At a glance

The Charlemagne Grenzregion Association (AG stands for "working group") is a cross-border cooperation network that brings together municipalities and regional territorial authorities in the region of the three borders between Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Its members include the City and the StädteRegion Aachen, the Stadsregio Parkstad Limburg, and the municipalities of Heerlen and Vaals, as well as the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The AG was founded in 2011 and brings together political leaders and the specialist administrations of the participating regions. Its aim is to jointly develop and further advance a cross-border economic, living and cultural area that is as closely integrated as possible.

Cooperation priorities

Cooperation focuses in particular on topics of great importance for everyday life and the economic development of the border region:

Labour market and employment
Economic development and innovation
Infrastructure and cross-border mobility

To achieve these goals, the AG pools the interests of its members and organises several series of events for different target groups every year. In addition, the Charlemagne cooperation serves as an information platform that enables the partners concerned to discuss policy projects and regional developments at an early stage and to coordinate them with each other.

Relationship with the Euregio Meuse-Rhine

Since 2021, the Charlemagne working group has been part of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine network. While the EGTC organises and supports cross-border cooperation at Euregional level, AG Charlemagne focuses on practical cooperation at municipal level in the immediate border area between Aachen, Heerlen and Eupen. The working group thus complements the Euregional perspective and helps to put cross-border cooperation into practice on the ground.

Cooperation for a shared region

Through regular exchanges between political leaders, administrations and regional and Euregional stakeholders, the Charlemagne Grenzregion working group strengthens cooperation in the tri-border region. It helps to reduce the obstacles encountered in everyday cross-border life and to jointly advance the economic development of the region, in the spirit of a strong and interconnected Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

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