SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordseuroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations, organisations, clubs and people. Member regions represent different political structures: the sovereign state of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

;

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Walloon region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

, comprising the French and German speaking parts of

;

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, a

region of France France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collec ...

; the French départements Moselle and

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

federated states A federated state (which may also be referred to as a state, a province, a region, a canton, a land, a governorate, an oblast, an emirate or a country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. Such states dif ...

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

and

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. There is no well-defined structure of SaarLorLux nor even an exclusive definition of its size. Instead, there exist multiple forms of cooperation and contractual relations among all or several members. Sometimes instead of SaarLorLux, the term

Greater Region SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...

is used, short for the more formal "Greater Region of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and (Western-) Rhineland-Palatinate".

Member regions

Shared history

The region of SaarLorLux was settled by the Celtic tribes of the

Treveri The Trēverī ( Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fri ...

and

Mediomatrici The Mediomatrici (Gaulish: ''*Medio-māteres'') were according to Caesar a Gaulish tribe at the frontier to the Belgicae dwelling in the present-day regions Lorraine, Upper Moselle during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are ment ...

. The Treveri lived in the south of Belgium, Luxembourg, western Rhineland-Palatinate, and northern Saarland. Lorraine and the southern Saarland were inhabited by the Mediomatrici. Both tribes were conquered during the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...

by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

legions of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

. The area became part of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

s of

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, a ...

, Germania Superior, and

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

. Barbarian invasions forced the enfeebled Roman Empire to abandon possession of the area in the fifth century. The region became a part of the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...

. After the death of

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the Germanic custom of

partible inheritance Partible inheritance is a system of inheritance in which property is apportioned among heirs. It contrasts in particular with primogeniture, which was common in feudal society and requires that the whole or most of the inheritance passes to the el ...

, and the

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...

in 843 divided the empire into three. Louis's eldest surviving son Lothair I became Emperor of the Romans and ruler of

Middle Francia Middle Francia ( la, Francia media) was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Franc ...

. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

, Burgundy and the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

(which covered the northern part of the Italian peninsula). The core area of SaarLorLux lies within the borders of Lotharingia. The struggle to gain control over Lotharingia was the cause of centuries of struggle and war between the two other Franconian kingdoms (

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and East Francia), which over time evolved into the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

and the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

(the predecessor of subsequent German states), with the Holy Roman Empire ultimately gaining control until the 18th century. From 1384, the then Duchy of Luxembourg and part of Wallonia formed part of what was known as the

Burgundian Netherlands In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and ...

, which was inherited by the house of Habsburg in 1482, becoming the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary, wife of Maximilian I of Austr ...

. Although still subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburg Netherlands were inherited by Habsburg Spain in 1556 and ruled in a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

until 1714; thereafter it was ruled by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, the rulers of which were also the Holy Roman Emperors. The remainder of Wallonia formed part of the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, ...

, while much of what would become Rhineland-Palatinate was part of the Palatinate, which came under Bavarian control in 1777. Upper Lotharingia evolved into the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

while several smaller states came and went over the centuries. In 1766 the Duchy of Lorraine and most of the surrounding smaller states were annexed by France, leaving the County of Salm and a few

exclaves An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of other HRE states as the only territory within the modern region of Lorraine under Imperial rule. In 1793 Salm was annexed, followed in 1794 by the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

(including Luxembourg and Wallonia). Over the course of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the remainder of the region west of the Rhine (plus Katzenelnbogen, which lies to the east of the Rhine) was annexed to the newly formed French Empire; the rest of modern Rhineland-Palatinate east of the Rhine became part of the

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

(formed from the merger of

Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. Tha ...

and

Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

lands), which was a member of Napoleon's puppet

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

. The wars also saw an end to the Holy Roman Empire. LuxembourgPartitionsMap english

Following Napoleon's defeat, the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

granted most of the Southern Netherlands, including Wallonia, to the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

. Luxembourg was placed in a personal union under the Dutch crown but also made subject to the Holy Roman Empire's successor: the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. Most of what would become the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate was split between the Kingdoms of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

(also within the German Confederation); the eastern portion of Luxembourg was also ceded to Prussia. The only other states to remain in the region were part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse (

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

(which was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1866), the

Principality of Lichtenberg The Principality of Lichtenberg (german: Fürstentum Lichtenberg) on the Nahe River was an exclave of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1816 to 1826 and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1834, when it was sold to the Kingdom o ...

(which was sold to Prussia in 1834), the

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and Bi ...

and the Duchy of Nassau (which was annexed by Prussia in 1866). The Lorraine region remained in French hands. In 1830, as a result of the Belgian Revolution, the Kingdom of Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands and also ''de facto'' annexed the French-speaking portion of Luxembourg (around of its area at that time). This was later recognised in the

Treaty of London (1839) The Treaty of London of 1839, was signed on 19 April 1839 between the Concert of Europe, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was a direct follow-up to the 1831 Treaty of the XVIII Articles, which the Nether ...

As a result of these events, the inhabitants of the region were on different sides in the Franco Prussian War of 1870–71, which ultimately led to the founding of the German Empire. The new Empire also annexed of part of Lorraine, as well as neighbouring Alsace, as the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, this territory was ceded back to France in the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, while the '' Saargebiet'', an area roughly co-extensive with the modern Saarland, was placed under joint British and French control until 1935. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the region was divided by the fortifications of the Maginot line and the

Westwall The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the wes ...

. After World War II, the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate (german: Saarprotektorat ; french: Protectorat de la Sarre) officially Saarland (french: Sarre) was a French protectorate separated from Germany; which was later opposed by the Soviet Union, one side occupying Germany lik ...

was established under French control until 1957, when it was reunited with (West) Germany, forming the modern state. A small area of Germany adjoining Rhineland-Palatinate was also ceded to Belgium, which was incorporated into Wallonia as the

German-speaking community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...

Today, the greater region is situated along both sides of the border between speakers of the German and French languages. 11,182,975 people live in an area of about 65,400 km². Situated in the center of the European Union, it contains highly populated urban sections along the rivers. These areas include industries, especially mining and steelworking. Rural areas are dominated by agriculture.

Luxembourg

is a sovereign nation with full autonomy. Each of the four départements of the French region of Lorraine is twice the size of the whole nation of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has a population of 476,187 people in an area of 2586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). Luxembourg is a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

with a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

, ruled by a Grand Duke. It is the world's only sovereign

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was often used in the o ...

. The country has a highly developed economy, with the highest

Gross Domestic Product per capita Lists of countries by GDP per capita list the countries in the world by their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The lists may be based on nominal or purchasing power parity GDP. Gross national income (GNI) per capita accounts for inflow ...

in the world. The city of

, the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the European Union. Luxembourg lies on the cultural divide between Romantic Europe and Germanic Europe, borrowing customs from each of the distinct traditions. Luxembourg is a

trilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

country; French, German, and

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

are

official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

. Although a secular state, Luxembourg is predominantly Roman Catholic. Until 1867, the city of Luxembourg, the

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

of the north, was a federal fortress of the

German confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. In the 20th century, Luxembourg was twice occupied by German armies. In the middle of the 20th century, the economy of Luxembourg was dominated by the iron and steel industries. Then, a structural change took place, which transformed the country to an international financial center with more than 200 banks and over 800 financial institutions and insurance companies, generating more than 20% of the GNP of Luxembourg. Today about 66% of workers are employed in the service sector, and less than 2% work in the steel industry.

Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate

The German states of

and

are part of the federal system of Germany. They hold far-ranging authorities, although some decisions concerning international treaties are assigned to the federal government.

Saarland

Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1.051 million inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German ''Flächenländer'' ("area states"), i.e., those that are not

City State A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

s (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Bremen and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

). It is named after the

Saar River The Saar (; french: Sarre ) is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It h ...

, which is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Moselle River The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblen ...

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

tributary) which runs through the state from the south to the northwest. One third of the land area of the Saarland is covered by forest, one of highest percentages in Germany. The state is generally hilly; the highest mountain is the Dollberg with a height of . Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border that includes the capital of Saarbrücken. In 1919, Saarland was created from the communes where the steelworks and coal mines were located and the associated workers lived. From 1920 to 1935 and from 1947 to 1956, Saarland was economically affiliated with France. In 1957, 65,000 persons were employed in 18 coal mines, by 2006 only 6,300 in one mine remained. A comparable process happened with the steelworks.

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 Bundesländer (federal states) of Germany. It has an area of 19,846 km² and about 4.048 million inhabitants. The capital is

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

. The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate was established on 30 August 1946. The main axis of the state is the

river that forms the border with Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in the southeast before running across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhine Valley is bounded by mountain chains and forms a landscape containing some of the most historically significant places in Germany. The Eifel and Hunsrück mountain chains are found on the west bank of the Rhine in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, while the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

and

Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range span ...

mountains are found on the east bank. The hilly land in the southernmost region of the state is called the Palatinate forest (''Pfälzerwald''). These mountain chains are separated from each other by tributaries of the Rhine: the Moselle (''Mosel''), the

Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source in t ...

and the Nahe. Economically prosperous zones exist along the eastern borders, while in the western part of the state, there are structurally backward, rural regions.

Lorraine

Until 2016, Lorraine was one of the 26 ''

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...

s'' of France. Its two main cities are

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

(administrative capital) and Nancy. The region's name is derived from the medieval

consists of four départements, Moselle, Meurthe et Moselle, Meuse and

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

. Each of them is as big as Luxembourg and the Saarland together. Two of these départements,

in the south and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

in the west, only have small interests in the SaarLorLux region, because they are far away from the shared border. Together, they have a population of about 2.338 million people on 23,547 km². Lorraine is part of the centralised administrative system of France. Therefore, many of the decisions necessary for cooperation in the SaarLorLux region have to be cleared through the central government in Paris. The current ''région'' of Lorraine is larger than the historical

duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern ''région'' includes

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper. These are: *

Barrois Barrois () is a (a French territorial division roughly equivalent to a county) in eastern France. In the Middle Ages it was part of the Duchy of Bar, then bordering the Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lot ...

Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics (french: les Trois-Évêchés ) constituted a government of the Kingdom of France consisting of the dioceses of Metz, Verdun, and Toul within the Lorraine region. The three dioceses had been Prince-bishoprics of the ...

* several small principalities which were still part of the

at the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Lorraine borders the French regions of Alsace,

Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of th ...

and Franche-Comté. The location of Lorraine led to it being seen as a strategic asset. As the crossroads of four nations, it had a very important role in European affairs. Lorraine has many rivers running through it, which include the Rhine, Moselle, Meurthe, and

. From 1871 to 1918 and during World War II, the Moselle department, then known as

Lothringen Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

(German for ''Lorraine''), was part of Germany. During the last 40 years, most jobs in the formerly dominant industries of steelworking, coal mining and textiles were lost.

Wallonia

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

with its five provinces and two communities has far reaching competencies in relation to economics, infrastructure, regional planning and foreign trade. Wallonia occupies the southern part of Belgium. It has an area of 16 844 km² (55.18% of Belgium) with 3.436 million inhabitants and comprises the following

: * Hainaut * Liège *

* Namur *

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant (french: Brabant wallon ; nl, Waals-Brabant ; wa, Roman Payis) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and ...

French is the official language in most municipalities. German (with facilities for speakers of French) is the official language in nine eastern municipalities which belonged to Germany until 1918 and now form the

German-speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...

. Several French-speaking municipalities have facilities in Dutch or German (or both). In a survey conducted by the Universite Catholique de Louvain in

Louvain-La-Neuve Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town ...

and published in June 2006, only 19% of Walloons stated that they were able to speak Dutch. In contrast, 59% of respondents from the Flemish Community claimed to speak French. During the seventies the number of jobs in coal mines and steelworks was reduced from 135,000 to 35,000 today. Therefore, the region partially depends upon federal subsidies, including from

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, Belgium's most inhabited region. Steelwork is today still important in the region.

Development of cooperation

The beginnings of SaarLorLux

Founding members of the SaarLorLux region are the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the German

federated state A federated state (which may also be referred to as a state, a province, a region, a canton, a land, a governorate, an oblast, an emirate or a country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. Such states d ...

Saarland and the French region of Lorraine. This classic Saar Lor Lux region spreads over an area of 36,700 km² with about 4.7 million inhabitants. The term ''Saar-Lor-Lux'' was coined in 1969 by Dr. Hubertus Rolshoven, founding president or the IRI ("Institut Régional Intracommunautaire", now " Institute of the Greater Region") and president of Saarberg, the former organisation of coal mines in the Saarland. The term recalls the close historical and economic ties among the coal mines and steelworks of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, creating a unified economic region. Facing the same severe economic problems of a crisis in the steel and coal industries, the partners began informal talks, discussing how to solve the shared problems and how to improve the region. In the 1970s, these talks began to be more formalised, when official governmental commissions, first between France and Germany only, then including Luxembourg, began their work. The formal founding act of SaarLorLux was an agreement between the governments of the French Republic (République française), the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Grand-Duché de Luxembourg) concerning collaboration in the border regions, made on 16 October 1980. This agreement is the legal base of a boundary-crossing cooperation of administrations and institutions to promote the economic, cultural, touristic and social development of the region.

Enlargement of the membership

The treaties and agreements of SaarLorLux

Step by step, the cooperation originally exclusive to Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg was developed to include the

of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia and the French-speaking Belgians, the German-speaking Belgians and the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. There was no formal process of enlargement that included new regions in all aspects of cooperation in SaarLorLux. The new members did not enter every instrument of collaboration; they only joined single treaties or aspects of cooperation. Therefore, there is not one all embracing structure any more. Now, there are different bilateral and multilateral treaties among different members, creating different grades of cooperation without clear separation from each other.

Terminology

There is no standardised definition of SaarLorLux. The term SaarLorLux refers to several different geographical structures: The original term only includes the founding members which were the three regions of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, the so-called triangle of coal and steel industries. The term also refers to the cooperation of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg with the regions of Walloon and Rhineland Palatinate or parts of these two additional regions. Saar Lor Lux III

One of these combinations, also called SaarLorLux, is Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg-Trier-Westpfalz. Trier and Westpfalz are the western parts of Rhineland-Palatinate. For example, there is a SaarLorLux-ticket, which can be used on all trains of this greater region. Another combination is Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, and Rhineland Palatinate or Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, the French community of Belgium, and the German-speaking community of Belgium. The official name of government organisations usually uses the names of all participants. The summit of the SaarLorLux region has the official name "Summit of the greater region Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, French community of Belgium, German speaking community of Belgium". Almost all the meanings of SaarLorLux include the three original members and exclude all other regions except the five members or parts of them. There are many alternative names: SaarLorLux +, Saar-Lor-Lux-Westpfalz-Trier, Saar-Lor-Lux Wallonie Rheinland Pfalz, and Greater Region. The government of Luxembourg wishes to use the term ''greater region'' to represent Saarland, Lothringen, Luxembourg, Walloon Region, the French community of Belgium, and the German-speaking community of Belgium, but within and outside the European Union, several other greater regions are beginning to develop. For example, in the greater region of Switzerland, Alsace Baden-Wuerttemberg the use of the term ''greater region'' refers to this region. There is no realistic chance of an international agreement requiring the use of the term ''greater region'' to be restricted to SaarLorLux.

Organization of SaarLorLux

SaarLorLux sees a large amount of governmental, non-governmental and mixed cooperation. The SaarLorLux cooperation is not just between five partners. In fact, the cooperation consists of a multitude of single cooperations, treaties and organisations. The single cooperations often do not consist of the same members, because some of the regions do not participate in every cooperation or are represented by different political municipalities. These forms of cooperation have led to the creation of a variety of different organisations.

Governmental cooperations

Summit Conferences

Based on a 1994 decision, there are regular summit conferences. The participants are: * Flag of Luxembourg

Prime Minister of Luxembourg german: Premierminister von Luxemburg , insignia = Lesser CoA luxembourg.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Lesser coat of arms of Luxembourg , insigniaalt = , flag ...

(le premier ministre du Grand Duché de Luxembourg) * Flag of Germany

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of the

(der Ministerpräsident des Saarlandes) * Flag of Germany

(der Ministerpräsident von Rheinland-Pfalz) * Flag of Belgium

of the

Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

(le Ministre-Président de la Région Wallonne) * Flag of Belgium

of the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Féd� ...

(le Ministre-Président de la Communauté française de Belgique) * Flag of Belgium

of the

(der Ministerpräsident der deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens) * Flag of France

Préfet A prefect (french: préfet, plural ''préfets'') in France is the state's representative in a department or region. Subprefects (French: ''sous-préfets'') are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, known as arrondissements. The office ...

'' of

(le préfet de la région Lorraine) * Flag of France

President of the regional council of

(le président du conseil régional de Lorraine) * Flag of France

President of the general council of the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' Moselle (le président du conseil general du département de la Moselle) * Flag of France

President of the general council of the ''

'' Meurthe et Moselle (le président du conseil general du département de Meurthe-et-Moselle) This summit conference is the central political organ of the interregional cooperation of the enlarged SaarLorLux region. Its task is the predefinition and declaration of general political decisions. The conference takes care of problems and questions concerning the cooperation and gives suggestions on solutions and developments. There is a group of delegates of the member states who form a standing committee, able to come to decisions in times between the conferences, to prepare conferences, to translate the general ideas of the conferences into practical work and to control the task groups appointed by the conference.

The Regional Commission

The Regional Commission is the forum for a variety of topics. The members are: * Flag of France

Lorraine * Flag of Luxembourg

Luxembourg * Flag of Germany

Saarland * Flag of Germany

(the western parts of) Rhineland-Palatinate * Flag of Belgium

Walloon Region (formerly as an observer until 2005) Each of the five members sends a delegation, led by a head of delegation and supported by a delegation secretary. Within the French delegation there is a high representation of the central state, because many of the subjects of the commission are topics within the responsibility of the central state. The Regional Commission meets once a year in a formal session with prepared documents and resolutions. The sessions are presided by a chairman from one of the member states. Every year a different state provides the chairman. Each delegation consists of five or ten members. In addition to the formal session the heads of delegation have informal meetings, prepared by the delegation secretaries. The Regional Commission does not have employees or funds of its own. Necessary expenses are directly paid by the members. The delegation providing the chairman also provides the necessary workforce. There are working parties, which form the operational part of the Regional Commission, reporting on a regular basis to the Regional Commission. Their topics are economic affairs; road links, transport and communications; environment; social affairs; culture; higher education; regional planning; tourism; security and prevention; education; and regional planning. The regional commission formed a working group of the statistics agencies and a working group of the land surveying office.

Interregional Parliamentary Council

The presidents of
Flag of Luxembourg

the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies,
Flag of Germany

the Saar

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag,
Flag of France

the Lorraine Regional Council
Flag of Belgium

the Provincial Council of the (Belgian) Province of Luxembourg (later replaced by the Walloon Regional Council)
formed the interregional parliamentary council. This council promotes the economic, social and cultural role of the Saar-Lor-Lux Greater Region and tries to develop a perspective for crossborder cooperation. Participants are the five presidents and six appointed members of each the parliaments and assemblies within SaarLorLux. They meet once a year. Five standing committees report to the council: * the committee on economic affairs * the committee on social affairs * the committee on transport and communications * the committee on the environment and agriculture * the committee on education, training, research and culture

Administrative cooperation

The University Charter

In October 1984 seven establishments in Saar-Lor-Lux signed a university cooperation agreement (the Charter) at Pont-à-Mousson. This was the first step towards crossborder cooperation in research and education. Members of the Charter are: * Belgium/Walloon Region (

Province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...

): Luxembourg University Foundation (

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

) * Germany (Western Palatinate and Saarland): Rhineland-Palatinate University Institute: (

Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in ...

, Kaiserslautern and

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

University ( Saarbrücken and Homburg), College of Technology and Economics (Saarbrücken) * France (Lorraine region): Metz University,

National School of Engineering (ENIM), Nancy University I and II, Lorraine Polytechnic Institute (Nancy (INPL) * Luxembourg : University center of Luxembourg These universities encourage relations between the parties to the Charter, promote teacher, scientist and student exchanges, develop inter-regional study programmes leading to common degrees, and establish common research structures. They foster cooperation on law, French and German literature, geography, environmental science, computer science, materials science, history, culture and sports.

European cultural capital 2007

Luxemburg and the SaarLorLux region were the European cultural capital 2007. The year saw a combined cultural program, sharing the motto "Crossing borders together". The programme was intended to reflect the creativity, the energy and the common future of this European region.

The House of the Greater Region

In November 1999 the House of the Greater Region (Haus der Großregion – Maison de la Grande Région) was opened in Luxembourg. It is a place of communication and contact for the citizens of the region, especially all the participants and organisations of the greater region. The house is a for public demonstration of the existence of the greater region and therefore provides representation and identification within the interregional cooperation of the greater region. The house is a place to work on projects of the summit of the greater region and the regional commission. There is a multilingual hotline connected to the house to give information to interested citizens and to answer questions. The hotline can be used free of charge from anywhere in the greater region.

Private cooperations

There are many more forms of cooperation between organisations and persons of the member regions, ranging from a cooperation of the Christian parties or the SaarLorLux Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and the SaarLorLux orchestra, to the SaarLorLux rallye and the SaarLorLux Biker community. Most of these forms of private cooperation are working on a binational or trinational level, including only parts of the region or including groups or organisations outside the region.

The SaarLorLux region and the European Union

All members of SaarLorLux are also members of the European Community. The Greater Region is the central area of this community. Luxembourg, one of the three towns which house central institutions of the European Community (the court of justice of the European Communities) is situated in the center of the Greater Region while the other two (

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and Strasbourg) are situated just some miles across the borders, close to SaarLorLux. In terms of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

SaarLorLux is defined as a European Border Region (short form: ''Euroregion'' or ''Euregio''), which means a single European transboundary region that is an "amalgamation of regional and local authorities from both sides of the national border, sometimes with a parliamentary assembly" with "cross-border organisations with a permanent secretariat and experts and administrative staff", basing on national foundations or international treaties, and a Greater Region (also

macroregion A macroregion is a geopolitical subdivision that encompasses several traditionally or politically defined regions or countries. The meaning may vary, with the common denominator being cultural, economical, historical or social similarity within a ma ...

), a territory that consists of multiple regions or subareas within different states of the European Union.

Council of European Municipalities and Regions

Because of its character as a recognised European Border Region, SaarLorLux is member of the council of regions, an assembly of representation meant to give local and regional authorities the opportunity to express their needs, problems and wishes to the European union.

Interreg

Interreg Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union (EU), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The first Interreg started in 1989. Interreg IV covered the period 2007–2013. ...

is a programme of the European Union designed to stimulate cooperation between member states on different levels, especially to diminish the influence of national borders to attain equal economic, social and cultural development of the whole European Union. SaarLorLux is beneficiary of several Interreg projects. The region currently receives funding for projects of Interreg III A, while applications are filed for Interreg IV A projects, which run until 2013.

Problems of cooperation

The members have different forms of organisation and structure and varying levels of decision-making power. The partners face different problems, although they all share problems resulting from the changing economic structure of the region. In all parts of SaarLorLux, coal mines and steelworks are closed or will be closed. While facing the same problem, member states did not create a shared solution, but reacted independently. While Luxembourg was very successful in recreating its economy by changing the structure to secondary industries, especially the banking sector, and Lorraine has tried to take a similar line, the German states and Wallonia tried to preserve their old industries, but failed. This lack of cooperation is not based on a lack of will. In some instances, there is no political power to make the decision to co-operate. The only partner with complete power is Luxembourg, represented by its prime minister. All other members that share the summit table have only limited power. For decisions, they have to consult their central or federal governments in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. Many of the decisions of the Summit are nothing but a declaration of the goodwill of the participants. Administrative structures vary among the different countries represented in SaarLorLux. French villages may only have a hundred inhabitants and a constant need to clear decisions with a higher level of government. German community associations of several districts with thousands of inhabitants have constitutional rights of self-government. The members of SaarLorLux face the same problems. The economy of all members was founded on coal mining and steelworks. Now, they are all trying to perform the same structural change. Because the economic structures resemble each other so closely, there is little possibility for differentiation of fields of activity to complement one another. With the exception of Luxembourg, the citizens of SaarLorLux do not speak the other languages of the region. The main foreign language spoken is English. About 120,000 people cross the borders to work in another country. 90,000 of these work in Luxembourg. This is the result of an enormous difference in living standards. These differences in wealth complicate the search for solutions to shared problems. Many citizens of the regions are not aware of SaarLorLux. For a citizen of the town of Tournai, in the west of Wallonia, the nearest neighbouring region of SaarLorLux is about two hundred kilometres away. For him, the nearest European neighbour is the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, five kilometres away.The same situation exists for the region of

in the east of Rhineland Palatinate, which is part of the Rhein Main area and the southern départements of Lorraine. The region seems to be too big to form a common identity for all.

The future of the Greater Region of SaarLorLux

Political plans

The current political plans for the future of SaarLorLux are displayed in Zukunftsbild 2020 (Future Picture 2020), a concept of development showing the visions and ambitions of the greater region of SaarLorLux. It was developed by the commission, led by

Jacques Santer Jacques Santer (born 18 May 1937) is a Luxembourg politician who served as the 9th President of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. He served as Finance Minister of Luxembourg from 1979 until 1989, and the 20th Prime Minister of Luxemb ...

, the former president of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

and former prime minister of Luxembourg. A central intention is the bilingualism of the region. While for about one hundred years, especially in France, the extinction of everything but the national language was the intention of the state, now the value of bilingualism is understood. French and German are intended to be common languages on equal footing within the whole region, including common media for the interregional audience. This co-ordinates with the plan to create cross border schools, giving students the opportunity to gain access to jobs within the European Community and international enterprises. There are intentions for interlinked higher education, research, and innovation, with statements of marks, examinations and diplomas bearing the seal of SaarLorLux. The Charter of Academic Cooperation is an attempt to combine the higher education establishments of the Region. A university of the region shall be founded. The politicians also hope to form a single employment market within the common economic area resulting in a multinational workforce and a transfer of knowledge. Part of the plan calls for the provision of uniform social welfare standards over the whole territory with new kinds of social networks encompassing all members of society. A cross-border Academy for the Social Professions is visualised, providing the social institutions with first class staff. A Centre for Social Information, still to be created, shall inform the public about the provisions and social institutions in the Greater Region. Great hopes are taken from the good geostrategic position of the region at the center of European infrastructure, combined with the area's great potential for absorbing increasing trans-European traffic, making the region a traffic hub for all modes of transport. The new high-speed east–west railway link, which was opened in 2007, is seen as a first step. Public transport shall be linked to cross-border transport for travellers. In 2020 the region shall be an area with a homogeneous population possessing solid infrastructure and many interregional networks and

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

s. Therefore, national

spatial planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

policies have to be abandoned to enable networks of cross border services. An Interregional Council (CI) is planned as a central political organ of the Greater Region of SaarLorLux. Another task of the CI is the coordination of central missions at the interregional level. Permanent staff of the Council shall be a secretariat, assisted by five agencies, to develop and realise all central projects. The eight summit delegates agreed that the areas of multilingualism and culture, science and research, tourist marketing, the economy and employment, and transport should be studied. The delegates agreed on the construction of a timetable to realise the Zukunftsbild 2020 platform. Zukunftsbild 2020 is already included in interregional programmes of development. It is part of Interreg III-A-Programme eBIRD. It is an object of reference within the research project "Blueprints for regional foresight" of the Research Directorate General of the European Commission.

Actual progress

Although politics create promising programs, actual progress is limited. The main advance so far has been the creation of bilingual schools.

Byproducts of European unity

The most important developments for the people of SaarLorLux have been the launch of the Euro and the signing of the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

. The launch of the Euro gave the citizens of the border region the possibility to trade across the border without the need for advanced arithmetic operations to calculate the price, when one German mark was about three

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

s and about twenty

Luxembourgian franc The Luxembourg franc (''F'' or ISO ''LUF'', lb, Frang), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except in 1941–44. In 1944–2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remaine ...

s or Belgian francs. The Euro negates the need for SaarLorLux to have currency of its own. The Schengen agreement brought the removal of border posts and border checks. Today, for citizens of the European Union the neighbouring village across the border can be reached the same way as a village in one's own country. Although this agreement was signed on a river boat on the river Moselle near Schengen, at the border triangle of Lorraine, Luxembourg and Saarland, it was not created especially for the use of the region, but the whole of the founding members: the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, and now 28 European States.

Private initiatives

The other possibility for advancement is on an informal level. People are beginning to understand their position along the border as an opportunity. The French go shopping in Saarland because the prices are lower. The Germans cherish French shops for the freshness of the food and the wider range of products. Near the border crossings of Luxembourg, the streets are lined with gas stations. People are relocating to villages on the other side of the border, where houses are cheaper or taxes lower, although there still is not much willingness to become part of the other society. Mayors of villages along the border of southern Saarland and Lorraine report serious problems with Germans who are living there but wish their children to be exempted from French compulsory education, because they do not speak French and want their children to be educated by a German school on the other side of the border. German villages face the same problem with students from Luxembourg. The future of SaarLorLux will be the sum of many such single projects and cooperations, made by single persons, groups and villages, in addition to the political paths.

Demography

On 1 January 2008, the Greater Region of Luxembourg had 11,359,815 inhabitants distributed very unevenly among its five subregions. More than half of the population lived in Rhineland-Palatinate and Wallonia. Only 4.26% of the total population lived in Luxembourg, the smallest subregion. Past development population

A very slight decrease of the total population of the Greater Region is forecast for 2030. However, there are important differences in the projected evolution of the populations of the various subregions. For example, Luxembourg will experience an increase of 0.25%, while a decrease of 0.11% is predicted for the German state of

Economy

The Greater Region of Luxembourg is characterized by a very high number of daily commuters: in 2007–08 there were 164,000 altogether, of whom 132,000 worked in Luxembourg. Common economic problems arising from drastic changes in the industrial and coal mining areas of the four countries have led to the creation of a community of interest and to the development of common projects like the European Development Pole in the cross-border area of

Longwy Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label= Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens'' ...

in France,

Rodange Rodange (german: Rodingen) is a town in the commune of Pétange, in south-western Luxembourg. It lies next to the border with Belgium, across which is the town of Athus. The town is to the south-west of the town of Pétange and to the west o ...

in Luxembourg and

Athus Athus (german: Athem, lb, Attem, wa, Atu) is a part of Aubange city Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Aubange, located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is located in the far south of the country, just near the borders w ...

in Belgium. The European center situated between the rivers Saar, Moselle and

presents the highest number and density of cross-border commuters in the

. More than half of them come from

and almost three-quarters (73.4%) work in Luxembourg. Luxembourg and the Saarland both have a net in-flow of cross-border commuters. However, that of Luxembourg is constantly high, while that of the Saarland is continuously diminishing. The other subregions have more out-commuters than in-commuters. Lorraine provides the highest number of workers for the neighbouring regions (89,478 as of 2009).

Culture

In 2007 Luxembourg and the Greater Region, together with city of

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, Romania, were designated by the European Union for a period of one year to be the European Capital of Culture, during which they were given a chance to showcase their cultural life and cultural development. For their focal themes, the subregions selected: * Luxemburg: Migration; * Rhineland-Palatinate: Important European personalities; * Saarland: Industry as cultural heritage; * Lorraine: Culture and memorization; * Wallonia: Modern forms of expression. The ''Espace culturel Grande Région'' (Cultural Space Greater Region) association was created in 2007 while the Greater Region was a European Capital of Culture. This association is a project cofinanced by the European Regional Development Funds, within the framework of the ''INTERREG IV A program Grande Région''. Its goals are the pursuit and conservation of cross-border cultural cooperation. The main activities of the association are to bring cultural authorities of the Greater Region together and to define a common work program. This work program of the ''Espace culturel Grande Région'' has the following key themes: * to reflect on the strategies of cultural policy in the Greater Region; * to develop and conduct cross-border cultural projects; * to develop professional skills networks; * to encourage mobility in the Greater Region; * to build bridges linking culture to education and other fields. The partners of the ''Espace culturel Grande Région'' are: *In Lorraine: **Directorate General of the departments Moselle, Meuse and Meurthe-et-Moselle; **Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Lorraine; **Region Lorraine; *In Luxembourg: **Ministry of Culture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; **City of Luxembourg; *in Rhineland-Palatinate: **Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate; **City of Trier; *In Saarland **Ministry of Culture of the Saarland; *In Wallonia **Ministry of the French Community of Belgium; **Ministry of the German Speaking Community of Belgium. In the Greater Region more than 1,200 museums and other institutions present and conserve the heritage of this core European region.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070929033029/http://www.eurice.info/typo3sites/fileadmin/Forschen-ohne-Grenzen/documents/downloads/2020_Vision_for_the_Future_-_Internet-version.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20071212160224/http://www.saarlorlux.org/cgi-bin/cms. The business portal of SaarLorLux * http://www.business-on.de/saarlorlux/ The business news portal of SaarLorLux (in German) * https://web.archive.org/web/20070626161038/http://www.luxembourg2007.org/GB/index.php Website of the European cultural capital 2007 {{Authority control Geography of the European Union Euroregions Saarland Lorraine Geography of Rhineland-Palatinate Geography of Luxembourg Geography of Wallonia