A new EGTC is being formed on the Hungarian-Slovak border

So far, the largest number of European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation in the EU have been established on the Hungarian-Slovak border, 15 all in all. At the beginning of 2023, 22 Hungarian and 33 Slovak local government leaders declared their intention to establish the sixteenth EGTC in Cigánd. The founding process of the new association started recently.

On February 3, 2023, 22 Hungarian and 33 Slovak mayors gathered in Cigánd, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, to express their intention to establish a European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation covering the cross-border area of Bodrogköz / Medzibodrožie. The drafts of the two founding documents were ready by the summer, so the leaders of the settlements interested in founding them gathered again on July 26, this time in Kisgéres, Slovakia, to discuss the most important issues related to the creation of the planned EGTC.

At the beginning of the meeting, the mayor Csaba Furik and Richárd Hörcsik, the representative of the Hungarian parliament of Bodrogköz, greeted the attendees. After that, Balázs Loppert, the representative of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, presented the government policy related to the establishment and support of Hungarian EGTCs, and Oláh Krisztián and Károly Pataky, the mayors of the initiating cities Cigánd and Királyhelmec, summarized the steps taken so far, as well as the long-term prospects of the planned cooperation goals.

After that, Gyula Ocskay, Secretary General of CESCI, provided a summary of the mission, characteristics, advantages and challenges of the EGTCs, as well as the steps of the founding process. With the active participation of those present, issues such as the name, financing, structure of the cooperation, the number of founders, and possible methods of decision-making were discussed in advance. Dániel Ablonczy, an employee of Cigánd municipality, also presented the planned budget for the operation of the association.

The participants confirmed that they intend to establish the new EGTC and are ready to present the two founding documents, the convention and the statutes, to the local representative bodies, which they asked CESCI experts to finalize. According to the intention of the initiators, the EGTC would be founded by the two largest and the two smallest municipalities, and the others would join after registration. The members of the association want to start the meaningful work as soon as possible, in the framework of which they will prepare the development strategy of the association in the first semester after the foundation, and also start the calls for tenders that will open in the meantime.