EU Council Designated To Negotiate Easing Cross-Border Issues

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, Oct 23 (KUNA) -- Ambassadors of EU Member States agreed on Wednesday on the council's negotiating mandate for a new regulation facilitating cross-border solutions.
The Council of Europe noted in a press release that the proposed regulation aims to facilitate cross-border interactions and promote the development of cross-border regions by making it easier to tackle cross-border challenges such as infrastructure development and the operation of cross-border public services.
According to the statement, the key feature of this new regulation is the creation of cross-border coordination points within member states to handle cross-border files submitted to them either by communicating with initiators on behalf of the competent authority or by assessing the files themselves.
Member states that set up such coordination points would also be free to decide whether and how to solve cross-border obstacles.
Furthermore, the obligations of member states unwilling to set up cross-border coordination points would be limited.
In May 2018, the Commission proposed a regulation on a mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context. However, member states suspended the discussions on the file due to concerns over compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Migration and the protection of EU's borders have recently topped the EU agenda, as member states have called for stricter new legislation to safeguard Europe's security and reinforce its borders. (end)
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