Professor Hildegard Schneider
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Brexit is a fact. The residents of the United Kingdom have given their opinion, Prime Minister Cameron has resigned. Reforms of the European Union seem necessary. What will be emphasised? Further cooperation or further closing of borders? What does that mean for us, the residents of Europe’s oldest Euregion, who live within a stone's throw of the border and are meanwhile not hindered by the border anymore but for its administrative acts?
What does it mean to our British fellow citizens, who have been living in this Euregion or elsewhere within Europe for many years, who are working here and have built an economic and social corpus? Will they now lose their European citizenship? Their right of work, residence and free movement? Many of them were prohibited from participating in the referendum in the United Kingdom because they have lived outside of the United Kingdom for more than 15 years. We, here in Maastricht, want to discuss with the world of politics about their rights and status as European citizens.
In 2016, 25 years after the negotiations about the European citizenship and a borderless Europe took place in Maastricht, the border within and outside the European Union still plays an important role. How can free movement of persons, goods, services and capital be maintained if the political and humanitarian crisis is closing borders? How will particularly the border regions of the old Member States, where it is impossible to imagine life without free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, deal with the situation? How free is the cross-border citizen from a border region really when he wants to (go) work just over the national border at less than 10 kilometres of his home? ITEM investigates cross-border cooperation and mobility. Particularly now!
Will the (new) national and European legislation be tested against effects on those who make use of the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital? Against effects on border regions where – so can be assumed – most free movement of persons may be expected?
The cross border impact assessment 2016, which ITEM researchers initiated in the spring, includes the understanding of the effects of national and European legislation on border regions. Ranging from the tax treaty between the Netherlands-Germany to Interreg, from diploma recognition to coordination of social security; the ITEM cross border impact assessment will on 10 different subjects provide an insight in the effects on border regions of particularly the old Member States.
Please mark your calendar for 28 October, when we would like to further discuss the results with you at ITEM’s Annual Conference.
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ITEM's Cross border impact assessment 2016
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ITEM investigates effects for border regions
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What are, for instance, the effects of the latest developments in Belgium concerning tolls for border regions? How attractive is it to work across borders considering the new plan for qualified non-resident tax liability (whereby more than 90% of the worldwide income has to be earned in the Netherlands in order to still be entitled to e.g. mortgage interest allowances)?
In spring 2016, the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility / ITEM started investigating the effects of certain national and European laws and regulations for border regions. For it does not always seem to be obvious what effects (either ex-ante or ex-post) certain laws and regulations will have on border regions. Information about (anticipated) effects is lacking.
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ITEM puts critical questions to governments
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ITEM investigates obstacles that occur with cross-border mobility. ITEM explores border issues both through PhD research and through case studies supplied by primary supporters such as border information points. ITEM is also responsible for raising governments’ awareness of certain obstacles and for putting critical questions to the legislator. The aim is to present specific directions for solutions based on research and expertise.
In 2016, ITEM put a number of critical questions to various domestic and foreign legislators (and is preparing questions for the Dutch and the European Parliament):
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Prestigious grants received
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ITEM congratulates Maastricht University researchers and members of ITEM’s scientific board who recently received grants for their research projects.
Professor Valentina Mazzucato ITEM congratulates Valentina Mazzucato, professor of Globalization and Development from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and member of ITEM’s scientific board, for winning a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant. The grant was awarded in December 2015, for the project ‘Mobility Trajectories of Young Lives: Life Chances of Transnational Youth in Global South and North' (MO-TRAYL). For ITEM, professor Mazzucato will be supervising an upcoming ITEM PhD-research project entitled ‘Youth Mobilities in a Border Region'.
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Both Flanders and Germany are considering tolling systems applicable to private vehicles using the Flemish respectively German roads.[1] Both plans, moreover, seem to have one thing in common: the tolls need to apply to all private vehicles. Those people, however, who pay Flemish and German road taxes, are entitled to a reduction in their taxes in return for the tolls paid. The European Commission has now launched an infringement case against Germany to address this issue.[2] It holds that such a road charging system constitutes indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality. This ITEM article will explain the legal background in greater detail.
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Flexibility of the Dutch AOW age (flexibilisering AOW)
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Regarding the legislative proposal, to amend the The General Old Age Pension Act (AOW) and the Participation Act (Participatiewet) in regards to the introduction of the possibility to receive the AOW Old Age Pension either entirely or partly, earlier or later (Wet flexibilisering ingangsdatum AOW), ITEM calls for attention to employees who have accrued a Dutch AOW as well as a foreign state pension. These employees include migrating employees, migrant workers and frontier workers.
ITEM send a letter regarding the legislative proposal to the 'Tweede kamer der Staten- Generaal', Committee of Social Affairs and Employment (Vaste commissie voor Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid). In this letter special attention is paid to the position of frontier workers. To this end the current issues, frontier workers could face as a result from the current ‘fixed’ commencement date of the AOW, are discussed.
Furthermore, attention is paid to the expected positive consequences of the legislative proposal for frontier workers.
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Start of research on the cross-border pension tracking service regarding the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
ITEM will prepare the substantive fundamentals for an online cross-border pension tracking service by which citizens of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium will have a mutual overview of their foreign built up pensions in the other State (also mentioned in a press release in October 2015) . In view of the continuously growing group of cross-border workers, the issue on the limited insight on foreign entitlements becomes more important. As of June 1st, Sander Kramer started as a researcher at ITEM with this research, supervised by Anouk Bollen, director of ITEM and Professor of cross-border pension tax law, and Lisa Brüggen, ITEM-researcher and Associate professor at the School of Business and Economics (SBE).
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ITEM's annual conference - 28 October 2016
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SAVE THE DATE
‘Europe under pressure: effects for border regions - 25 years after the Maastricht Treaty.’
Friday 28 October 2016
10.00-18.00 Gouvernement aan de Maas, Maastricht
Please mark the date in your calendar.The invitation and programme will be sent in September by e-mail.
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Successful ITEM Seminar “The Recognition of Qualifications: Improving Recognition to Enhance Labour Mobility”
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On 29 June 2016 ITEM hosted a successful seminar on the recognition of qualifications. Participants from differing organizations and institutions involved in the process of the recognition of qualifications came together to explore the qualifications and recognition procedures for very different professions. The end-goal of the day was to identify possible solutions and plans for action to improve recognition to the benefit of labour mobility.
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Interview with ITEM director professor Anouk Bollen (by CONNECT)
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It's been almost eighteen months since the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross-border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) officially opened its doors. 'While our border location certainly offers a lot of advantages, government agencies, companies and citizens still encounter serious obstacles and practical challenges when it comes to living and working across the border. Our job is to identify and solve these problems.'
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Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility / ITEM
E-mail: item@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Website: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/item
Twitter: @ITEM_UM
Telephone: 0031 – 43 3883233
Address:
Bouillonstraat 1-3, 6211 LH Maastricht, The Netherlands
Avenue Céramique 50, 6221 KV Maastricht, The Netherlands (Tuesday and Thursday)
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