Les jumelages de collectivités territoriales – renforcer le sentiment citoyen européen

The book is structured in 5 parts: an introduction recalling the background to the establishment of twinning arrangements and describing the research methodology, an inventory of existing twinning schemes via an analysis of the results of the study, a reminder of the usefulness of twinning, the expected developments and prospects for the future, and finally, the conclusions of the study.

The study is based on questionnaires and interviews with representatives of 1,322 French and German towns (out of a total of 2,281 twinning schemes operating between the two countries). This wide panel demonstrates the great interest in these cross-border relationships and gives the study a considerable amount of credit.

The results discussed concern the distribution of twinned towns, which are mainly concentrated in the border regions, the reasons and motivations behind twinning, the very diverse people who take an active part in these initiatives, the type and variety of the exchanges, the funding, which is mainly provided by the local authorities and the communication media used, in particular to overcome the language barrier.

The study characterises the usefulness of twinning schemes on several levels: at Franco-German level, at the European level and at global level. The impact of twinning is also assessed according to the commitment of the participants from the local authorities. Depending on its scale, this commitment is said to be "interpersonal", "cognitive" or "practical-utilitarian". The impact of twinning is all the greater when it allows for active participation of the population. There is a specific focus on the experience of young people in these exchanges in order to identify the difficulties encountered. This part concludes with some general recommendations for improving the exchange activities organised under twinning schemes.

The study sketches out some recent trends which could increase the quality and intensity of the exchanges. The key lies in particular in facilitating the involvement of the participants by removing the cultural and linguistic obstacles facing them, by offer better hosting infrastructure and by multiplying the positive spin-offs, such as training or job opportunities.