Working on Europe: through break-outs, butterflies and bumblebees…
It was an inspiring morning on an early December day at Maastricht’s industrial-charm Eiffel-building. A spacious and pleasant environment, framed with an engaging meeting format, invited the participants to find collaborators, promote their initiatives or simply brainstorm ideas about community and cooperation in the Euregion Maas-Rhine. On 6 December 2019, Studio Europa Maastricht gathered various […]
Cross-border structures and integration essential for the future of border regions
“It is vital to move from networks to cross-border structures. In addition to vertical integration from the EU, we need to work together on horizontal integration as a structure that connects neighbouring countries to put border obstacles and opportunities on the agenda, analyse them and come to common future perspectives.” It was how Prof Dr […]
Towards the end of German housing (construction) subsidies?
More than ten years after the European Court of Justice ruled that the German Eigenheimzulage was in breach of European law, the EC also started questioning its successor, the Baukindergeld. ITEM had previously concluded that the Baukindergeld was in breach of European law. We now await the conclusion of the European Commission (EC), which had […]
ECJ confirms: mini-jobs remain uninsured and should be discouraged
In its judgment of 19 September 2019, the ECJ ruled that Dutch legislation excluding frontier workers residing in the Netherlands but working as a mini-jobber in Germany from the Dutch social security system is compatible with EU law. If the Hoge Raad follows the approach taken by the ECJ, the status-quo will be maintained. This would mean that […]
Eurostad the new Randstad…
The ‘Atlas voor gemeenten 2019’ was released on 22 May 2019. It compares the 50 largest municipalities in the Netherlands annually. These can be different policy areas that local, regional and central governments deal with. This year’s focus is ‘Growth & Shrinkage’. Conclusion of the report: Border regions benefit greatly from a borderless Europe. This […]
Foreign Surprises Just Across the Border
This blog is only available in Dutch. Als je woont of werkt in een grensregio zijn daar zowel voor- als nadelen aan verbonden. Laat ik met het belangrijkste nadeel beginnen: Voor landelijke gebeurtenissen ben je een eind weg van daar waar het meest gebeurt. Dat zijn de grote Randsteden: als je pech hebt Den Haag, als […]
Will the European Social Model become a reality at last?
More than 17 million workers living or working in another Member State are exposed to possible violations of their rights, either because of poor implementation of EU rules, disinformation or lack of coordination among Member States. Therefore, the EU plans to set up a new authority that will support fair labour mobility within the EU, allowing […]
European Court of Justice allows Dutch tax credit reduction
As of 1 January 2019, the tax part of the tax credit will no longer be automatically granted to frontier workers who work in the Netherlands but do not reside in the Netherlands. This constitutes an obstacle for frontier workers. ITEM has already questioned this before. Recently, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued an […]
Toll: After the German Maut, also a Belgian Péage in Wallonia?
After Germany, Wallonia is also thinking about introducing a road toll. A resolution on tolls was recently discussed on 11 February at the Budget Committee of the Walloon Regional Government. The intention for the Walloon road toll follows the German idea: a road vignette, with a price differentiated over time. The Walloon taxpayer can deduct the cost […]
Border Obstacle when Renewing Driving Licences
Do you have an ICD and live in the border region? In that case, it is possible that your cardiologist is located in a neighbouring country. According to EU law, EU citizens have the possibility to receive cross-border care. Nevertheless, it appears that this health care provision is not widely accepted. For example, the Dutch […]
