In 2000, February 29, the mayors of Metz, Luxembourg, Trier and Saarbrucken sign a declaration for the creation of a European network of cities, named Quattropole. It’s objective is double: it is on the one hand to reinforce the transborder co-operation and on the other to create a true "virtual" area (thought of as a concurrent metropolis to Paris, Brussels or Berlin with high quality in telecommunication equipement). Quattropole finds it’s roots in the history of the area and the local political good-will.

Foundation and evolution of the "Greater Area"

the "Greater Area", made up of Lorraine, the Saar, Luxembourg, the Rhineland-Palatinat and Wallonia existed before any political dream. Indeed, if the transborder co-operation is alive today, it is because the area finds its identity in it’s animated past for nearly 2000 years, it never ceased to exist, long before the border we know today appeared.

From the Kingdom of Austrasie in the 6th century to Lotharingie in the 9th, this is a "country" which establishes its foundations on two civilizations and two languages, Latin and German. The current border which dates from the 17th century will see its neighbouring territories (the Saar, Alsace and the Moselle) claimed by Germany and France, and thebery changing nationality several times during the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1945, the Second World War is over, putting an end to the German occupation of the Moselle. The French in their turn will annex the Saar. This occupation, was to be softer and limited in time, implying many co-operations, in particular in the field of industry. This will constitute the base of the current European Union, with in 1951 the creation of ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community.

This greater transborder area will witness an important period of industrial expansion until the crisis in the Seventies. The local authorities will have two reactions to this crisis, on the one hand the expansion of the high technology in the area and on the other a reinforced transborder co-operation, of which the aim is to put the assets of each country together in order to operate an economic exchange.

Faced with this economic catastrophy which will make tens of thousands unemployed on each side of the border, the cities of the Greater Area will turn to new technologies by developing the sector of telecommunications. The clear aim is to transform a territory of old industry into an innovation zone and to create a new image for the area.

In Metz the changes are as much at municipal level (minitel, in 1980 france’s first cable network, the possibility to use internet on the cable network) as towards the economic development and the welcoming of highly qualified companies in the microphone and telecommunications industry at the newly created "Metz-Technopole 2000". This technopole which accomodates today nearly 300 companies aimed with its creation to support the emergence of a branch of industry at a European level specialized in the study and the development of the communication systems.

From another point of view, the technopole can be regarded as a strong point of the transborder co-operation. First of all as regards telecommunications in particular through Teleport (high-speed transmission of numerical data throughout the world), then because it accomodates the French-Saar WTC building, business district common to both cities, which is the emblematic action of the Metz-Saarbrucken Euro-district. Finally by the establishment of several university departments which cooperate with their German and Luxembourg counterparts.

The transborder co-operation Saarlorlux is characterized by the multitude of organizations, institutional or not. Firstly, let us mention the I.P.C., Interregional Parliamentary Conseil, created in 1986, whose aim is to promote the economic, social and cultural role of the "greater area" and to contribute to it’s development. Secondly are the results of local, political, cultural and economic will power, as for example the Robert Schuman transborder junior choir, the Interregional Press or the Interregional Trade-union Council.

It is by these many co-operations resulting from the heritage of the History and the local political will power, that Quattropole was created.

Quattropole, network of European cities

If one observes the multitude of organizations concerned with the transborder cooperation, one wonders why another level of co-operation and why in this form.

In fact, as admitted by Christine RAFFIN, the municipal NTIC representative, despite being presursory in this field, Metz does not really have a high-tech city image. Is this by lack of communication? Also,the need for Metz to work on innovating projects led at the beginning of 2000 to the installation of the European network of Quattropole cities, made up of Luxembourg, Trier, Saarbrucken and Metz.

The announced objective of this network is to reinforce the economic stength of the area, in particular through the improvement of the communication networks. By giving it a status of virtual metropolis, the political powers aim to compete with centres such as Paris, Brussels or Berlin. By reinforcing its attractivity for the companies, It is a question, moreover, of giving a new push to the transborder co-operation which already exists. Lastly, we could define Quattropole as a kind of a virtual technopole offering the same services as technopole Metz 2000 as regards telecommunication, but on the dimension of the Greater Area.

The tool of Quattropole being the NTIC, it develops around an Internet site. While waiting to be completely operational, the site is used as a gateway for a practical access to a multitude of information on the topics developed by Quattropole.

Among the activities which function already, we can note the hotel reservation service common to the 4 cities, the access to each one’s list of cultural events, practical information on transborder employment, etc. The site "Quattropole.org" presents an excellent synthesis of all that exists as regards information on Internet concerning transborder topics

But the most important action, being developed as present, is undoubtedly the creation of "Quattronet". It aims, by connecting the existing local area networks of the 4 towns to propose connections and communications with a rate, independent of the distance, and definitely lower than the international rate. In addition to allowing less expensive telecommunications, the aim of this network is to render more attractive the common economic area of the 4 cities, representing an enormous encouragement for the establishment of companies in the area. The installation of the high-flow network is a further step in the transborder co-operation because this project will make it possible to reduce the impact that European borders still have on the economic activity and could be an element in a company’s choice of location.

If the Quattropole network’s aim is above all to develop new technologies in the Sarrlorlux transborder area, it is also clear that this new co-operation has an ambition to transform the image of an area which remains strongly marked by its industrial past. The efforts made in this direction for more than 25 years are there to show that it is surely not the easiest of objectives to reach.

Lexicon:

Saarlorlux: Saar-Lorraine-Luxembourg, historical core of the "Greater Area".

NTIC: New Communication and Information Technologies