Strasbourg-Ortenau
Encyclopedia
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...
-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...
eurodistrict
Eurodistrict
A eurodistrict is a European administrative entity that contains urban agglomerations which lie across the border between two or more states. A eurodistrict offers a program for cooperation and integration of the towns or communes which it comprises: for example, improving transport links for...
, a cross-border administrative entity (groupement européen de coopération transfrontalière) sharing common institutions, established on 17 October 2005 and definitely functional since 4 February 2010. The district is formed by the Urban Community of Strasbourg
Urban Community of Strasbourg
The Urban Community of Strasbourg , also known by its French initials CUS, is the intercommunal structure gathering the city of Strasbourg and some of its suburbs....
(centred on the city of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
) on the French side of the Rhine and the Ortenau district
Ortenaukreis
Ortenaukreis is a district in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottweil, Schwarzwald-Baar and Emmendingen...
(including Achern
Achern
Achern is a city in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg...
, Kehl
Kehl
Kehl is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg.-History:...
, Lahr
Lahr
Lahr is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 38 km north of Freiburg in Breisgau and 100 km south of Karlsruhe...
, Oberkirch
Oberkirch (Baden)
Oberkirch is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany about 12 km North-East of Offenburg and belongs to the Ortenaukreis district....
and Offenburg
Offenburg
Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With about 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city and the capital of the Ortenaukreis.Offenburg also houses University of Applied Sciences Offenburg...
) on the German side. The combined population of the district is 884,988 (2006/2008). It covers an area of 2,176 km².
Building on regional and Franco-German cooperation
Franco-German cooperation
The relations between France and Germany is embodied in a cooperation called Franco-German Friendship . This came about after 1945, when a French-German enmity between the two countries ended....
, it aims to develop bonds between citizens, associations, public administrations, educational establishments and corporations. It is also in the context of European integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, with the presence of European institutions in Strasbourg
European Institutions in Strasbourg
There are a range of European Institutions in Strasbourg , the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city...
, and has been compared to a European version of Washington D.C.. In addition to the array of European and Franco-German institutions, the district includes three port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s, two airports and nine universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
.
The Eurodistrict's Council is composed of 48 members, with 24 each representing either the French or the German side.
History
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
and then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
during a meeting in the Élysée Palace
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
; it was point 24 of the common declaration made on the 40th anniversary of the cooperation treaty between Germany and France. 22 January was furthermore declared "French-German day" (journée franco-allemande, deutsch-französischer Tag)
A common resolution to create the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict was signed on 24 May 2003 in Offenburg
Offenburg
Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With about 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city and the capital of the Ortenaukreis.Offenburg also houses University of Applied Sciences Offenburg...
by Fabienne Keller
Fabienne Keller
Fabienne Keller was the mayor of Strasbourg, France, from March 2001 to March 2008. She was educated at Berkeley.-References:...
, the mayor of Strasbourg, Robert Grossmann, the president of the Communité urbaine de Strasbourg
Urban Community of Strasbourg
The Urban Community of Strasbourg , also known by its French initials CUS, is the intercommunal structure gathering the city of Strasbourg and some of its suburbs....
, the mayors of Kehl, Offenburg, Achern, Lahr and Oberkirch as well as the President (Landrat) of the Ortenau district. The resolution's aim was to present a viable version of the project at the upcoming French-German summit on 10 June 2003.
On 30 June 2003, the French minister for European Affairs, Noëlle Lenoir
Noelle Lenoir
Noëlle Lenoir, born on April 27, 1948 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, is a French stateswoman.-Career:Noelle Lenoir graduated from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and the Paris Law School and has been a professor in each of these institutions...
, and her German colleague, Hans Martin Bury, signed the official document specifying the legal, political, economical, demographic etc. frameworks (cadres) within which the Eurodistrict was to be called into existence. The document also announced that further presentations of the project were to be made at the French-German summit in the following autumn, as well as during the crossborder flower festival on both banks of the Rhine held in Strasbourg and Kehl in the spring 2004.
Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries
Roland Ries
Roland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
, during and after his election campaign in 2007, proposed the strengthening of the district in order to maintain the presence of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in the city (see Location of European Union institutions
Location of European Union institutions
The governing institutions of the European Union are not concentrated in a single capital city; they are instead spread across three cities with other EU agencies and bodies based further away...
) and making it more autonomous and akin to a European capital territory. However the Ortenaukreis communities have been less enthusiastic about the Eurodistrict project. In late January 2010 the German State definitely greenlighted the entity and the inaugural session of the Eurodistrict's Council took place on 4 February 2010. Roland Ries was elected as the Council's first president.
External links
- Official website (German and French only)
- Strasbourg Region