Obstacles and opportunities of cross-border cooperation in relation to training and employment in the Euroregion New Aquitaine - Euskadi - Navarre

Cross-border mobility in relation to training and employment

August 2020

Conseil économique, social et environnemental régional (CESER)

To download : 4_ceser_rapport_mobilite.pdf (360 KiB)

Obstacles and opportunities related to cross-border knowledge and a common vision

Obstacles

• Lack of harmonised cross-border employment data.

• Insufficient command of the languages of the different territories on both sides of the border.

• Lack of knowledge of the different institutional and administrative organisation modes on the other side of the border².

• Lack of harmonisation of regulations (legal, technical, etc.), administrative culture, competences and/or coordination of planning processes.

• Difficulty in adopting common training and employment strategies with a territorial development approach.

• Prevalence of a feeling of rivalry and competition between companies in certain sectors (brain drain) and/or between associations competing for grants³.

Obstacles linked to a lack of knowledge result in the disjunction of sectoral policies and a lower visibility and awareness of the issues that characterise cross-border territories among national and European authorities⁴. The difficulty in implementing cooperation actions in the emergency period of the COVID- 19 crisis in the Euroregional space is an illustration of this.

Opportunities

• The development for several years of sectoral cooperation relations (e.g. the Bihartean cross-border chamber, collaboration of engineering schools in the construction sector, etc.).

• A historical legacy of cooperation between the three regions which, in certain sectors, particularly in the social and solidarity economy, is reflected in the development of concrete methodologies aimed at building cooperation and solidarity between the three territories.

• Existing cooperation exchanges between companies in the three regions, based on specialisation strategies, complementarities and the identification of economic convergences (Bihartean).

• An institutional change in favour of multilingualism and a facilitating presence of the Euroregion valuing cultural diversity, which is reflected in a growing demand for bilingual teachers in the region.

• In the Basque Country, the potential for employment development related to the Basque language is under-exploited ⁵.

• Mapping and mechanisms to improve the necessary knowledge are being developed on a sectoral basis (e.g. mapping by the Bihartean Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Euroregion’s employment diagnosis, MUGIGAIN cross-border CoP, etc.).

• Networks of actors that are created and developed around initiatives in the territories.

Obstacles and opportunities related to financing

Obstacles

• Funding opportunities difficult to access for actors on the ground due to the cumbersome nature of the applications and the limits imposed by the project logic and the uncertainty as to the sustainability of European funding or the European timetables that are too tight to take into account the impact of previous projects.

• Limited budgets for mobility in training organisations.

• Inequalities between learners in terms of social, economic and cultural resources, which have an impact on the opportunities to carry out a study period abroad.

• Smaller organisations lack the internal engineering to respond to European tenders and cannot always cope with cash flow delays and lack of bank guarantees.

• Danger of exclusion of the « Mobility » theme from the next ERDF programming due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Opportunities

• Student mobility at the heart of the Euroregion’s strategic partnership since 2016 and support for projects integrating guidance, vocational training and mobility objectives (such as PyireneFP).

• Existence of European mobility schemes such as ERASMUS+; schemes specific to the New Aquitaine - Euskadi - Navarre Euroregion such as AquiMob and aid specific to institutions. Possibility of capitalising on learning.

Obstacles and opportunities related to the functional logic

Obstacles

• Dissymmetry in the distribution of competences on both sides of the border.

• Institutional, administrative and technical shifts involving Regions and States (including school calendars).

• Electoral calendars and different institutional frameworks and times slow down cooperation.

• Several associations struggle to have their economic activity recognised as such and are excluded from existing schemes.

• Lack of a dedicated, specialised scheme geared towards project leaders, similar to what exists in other cross-border areas ⁶.

• In training organisations, few trained staff dedicated to mobility (trained in cross-border management, intercultural skills, mobility support, etc.).

• Difficulties in informing and involving certification bodies and lack of relays in the territory.

• Initiatives limited to the cross-border area (opportunities lost for other territories in the region).

• Differences in the systems of social protection, working time, working conditions, pensions, etc. which hinder the emergence of a cross-border and Euro-regional employment area.

Top-down convergence of European legislation (sectoral policies) is not enough to overcome these obstacles.

Opportunities

• A European context which has facilitated mobility experiences over the last twenty years, contributing to their development in an organised or spontaneous framework.

• A dynamic driven by the Euroregion favouring the identification of partners in all three territories to carry out actions.

• The setting up and consolidation of New Caledonia’s instruments for raising awareness, providing information and guidance, and supporting the international mobility of young people and professionals.

• Initiatives to permanently include the issue of cooperation on this theme in the dialogue between the actors of the three territories (e.g. ETESS).

• Actions implemented on the ground in the field of training and employment with very different sectoral anchors (market economy, social and solidarity economy, health, culture, etc.), possibility of capitalising on learning: door open to innovation!

• Consolidation of regional structures in New Aquitaine: in 2020, the Chambre de métiers 64, a partner in the FORMANAEN project and its community of practice bringing together multiple actors (and not only companies), will become regional, giving a new impetus to the project and allowing it to radiate over the whole of New Aquitaine.

• The example of existing structures on the other side of the border which encourage all territories to benefit from the opportunities opened up by the Euroregion. For example, Tknika, the centre supported by the Vice-Councillor for Vocational Training of the Department of Education of the Spanish Basque Government, aims to place the vocational training objective of Euskadi in the European vanguard.

Obstacles and opportunities related to the validation of learning acquisition

Obstacles

• Certification modalities not very compatible.

• The absence of reciprocal recognition of the training modules, of evaluation is an obstacle for the implementation of partnerships with training centres on the other side of the border.

• Difficulties around the certification and validation of learning outcomes, the inclusion in the learners’ career pathway, and the valorisation within the framework of the school, at the time of hiring, etc.

• Difficulties in validating a study certificate obtained in another country have a dissuasive effect which prevents the mobility project from being carried out.

• Lack of knowledge of the ECVET methodology.

Opportunities

• ECVET methodology (provided that the actors manage to master it).

• Approaches between establishments have been set up with a view to generalising them later on.

• A willingness to experiment and to take account of guidance specific to the strategy of the New Aquitaine - Euskadi - Navarre Euroregion.

• Capacity of the Region to play a federating role with the certification bodies.

• The structures find solutions to the problems of recognition of learning outcomes in a sectoral manner. Importance of the network.

• The integration of international mobility in the national strategy for the reform of vocational education and training, in particular the introduction in 2019 of a new mobility certificate: the « MobilityPro », attached to the vocational diploma obtained, which facilitates the recognition of learning outcomes during a period of mobility ⁷.

Obstacles and opportunities linked to an understanding of mobility limited to its individual dimension

Obstacles

• Too often, cross-border mobility is understood as the result of an individual approach and motivation on the part of a person who wishes to study or work abroad. However, as highlighted by the European Gateway project, coordinated by the Fédération des Maisons Familiales Rurales, with seven other European countries, young people are not always involved in their mobility. Support work also needs to be done with training centres, teaching staff and tutors, as well as with the structures that accompany or host mobility.

Opportunities

• Initiatives by territorial actors open the door to a broader understanding of mobility by targeting training centres and teachers. Some examples: - Eskola Futura, develops intensive training programmes for multilingual teaching and spaces for sharing pedagogical practices on both sides of the border. - KOMPAR, aims to promote student mobility but also the mobility of teaching staff and to improve teaching methods. - Erasmob, set up by the Maisons Familiales Rurales, organises work placements abroad for vocational training staff and tutors, works with employers to support the mobility of apprentices and promotes the notion of transferability of professional practices.

These elements highlight the positive or negative influence that cultural, financial, institutional and operational factors, as well as the conception of the nature and meaning of mobility itself, can have on the initiatives deployed in the territories.

A significant impetus is provided by Europe. Thus, in 2015, a working group on innovative solutions to cross-border obstacles was set up by Luxembourg and France with the support of the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT). Conceived as an intergovernmental platform, in dialogue with the EU institutions, the group’s mission is to address obstacles to cross-border cooperation and to test the added value, feasibility and format of a legal tool dedicated to cross-border cooperation. In May 2018, the European Commission took up this issue by publishing a draft regulation on « the creation of a mechanism to remove legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context ». The aim is to establish a « mechanism allowing the legal provisions of another Member State to be applied in one Member State in respect of a cross-border region where the application of the legal provisions of the former would constitute a legal obstacle to the execution of a joint project » ⁸.

The analysis of all these influences makes it possible to identify avenues of reflection which, in turn, can serve as a support for the formulation of strategic orientations, among which the following can be highlighted:

• The presence of the Euroregion and the consolidation of the regional logics of New France may have an effect on vocational training, employment and cross-border mobility.

• These changes, coupled with the impetus of European tools and schemes, may change the vision of the actors on the nature, scope and interest of cross-border mobility in relation to training and employment as a development lever. This evolution could, in turn, have an impact on the volume of funding and schemes created. - The development in several sectors of practices based not on competition but on complementarity and convergence.

• The prevalence of innovation and experimentation logics, particularly among the practices set up in the strictly cross-border area. These approaches are potentially very promising for all the territories of New Aquitaine, provided that they are part of an experimental approach and are followed by a scale-up phase.

In order for these developments to have a positive outcome, it is imperative to set up a suitable governance system that will make it possible to get around the obstacles linked to regulatory and certification discrepancies, etc.

Furthermore, still in a perspective of change of scale, it is possible to draw inspiration from solutions emanating from the territories. Thus, the European Gateway project, an online platform with support tools before, during and after mobility for learners, mobility referents and companies, offers a pool of good practices with the aim of showing employers the interest of the practices learnt by young people during mobility ⁹.

Several speakers heard by the CESER underlined the existence of good practices also in the New Aquitaine - Euskadi - Navarre Euroregion. We will present some examples in the following section.

Sources

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