A region for the people

A look at employment rates in the Upper Rhine region shows how closely the labour markets are intertwined. Every day, almost 100,000 people commute across a border to work. Most cross-border commuters travel from Alsace (34,200) and the German Upper Rhine areas (36,200) to north-western Switzerland, and from France to Germany (26,200).

THE CROSS-BORDER LABOUR MARKET is one of the central elements of integration on the Upper Rhine. Numerous projects such as Eures-T Upper Rhine, the Euregio certificate, bi- and tri-national degree programmes and cross-border vocational training make an important contribution to improving the labour potential in the border region.

In 1946, the first runway was still pieced together from perforated metal plates. It was a long road from there – but a successful one: in 2019, EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg handled 9.1 million passengers. A record. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. And in 2021, the 75th anniversary of the world’s only bi-national airport, which moreover serves three countries as one common destination. In the coming years, it will get its own rail link, and bus connections are being expanded. The focus is on the future, because EuroAirport will remain a success story. A job engine for more than 6,000 people. And an expression of the cooperation that is lived in the Regio!

Off to Switzerland and France to fill up the tank, or for cigarettes? Shopping tourism is a big topic in the Regio, even if the direction changes regularly and these days many Alsatians buy their Gauloises in Breisach. The people of Baden, for their part, love their trip to the supermarché, where the fish counter feels like a holiday on the Mediterranean. And the Swiss cover their daily needs millions of times over on the German side of the Rhine. This also holds potential for conflict, especially for retailers in Switzerland, who cannot compete with the low price level in South Baden and Alsace. Still, the people of Baden are happy to go shopping at Migros in Basel.

More than 280 outstanding research groups and institutions, top-class teaching staff, around 300 excellent life science companies and 14 biotechnology parks: you will find them all in BioValley®! The idea of entrepreneur Georg Endress to create a tri-national life sciences cluster in the heart of Europe that brings leading minds together has proved its worth. All stakeholders share the goal of turning the region into a globally significant life sciences cluster through a powerful network of companies, research institutions, public authorities and business development agencies. Because this is where the expertise is. And because this is where the future is being written with European funding.

More than 5,400 enquiries in 2019 alone confirm it: if you need information in the Regio TriRhena – as a cross-border commuter, for example – the best place to get it is from the INFOBEST advice centres at the border crossings Breisach/Vogelgrun and Kehl/Strasbourg, and from the only tri-national advice centre, INFOBEST PALMRAIN Basel/Weil am Rhein/Saint-Louis! Whether you are a citizen wanting to find your way through the maze of authorities and tax questions in the neighbouring country, or a company or association with cross-border questions – you will always get an answer here. And in two languages! 58 sponsors are involved. That is what cooperation looks like!

Borders are a thing of the past – in the academic world too. In the border triangle, this is demonstrated by the cross-border university alliance “Eucor – The European Campus”, in which five universities from Germany, France and Switzerland take part. The first cross-border European university, so to speak. The project multiplies career opportunities for 117,000 students and 11,000 doctoral candidates. A bachelor’s degree in Basel and a master’s in Freiburg? Of course, that’s possible. A whopping 1,000 degree programmes are integrated here, and 15,000 teaching staff and researchers are part of the project. That goes far beyond the dimensions of other universities. But in the Regio, it is considered normal.

How borderless the region has become can be felt at the border crossings in Breisach or Kehl, where goods flow freely. In Weil am Rhein and Rheinfelden, on the other hand, customs have more to do. This is where the EU ends, even if the Regio continues. Well over 1 million lorries are cleared here every year and more than 2 billion euros in taxes are collected. And customs authorities do much more: in 2020 alone, they took 182 kilos of marijuana and countless other illegal drugs out of circulation. They also protect us from smuggling, undeclared work and product piracy. That, too, is economic development, say the customs professionals.

How can the Fessenheim area become an innovation region after the closure of the nuclear power plant? Eucor – The European Campus and the “Cluster for Sustainability Research on the Upper Rhine” are preparing a feasibility study with concrete investment opportunities by the end of 2021. In January 2021, the French state, the Grand Est region, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts signed a funding agreement of 800,000 euros to carry out the study.

Together, the Regio has 200 hospitals with 30,000 beds. And in times of need, this good provision has proved its worth: when hospitals in Alsace were overloaded at the beginning of the pandemic, Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland stepped in and took over seriously ill COVID-19 patients from Alsace. Cooperation that saved lives. Entirely in the spirit of the vision of turning the Upper Rhine into a health region without borders, in which hospitals and universities cooperate closely. A major undertaking in which many details need to be clarified, from patient mobility and data security to the coverage of costs. But the vision is not a luxury. It is an obligation for everyone.

More than 20 million overnight guests a year experience the heartbeat of Europe here – between the romance of the Black Forest, the French way of life, magnificent Gothic buildings and the Roman city of Augusta Raurica near Basel. Because in the border triangle, people don’t just think as far as the national border. In the “Upper Rhine Valley”, tourism professionals pass this openness on to their guests: 12 tourism organisations in Germany, France and Switzerland are involved, presenting unspoilt landscapes, cultural treasures and sport without limits. Three countries whose most beautiful sides meet right here. In an incomparable cultural diversity.

60 were supposed to take part at first, 120 joined right away, and today there are around 350. Since 1999, the tri-national Museum Pass has won everyone over: one pass that gives access to countless museums in the border triangle. The “Museums-PASS-Musées” has turned the Regio into a cultural epicentre – with world-famous institutions such as the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, the Fondation Beyeler near Basel and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, and with many small, fascinating museums. A museum for every day of the year. Almost. For an admission price of less than 50 cents per museum.

The railway line from Freiburg to Colmar in Alsace is to be revived. The rail link, destroyed in 1945, is one of 15 priority projects of the new Franco-German treaty and an important building block for connecting the former nuclear power plant site at Fessenheim. Up to 6,000 people could travel on the line every day! Germany, France and the EU have provided 3.5 million euros for preliminary studies on building the line. Deutsche Bahn has added the route to a list of disused lines that are to be reactivated. The cost? Up to 275 million euros. The timeframe? By 2029. (RD)

The heart of Europe beats in… Brussels? Right. But it also beats in Strasbourg. Because this is where the European Parliament meets, with up to 750 members. On 12 session days a year, EU laws are debated here, the EU budget is discussed and parliamentary scrutiny of the European Commission is exercised. It is the largest parliament in the world in which different nations are represented. When sessions had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, people in Alsace already feared that Parliament might be withdrawn and moved to Brussels. But Strasbourg’s position as a seat is secure. Because Europe belongs right here. In the heart of Europe.

More than 5 million visitors a year and regular awards as a top destination make it clear: the location of Europa-Park Rust in the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland is “a direct hit”, says park operator Roland Mack: “Every year, well over a million visitors come from Switzerland and from France respectively.” And: “A considerable proportion of our employees come from France,” Mack continues. “We live Europe day after day,” says the park’s boss. Because “culture connects countries and brings people together.” And Europa-Park makes a major contribution to this.

It is the Regio’s connection to the world: the Rhine is the lifeline for people between the Ortenau, Alsace and northern Switzerland. And our most important economic route for containers and bulk goods such as coal, sand and oil, integrated into Europe’s most important transport axis between Genoa and Rotterdam. The future belongs to the Rhine: one ship replaces 100 lorries on the motorway. And the ports in Rheinfelden, Basel, Mulhouse, Neuf-Brisach and Kehl are important hubs for transferring goods to rail. The Port Autonome in Strasbourg is even the third-largest Rhine port of all! It alone provides work for 13,000 people.