The Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau is a Franco-German eurodistrict, a cross-border administrative entity (European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation) sharing common institutions, established on 17 October 2005 and definitely functional since 4 February 2010. The district is formed by the Eurométropole de Strasbourg (centred on the city of Strasbourg), the Communauté de communes du Canton d'Erstein (a groupement of the urban communities of Rhinau, Erstein and Benfeld) and the French State on the French side of the Rhine and the Ortenau district, comprising the cities of Achern, Kehl, Lahr, Oberkirch and Offenburg, in the Baden-Württemberg region on the German side.[1] The population of the district was roughly 1,000,000 in 2022,[2] and it covers an area of 2,468 km2 (953 sq mi)[3]
Building on regional and Franco-German cooperation, it aims to develop bonds between citizens, associations, public administrations, educational establishments and corporations. It is also in the context of European integration, with the presence of European institutions in Strasbourg,[1] and has been compared to a EU version of Washington D.C.
The Eurodistrict's Council is composed of 30 members, with 15 each representing either the French or the German side.[4]
- ^ a b Bienvenue sur le site de l’Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau, district official website (in French)
- ^ 511,522 in the arrondissement de Strasbourg as of 1 January 2020, 48,327 in the canton d'Erstein as of 1 January 2020, and 439,516 in the Ortenaukreis as of 30 June 2022
- ^ "Territoire". Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ Le Conseil de l'Eurodistrict (in French)