Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)

2. Session /Séance. Regional (trans-border) Cooperation / Coopération régionale (transfrontaliere) - Brejon de Lavergnée, Marie-Edith: New economic Zones and their Archives / Nouvelles zones économiques et leurs archives (english 77 - français 100)

2. Session/Seance: Brejon de Lavergnée, New economic Zones and their Archives

ing population. An example is the Labour community of the Pyrenees set up in April 1983: It comprises three regions affected by the Pyrenees on the French side (Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi Pyrénées and Aquitaine), four regions on the Spanish side (Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and the Basque country) and also Andorra.

Its aims are economic development, improvement of communications, protection of the environment to allieviate the imbalance in the irrigation of the most disadvantaged areas within its territorry (220 000 km2 and 175 000 inhabitants). It works with a Community Council, made up of seven representatives from each local community in membership, which meets once a year and is responsible for general policy: the chairmanship is exercised by the chairman of each community for a term of two years. He is assisted in his functions by a vice-chairman, a Secretary General and a deputy Secretary-General whom he appoints. The coordinating committee comprises the chairman of each member community, the Secretary General and the deputy Secretary General: it coordinates the activities of the different working commissions and prepares the plenary meetings of the Council. The working commissions were created by the Community Council and comprise one or two members from each member community; there are at present nine commissions: cartography, communications, culture, economy of the mountain region, environment, training, technological innovation, civil defence, sport, tourism. The Community has drawn up a programme for cooperation comprising seventeen common ventures.

Union of Regions without common Frontiers

Beyond „frontier regions“ agreements can also be entered into between regions distant one from the other. Thus Languedoc-Roussillon has signed agreements with nearby Catalonia and with Andalusia and Veneto. Likewise Catalonia cooperates with Baden-Wiirttemburg, Lombardy and the Rhône Alpes region.

Bilateral Relations

Bilateral relations can also be established between the executive bodies of regions alongside multilateral cooperation. As an example can be cited the executive bodies of Saarland and Lorraine. The Ministerial Council of Saarland and the Regional Council of Lorraine decided by an agreement signed at Saarbrücken on 14 June, 1991 to establish a joint consultative body of the executive bodies of the two regions so as to allow regular contacts between Lorraine and Saarland: this body has authority to admit other frontier regions such as Rhineland-Pfalz, Wallonia or the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is made up of a consultative commission of the executive bodies comprising the vice-chairmen and elected councillors, of a standing committee comprising the Ministerpräsident and Head of chancellery for Saarland, the chairman of the Lorraine region along with his Director General of Services, of a joint secretariat provided alternately by the services of member regions.

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