Adopted in today's CoR plenary session, the opinion notes that in extraordinary large-scale crises, cross-border cooperation among emergency services is relatively smooth thanks to EU legislation and inter-state agreements. However, the rapporteur pointed to the complications encountered by everyday cross-border cooperation among rescue services such as "legal and administrative barriers, financial issues, and technical obstacles, such as communications systems".

The recommendations in the opinion identify "the necessary steps that need to be taken to strengthen cross-border cooperation in emergency services", said Mr Branda. On many borders, ambulances or fire trucks cannot cross the border despite this endangering people's lives, and people cannot use the hospitals closest to them as they are on the other side of the border. 

Examples like this "call to move towards a situation in which emergency services can automatically be provided and data can be retrieved on both sides of the border by removing unnecessary obstacles", added Mr Branda, who also highlighted his personal experience as someone who represents a border region, who knows first-hand "the importance of cross border cooperation, and the real-life impact it has on cross-border communities".

The opinion underlines how obstacles could easily be removed if the EU acquis were properly implemented. It also identifies ways in which national and regional governments can use EU funding programmes, regulatory frameworks, and dedicated cross-border mechanisms to enhance cross-border cooperation, regional integration, and resilience. Mr Branda concludes noting the crucial role played by "a legal mechanism intended to ease cooperation between border regions, the European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs)" that has proved to be "very effective" in removing obstacles between border regions.