer ("area states"), i.e., those that are not City States (Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Bremen
Bremen (state)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
).
It is named after the Saar River
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
, which is a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
(a Rhine tributary) which runs through the state from the south to the northwest. One third of the land area of the Saarland is covered by forest, one of highest percentages in Germany. The state is generally hilly; the highest mountain is the Dollberg with a height of 695.4 metres (2,281.5 ft).
Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border that includes the capital of Saarbrücken.
In 1919, Saarland was created from the communes where the steelworks and coal mines were located and the associated workers lived
.
From 1920 to 1935 and from 1947 to 1956, Saarland was economically affiliated with France.
In 1957, 65,000 persons were employed in 18 coal mines, by 2006 only 6,300 in one mine remained. A comparable process happened with the steelworks.
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 BundesländerStates of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
(federal states) of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It has an area of 19,846 km² and about 4.048 million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate was established on 30 August 1946.
The main axis of the state is the Rhine river that forms the border with Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in the southeast before running across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhine Valley is bounded by mountain chains and forms a landscape containing some of the most historically significant places in Germany.
The Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
and Hunsrück
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
mountain chains are found on the west bank of the Rhine in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, while the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
and Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
mountains are found on the east bank. The hilly land in the southernmost region of the state is called the Palatinate forest (Pfälzerwald).
These mountain chains are separated from each other by tributaries of the Rhine: the Moselle
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
(Mosel), the Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
and the Nahe.
Economically prosperous zones exist along the eastern borders, while in the western part of the state, there are structurally backward, rural regions.
Lorraine
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its two main cities are Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
(administrative capital) and Nancy. The region's name is derived from the medieval Lotharingia
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
.
Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
consists of four départements, Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, Meurthe et Moselle, Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
. Each of them is as big as Luxembourg and the Saarland together. Two of these départements, Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
in the south and Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
in the west, only have small interests in the SaarLorLux region, because they are far away from the shared border. Together, they have a population of about 2.338 million people on 23,547 km2.
Lorraine is part of the centralised administrative system of France
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
. Therefore many of the decisions necessary for cooperation in the SaarLorLux region have to be cleared through the central government in Paris.
The current région of Lorraine is larger than the historical duchy of Lorraine which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern région includes provinces
Provinces of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...
and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper. These are:
- BarroisBarroisBarrois is a "pays" in the eastern part of France. In the Middle Ages it was part of the duchy of Bar, then bordering the duchy of Lorraine. Today Barrois is a "pays" of the present-day Région Lorraine.-External links:*...
- Three BishopricsThree BishopricsThe Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-Revolutionary France consisting of the prince-bishoprics of Verdun, Metz, and Toul within the Lorraine region....
- several small principalities which were still part of the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
at the time of the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Lorraine borders the French regions of Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, and Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium, and consists of four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. The region is famous for its sparkling white wine . Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the...
. The location of Lorraine led to it being seen as a strategic asset. As the crossroads of four nations, it had a very important role in European affairs. Lorraine has many rivers running through it, which include the Rhine, Moselle
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
, Meurthe
Meurthe
Meurthe is a former département of France. Its préfecture was Nancy. It ceased to exist following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany in 1871.-General characteristics:...
, and Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
.
From 1871 to 1918 and during World War II, Lorraine was part of Germany. During the last 40 years, most jobs in the formerly dominant industries of steelworking, coal mining and textiles were lost.
Wallonia
WalloniaWalloon Region
The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three federal Regions of Belgium, and its capital is Namur. It comprises, as defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium, the provinces of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur...
with its five provinces and two communities has far reaching competencies in relation to economics, infrastructure, regional planning and foreign trade.
Wallonia occupies the southern part of Belgium. It has an area of 16 844 km² (55.18% of Belgium) with 3.436 million inhabitants and comprises the following provinces:
- Hainaut
- LiègeLiège (province)Liège is the easternmost province of Belgium and belongs to the Walloon Region. It is an area of French and German ethnicity. It borders on the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and in Belgium the provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant , and those of Flemish Brabant and Limburg . Its...
- Luxembourg
- NamurNamur (province)Namur is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and on France. Its capital is the city of Namur...
- Walloon BrabantWalloon BrabantWalloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
is the official language in most municipalities. German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(with facilities for speakers of French) is the official language in nine eastern municipalities which belonged to Germany until 1918 and now form the German-speaking Community of Belgium
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...
. Several French-speaking municipalities have facilities in Dutch or German (or both). In a survey conducted by the Universite Catholique de Louvain
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
in Louvain-La-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve is a planned city in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the French-speaking part of the country...
and published in June 2006, only 19% of Walloons stated that they were able to speak Dutch. In contrast, 59% of respondents from the Flemish Community
Flemish Community
The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:...
claimed to speak French. From the mid seventies the number of jobs in coal mines and steelworks was reduced from 135,000 to 35,000 today, but these industries are still dominant the region. The region heavily depends on subsidies, paid by Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, the other Belgian region.
The beginnings of SaarLorLux
The term Saar-Lor-Lux was coined in 1969 by Dr. Hubertus Rolshoven, founding president or the IRI ("Institut Régional Intracommunautaire", now " Institute of the Greater Region") and president of Saarberg, the former organization of coal mines in the Saarland. The term recalls the close historical and economic ties among the coal mines and steelworks of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, creating a unified economic region. Facing the same severe economic problems of a crisis in the steel and coal industries, the partners began informal talks, discussing how to solve the shared problems and how to improve the region. In the 1970s, these talks began to be more formalized, when official governmental commissions, first between France and Germany only, then including Luxembourg, began their work.
The formal founding act of SaarLorLux was an agreement between the governments of the French Republic (Republique Francaise), the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Grand-Duché de Luxembourg) concerning collaboration in the border regions, made on October 16, 1980. This agreement is the legal base of a boundary-crossing cooperation of administrations and institutions to promote the economic, cultural, touristic and social development of the region.
The treaties and agreements of SaarLorLux
| 1970 | Formation of the German-French governmental commission |
| 1971 | Luxembourg joins the governmental commission |
| Decision of the Formation of the Regional Commission Saarland – Lorraine – Luxemburg – Rhineland Palatinate | |
| 1980 | Agreement among the governments of the Republique Francaise, the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Grand-Duché de Luxembourg concerning collaboration in the border regions |
| 1986 | Formation of the Interregional Parliamentary Council (IPR) |
| 1988 | First meeting of the joint Council of Ministers of Saarland and Lorraine |
| 1992 | First implementation of the Interreg Projects (A) |
| 1995 | First Summit of SaarLorLux at Bad Mondorf (Luxembourg) |
| 1999 | Creation of the house of the greater region at the city of Luxembourg. |
| 2000 | First award of the prize of the greater region for special interregional performance |
| 2003 | Vision for the future 2020 |
| 2005 | The Walloon Region joins the Regional Commission |
Greater Region
The Greater Region is a term used to describe the area of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia, the French Community of Belgium and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It is not identical with the SaarLorLux Euregio, being in the same territory.It is situated between...
of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and the French-speaking Belgians, the German-speaking Belgians and the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. There was no formal process of enlargement that included new regions in all aspects of cooperation in SaarLorLux. The new members did not enter every instrument of collaboration; they only joined single treaties or aspects of cooperation.
Therefore, there is not one all embracing structure any more. Now, there are different bilateral and multilateral treaties among different members, creating different grades of cooperation without clear separation from each other.
Terminology
There is no standardized definition of SaarLorLux. The term SaarLorLux refers to several different geographical structures:The original term only includes the founding members which were the three regions of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, the so-called triangle of coal and steel industries.
The term also refers to the cooperation of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg with the regions of Walloon and Rhineland Palatinate or parts of these two additional regions.
Another combination is Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, and Rhineland Palatinate or Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, the French community of Belgium, and the German speaking community of Belgium.
The official name of government organizations usually uses the names of all participants. The summit of the SaarLorLux region has the official name "Summit of the greater region Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, French community of Belgium, German speaking community of Belgium".
Almost all the meanings of SaarLorLux include the three original members and exclude all other regions except the five members or parts of them.
There are many alternative names: SaarLorLux +, Saar-Lor-Lux-Westpfalz-Trier, Saar-Lor-Lux Wallonie Rheinland Pfalz, and Greater Region.
The government of Luxembourg wishes to use the term greater region to represent Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, the French community of Belgium, and the German speaking community of Belgium, but within and outside the European Union, several other greater regions are beginning to develop. For example in the greater region of Switzerland, Alsace Baden-Wuerttemberg the use of the term greater region refers to this region. There is no realistic chance of an international agreement requiring the use of the term greater region to be restricted to SaarLorLux.
Organization of SaarLorLux
SaarLorLux sees a large amount of governmental, non-governmental and mixed cooperation. The SaarLorLux cooperation is not just between five partners. In fact, the cooperation consists of a multitude of single cooperations, treaties and organizations. The single cooperations often do not consist of the same members, because some of the regions do not participate in every cooperation or are represented by different political municipalities. These forms of cooperation have led to the creation of a variety of different organizations.Summit Conferences
Based on a 1994 decision, there are regular summit conferences.The participants are:
- Prime Minister of Luxembourg (le premier ministre du Grand Duché de Luxembourg)
- Minister-PresidentMinister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of the SaarlandSaarlandSaarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
(der Ministerpräsident des Saarlandes) - Minister-PresidentMinister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
(der Ministerpräsident von Rheinland-Pfalz) - Minister-PresidentMinister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of the Walloon RegionWalloon RegionThe Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three federal Regions of Belgium, and its capital is Namur. It comprises, as defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium, the provinces of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur...
(le Ministre-Président de la Région Wallonne) - Minister-PresidentMinister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of the French Community of BelgiumFrench Community of BelgiumThe French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...
(le Ministre-Président de la Communauté française de Belgique) - Minister-PresidentMinister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of the German-speaking Community of BelgiumGerman-speaking Community of BelgiumThe German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km² within the province of Liège in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons...
(der Ministerpräsident der deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens) - Préfet of LorraineLorraine (région)Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
(le préfet de la région Lorraine) - President of the regional councilPresident of the regional councilIn Italy, the President of the Regional Council is the Speaker who heads the consiglio regionale of a regione, a state-level territory....
of LorraineLorraine (région)Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
(le président du conseil régional de Lorraine) - President of the general council of the département Moselle (le président du conseil general du département de la Moselle)
- President of the general council of the département Meurthe et Moselle (le président du conseil general du département de Meurthe-et-Moselle)
This summit conference is the central political organ of the interregional cooperation of the enlarged SaarLorLux region.
Its task is the predefinition and declaration of general political decisions. The conference takes care of problems and questions concerning the cooperation and gives suggestions on solutions and developments.
There is a group of delegates of the member states who form a standing committee, able to come to decisions in times between the conferences, to prepare conferences, to translate the general ideas of the conferences into practical work and to control the task groups appointed by the conference.
The Regional Commission
The Regional Commission is the forum for a variety of topics. The members are:- Lorraine
- Luxembourg
- Saarland
- (the western parts of) Rhineland-Palatinate
- Walloon Region (formerly as an observer until 2005)
Each of the five members sends a delegation, led by a head of delegation and supported by a delegation secretary. Within the French delegation there is a high representation of the central state, because many of the subjects of the commission are topics within the responsibility of the central state.
The Regional Commission meets once a year in a formal session with prepared documents and resolutions. The sessions are presided by a chairman from one of the member states. Every year a different state provides the chairman. Each delegation consists of five or ten members. In addition to the formal session the heads of delegation have informal meetings, prepared by the delegation secretaries.
The Regional Commission does not have employees or funds of its own. Necessary expenses are directly paid by the members. The delegation providing the chairman also provides the necessary workforce.
There are working parties, which form the operational part of the Regional Commission, reporting on a regular basis to the Regional Commission. Their topics are economic affairs; road links, transport and communications; environment; social affairs; culture; higher education; regional planning; tourism; security and prevention; education; and regional planning.
The regional commission formed a working group of the statistics agencies and a working group of the land surveying office.
Interregional Parliamentary Council
The Presidents of the Luxembourg Chamber of DeputiesChamber of Deputies of Luxembourg
The Chamber of Deputies , abbreviated to the Chamber, is the unicameral national legislature of Luxembourg. 'Krautmaart' is sometimes used as a metonym for the Chamber, after the square on which the Hôtel de la Chambre is located....
,
the Saar LandtagLandtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
,
the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag, the Lorraine Regional CouncilConseil régional
A Regional Council is the elected assembly of a region of France.-History:Regional councils were created by law on 5 July 1972. Originally they were simply consultative bodies consisting of the region's parliamentary representatives plus an equal number of members nominated by the departments and...
the Provincial CouncilProvincial council
Provincial councils are organisational bodies within the Gaelic Athletic Association, each made up of several GAA counties. The provincial council is responsible for the organisation of club and inter-county competitions such as the provincial championships, and the promotion of Gaelic games within...
of the (Belgian) Province of Luxembourg (later replaced by the Walloon Regional Council)
formed the interregional parliamentary council.
This council promotes the economic, social and cultural role of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region and tries to develop a perspective for crossborder cooperation.
Participants are the five presidents and six appointed members of each the parliaments and assemblies within SaarLorLux. They meet once a year. Five standing committees report to the council:
- the committee on economic affairs
- the committee on social affairs
- the committee on transport and communications
- the committee on the environment and agriculture
- the committee on education, training, research and culture
The University Charter
In October 1984 seven establishments in Saar-Lor-Lux signed a University cooperation agreement (the Charter) at Pont-à-Mousson. This was the first step towards crossborder cooperation in research and education.Members of the Charter are:
- Belgium/Walloon Region (Province of Luxembourg): Luxembourg University Foundation (Arlon)
- Germany (Western Palatinate and Saarland): Rhineland-Palatinate University Institute: ( Idar-ObersteinIdar-ObersteinIdar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
, KaiserslauternKaiserslauternKaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
and TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
), SaarSaarlandSaarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
University (SaarbrückenSaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
and HomburgHomburg, SaarlandHomburg is a town in Saarland, Germany, the administrative seat of the Saarpfalz district. With a population of c. 44,000 inhabitants, is the third city in its federal state. The medical department of the University of Saarland is situated here. The city is also home to the Karlsberg beer brewery...
), College of Technology and Economics (Saarbrücken) - France (Lorraine region): Metz University, MetzMetzMetz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
National School of Engineering (ENIM), Nancy University I and II, Lorraine Polytechnic Institute (Nancy (INPL) - Luxembourg : University center of Luxembourg
These universities encourage relations between the parties to the Charter, promote teacher, scientist and student exchanges, develop inter-regional study programmes leading to common degrees
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
, and establish common research structures. They foster cooperation on law, French and German literature, geography, environmental science, computer science, materials science, history, culture and sports.
European cultural capital 2007
Luxemburg and the SaarLorLux region were the European cultural capital 2007.The year saw a combined cultural program, sharing the motto "Crossing borders together". The programme was intended to reflect the creativity, the energy and the common future of this European region.
The House of the Greater Region
In November 1999 the House of the Greater Region (Haus der Großregion – Maison de la Grande Région) was opened in Luxembourg. It is a place of communication and contact for the citizens of the region, especially all the participants and organizations of the greater region. The house is a for public demonstration of the existence of the greater region and therefore provides representation and identification within the interregional cooperation of the greater region. The house is a place to work on projects of the summit of the greater region and the regional commission.There is a multilingual hotline connected to the house to give information to interested citizens and to answer questions. The hotline can be used free of charge from anywhere in the greater region.
Private cooperations
There are many more forms of cooperation between organizations and persons of the member regions, ranging from a cooperation of the Christian parties or the SaarLorLux Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and the SaarLorLux orchestra, to the SaarLorLux rallye and the SaarLorLux Biker community.Most of these forms of private cooperation are working on a binational or trinational level, including only parts of the region or including groups or organizations outside the region.
The SaarLorLux region and the European Union
All members of SaarLorLux are also members of the European Community. The Greater Region is the central area of this community. Luxembourg, one of the three towns which house central institutions of the European Community (the court of justice of the European Communities ) is situated in the center of the Greater Region while the other two (BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Strassbourg) are situated just some miles across the borders, close to SaarLorLux.
In terms of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
SaarLorLux is defined as a European Border Region
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
(short form: Euroregion or Euregio), which means a single European transboundary region that is an "amalgamation of regional and local authorities from both sides of the national border, sometimes with a parliamentary assembly" with "cross-border organisations with a permanent secretariat and experts and administrative staff", basing on national foundations or international treaties, and a Greater Region (also macroregion
Macroregion
A macroregion is a geopolitical subdivision that encompasses several traditionally or politically defined regions. The meaning may vary, with the common denominator being cultural, economical, historical or social similarity within a macroregion...
), a territory that consists of multiple regions or subareas within different states of the European Union.
Council of European Municipalities and Regions
Because of its character as a recognized European Border Region, SaarLorLux is member of the council of regions, an assembly of representation meant to give local and regional authorities the opportunity to express their needs, problems and wishes to the European union.Interreg
InterregInterreg
Interreg is an initiative that aims to stimulate cooperation between regions in the European Union. It started in 1989, and is financed under the European Regional Development Fund...
is a programme of the European Union designed to stimulate cooperation between member states on different levels, especially to diminish the influence of national borders in order to attain equal economic, social and cultural development of the whole European Union. SaarLorLux is beneficiary of several Interreg projects.
The region currently receives funding for projects of Interreg III A, while applications are filed for Interreg IV A projects, which run until 2013.
Problems of cooperation
The members have different forms of organization and structure and varying levels of decision making power. The partners face different problems, although they all share problems resulting from the changing economic structure of the region. In all parts of SaarLorLux, coal mines and steelworks are closed or will be closed. While facing the same problem, member states did not create a shared solution, but reacted independently. While Luxembourg was very successful in recreating its economy by changing the structure to secondary industries, especially the banking sector, and Lorraine has tried to take a similar line, the German states and Wallonia tried to preserve their old industries and but failed.This lack of cooperation is not based on a lack of will. In some instances, there is no political power to make the decision to cooperate. The only partner with complete power is Luxembourg, represented by its prime minister. All other members that share the summit table have only limited power. For decisions, they have to consult their central or federal governments in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. Many of the decisions of the Summit are nothing but a declaration of the goodwill of the participants.
Administrative structures vany among the different countries represented in SaarLorLux. French villages may only have a hundred inhabitants and a constant need to clear decisions with a higher level of government. German community associations of several districts with thousands of inhabitants have constitutional rights of self government.
The members of SaarLorLux face the same problems. The economy of all members was founded on coal mining and steelworks. Now, they are all trying to perform the same structural change. Because the economic structures resemble each other so closely, there is little possibility for differentiation of fields of activity to complement one another.
With the exception of Luxembourg, the citizens of SaarLorLux do not speak the other languages of the region. The main foreign language spoken is English. About 120,000 people cross the borders to work in another country. 90,000 of these work in Luxembourg. This is the result of an enormous difference in living standards. These differences in wealth complicate the search for solutions to shared problems.
Many citizens of the regions are not aware of SaarLorLux. For a citizen of the town of Tournai, in the west of Wallonia, the nearest neighboring region of SaarLorLux is about two hundred kilometers away. For him, the nearest European neighbor is the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, five kilometers away.The same situation exists for the region of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
in the east of Rhineland Palatinate, which is part of the Rhein Main area and the southern départements of Lorraine. The region seems to be too big to form a common identity for all.
Political plans
The current political plans for the future of SaarLorLux are displayed in Zukunftsbild 2020 (Futute Picture 2020), a concept of development showing the visions and ambitions of the greater region of SaarLorLux. It was developed by the commission, led by Jacques Santer, the former president of the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and former prime minister of Luxembourg.
A central intention is the bilingualism of the region. While for about one hundred years, especially in France, the extinction of everything but the national language was the intention of the state, now the value of bilingualism is understood. French and German are intended to be common languages on equal footing within the whole region, including common media for the interregional audience. This coordinates with the plan to create cross border schools, giving students the opportunity to gain access to jobs within the European Community and international enterprises. There are intentions for interlinked higher education, research, and innovation, with statements of marks, examinations and diplomas bearing the seal of SaarLorLux. The Charter of Academic Cooperation is an attempt to combine the higher education establishments of the Region. A university of the region shall be founded.
The politicians also hope to form a single employment market within the common economic area resulting in a multinational workforce and a transfer of knowledge. Part of the plan calls for the provision of uniform social welfare standards over the whole territory with new kinds of social networks encompassing all members of society. A cross-border Academy for the Social Professions is visualised, providing the social institutions with first class staff. A Centre for Social Information, still to be created, shall inform the public about the provisions and social institutions in the Greater Region.
Great hopes are taken from the good geostrategic position of the region at the center of European infrastructure, combined with the area's great potential for absorbing increasing trans-European traffic, making the region a traffic hub for all modes of transport. The new high-speed East-West railway link, which was opened in 2007, is seen as a first step.
Public transport shall be linked to cross-border transport for travellers.
In 2020 the region shall be an area with a homogeneous population possessing solid infrastructure and many interregional networks and urban agglomerations. Therefore, national spatial planning
Spatial planning
Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales. Discrete professional disciplines which involve spatial planning include land use planning, urban planning, regional planning, transport planning and...
policies have to be abandoned in order to enable networks of cross border services. An Interregional Council (CI) is planned as a central political organ of the Greater Region of SaarLorLux. Another task of the CI is the coordination of central missions at the interregional level. Permanent staff of the Council shall be a secretariat, assisted by five agencies, to develop and realize all central projects. The eight summit delegates agreed that the areas of multilingualism and culture, science and research, tourist marketing, the economy and employment, and transport should be studied.
The delegates agreed on the construction of a timetable to realize the Zukunftsbild 2020 platform.
Zukunftsbild 2020 is already included in interregional programmes of development. It is part of Interreg III-A-Programme eBIRD. It is an object of reference within the research project "Blueprints for regional foresight" of the Research Directorate General of the European Commission.
Actual progress
Although politics create promising programs, actual progress is limited. The main advance so far has been the creation of bilingual schools.Byproducts of European unity
The most important developments for the people of SaarLorLux have been the launch of the EuroEuro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
and the signing of the Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
.
The launch of the Euro gave the citizens of the border region the possibility to trade across the border without the need for advanced arithmetic operations to calculate the price, when one German mark
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
s was about three French franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
s and about twenty Luxembourgian francs or Belgian franc
Belgian franc
The franc was the currency of Belgium until 2002 when the euro was introduced into circulation. It was subdivided into centimes , 100 centiem or Centime .-History:...
s. The Euro negates the need for SaarLorLux to have currency of its own.
The Schengen agreement brought the removal of border posts and border checks. Today, for citizens of the European Union the neighboring village across the border can be reached the same way as a village in one's own country. Although this agreement was signed on a river boat on the river Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
near Schengen, at the border triangle of Lorraine, Luxembourg and Saarland, it was not created especially for the use of the region, but the whole of the founding members: the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, and now 28 European States.
Private initiatives
People are relocating to villages on the other side of the border, where houses are cheaper or taxes lower, although there still is not much willingness to become part of the other society. Mayors of villages along the border of southern Saarland and Lorraine report serious problems with Germans who are living there but wish their children to be exempted from French compulsory education, because they do not speak French and want their children to be educated by a German school on the other side of the border. German villages face the same problem with students from Luxembourg.
The future of SaarLorLux will be the sum of many such single projects and cooperations, made by single persons, groups and villages, in addition to the political paths.
External links
- http://www.eurice.info/typo3sites/fileadmin/Forschen-ohne-Grenzen/documents/downloads/2020_Vision_for_the_Future_-_Internet-version.pdf
- http://www.saarlorlux.org/cgi-bin/cms. The business portal of SaarLorLux
- http://www.business-on.de/saarlorlux/ The business news portal of SaarLorLux (in German)
- http://www.luxembourg2007.org/GB/index.php Website of the European cultural capital 2007