The Hospital of Sernia is located in an isolated and inaccessible area, a 1,200 -meter -high plateau, between France and Spain, and more specifically between the French region of Oxitan and the autonomous area of ​​Catalonia. This area was divided during the 17th century. Climate conditions are often adverse. The economic activities of the place include agriculture and tourism. At some point, local administrations found the need to provide services closer to 30,000 citizens living there. This was also considered an opportunity to remain the population in the area and to grow further. Knowing this audience, the French and Spanish side decided to create a hospital, which is managed together.

“This is also a goal of civil society that utilizes an innovative solution, which goes beyond national regulations,” said Javier Conill, General Manager of the European Group of Territorial Cooperation – EGTC Hospital De Cerdanya, and EGTC Hospital De Cerdanya. Challenges, Problems, Perspectives’, organized in Thessaloniki by the three European Groups of Territorial Cooperation (EOES), based in Greece (“Black City”, “Amphictyonia” and “ELIKAS”).

Mr Konil explained that the above starting from the above -mentioned European Group of Territorial Cooperation (EOES), under European legislation and given the opportunity to cooperate between the state of France and the autonomous community of Catalonia as the two bodies were responsible for planning the provision of health services.

The financial model was decided 40% for France and 60% for Catalonia, according to the proportion of the population on either side of the border. There are a Catalan and a French manager at the hospital operating in 2014. The biggest challenges found were the provision of health services according to the two different models in France and Spain, the difficulty of attracting specialized health professionals who accept to live in the area and work in a small hospital, the collaboration with two regional administrations and thirty -dimensions.

“We are a experimentation laboratory in the transfer of clinical information,” Mr Konil said, adding that “we should work for more Europe”, explaining that the hospital today is promoting the demand for the creation of a cross -border European health field. “We could turn our efforts to set up a special regime for European territorial cooperation groups, working in two different states, face different demands from other professionals working in more central, less remote regions and recognize two different and two different references.”

Cross -border information system for avalanche in Alps

Far far beyond but also in a remote area of ​​the Alps this time, between Tyrol and South Tyrol of Austria and Trentino, Italy, there is another cross -border cooperation system. It is an information service for avalanche, which operates on a daily basis and in many different languages, with the aim of the complete safety of tourists, who reached 500,000 last season. In addition, the meteorological organizations of the three regions work together to issue precise weather forecasts every three hours and per location.

Residents, after all, have been provided with a special pass, which provides them with discounts in stores located in the three different regions and there is the Euro-seat for young people. The above, as Elisa Berto, Deputy Secretary General of the European Group of territorial cooperation “Euregio Tyrol – South Tyrol – Trentino”, said at the conference, Different areas such as mobility, schools, family and culture.

Mrs Bertos spoke of a symbol of European integration, a part of the wider Eurosto -strategy that provides for partnerships at different intergovernmental levels and cross -border projects.