Limburg should develop much more emphatically as a European region. That is what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema says.
European Parliamentarians Jeroen Lenaers and Thijs Reuten respond in agreement to Halsema’s statement, which she made during a conference on ‘broad prosperity’.
Heart of Europe
“The economic growth in an international border region has to be nurtured, that’s important. That is interesting and attractive for Europe. Now you see that that region is often treated with a step-mother,” says Halsema. “They don’t belong to anyone, not from one country or another. Roel Wever is absolutely right when he says that Heerlen is not on the periphery of the Netherlands, but in the heart of Europe”.
Self awareness
“Limburg used to be a kind of appendix-like bulge that hangs from the Netherlands. But if you look closely at the South Limburg region, if you draw a radius of 100 kilometers around Maastricht, you are in the largest economic heart of Europe. Much larger than the Randstad, perhaps a little more self-awareness is needed there,” said CDA European Parliamentarian Jeroen Lenaers. “New elections have been held in Nord-Rhein Westfalen, there will be a new government. A perfect moment to move in that direction from Limburg and look to the future together.”
frontier workers
As a border region, Limburg also explicitly experiences the disadvantages of the geography, if European affairs are not properly arranged. This applies, for example, to frontier workers, who work from home part of the time. In corona times, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany agreed that they would not levy tax on the hours that the frontier workers would work at home. From 1 July, this arrangement will no longer apply and the option to work from home will be fiscally difficult for cross-border workers. They have to go back to the office. “We sent the first letters to the European Commission about this two years ago,” says Jeroen Lenaers. “That is being postponed all the time. But you have to have a solution for it, because there are many advantages to working from home. Then you have to have that properly arranged in Europe. I do see prospects, because everyone is aware of the fact that it must be arranged We must enact that realization in legislation. That can’t be difficult.”