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The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2022 is herewith launched! Grab the opportunity to share your experiences with ITEM! Dossier suggestions can be made up to and including 23 January 2022.

The importance of cross-border cooperation manifests itself more than ever during the coronapandemic. Multi-level governance is the foundation for taking the next steps; looking for each other and perpetuating relationships at all levels, in administration, politics and practice. This became clear during the ITEM annual conference on 19 November, which focused on the lessons learned, opportunities and challenges of cross-border cooperation. Watch the video recap. 

Due to the Corona crisis, also many cross-border workers are forced to work in their home country. They have been asked not to cross the border to come to their office situated in the neighbouring country. At the moment, this is only possible because the Dutch, Belgian and German governments have agreed on special exemptions from certain rules until the rest of this year. Otherwise, these frontier workers would face major changes with respect to their social security contribution, taxes and health care. But what, if governments and employers from now on will permanently stimulate that employees work more days from home? ITEM has found out that this would have tremendous consequences for cross-border work if legislation does not change accordingly. This is one out of four case of this year’s research into border effects.

Unless the EU rules and tax treaties are amended, some cross-border workers will soon have to pay tax in two countries: in their country of residence for hours spent working from home, and in the country in which they work for hours spent in the office. Since COVID-19 has made working from home often no longer a choice, the Dutch, German and Belgian governments have exempted cross-border workers from the usual rules until the end of 2021. But no such arrangements have been made for 2022.

Buying a house abroad, with the complex procedures of rules and formalities that apply in the world of real estate transactions, one might wonder: what obstacles might I encounter? In her dissertation, Katja Zimmermann examined the operation and obstacles of various land registration systems. Her research resulted in well-considered proposals for the facilitation of cross-border real estate transactions.

The Dutch Ministry of Finance has updated the guideline on the tax qualification policy of foreign social security schemes. According to expertise centre ITEM, the addition concerning certain German social insurances is a positive development, which is in line with their vision and commitment in respect of cross-border pension regulations. The tax treatment of, among others, liberal professions and professional soldiers is addressed.

Het Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility / ITEM is per februari 2017 op zoek naar versterking van haar team in de vorm van:  Stagiaire communicatie; Stagiaire 'Event organizer ITEM'; Stagiaire (1.0 fte) (Monitoring Service Grensoverschrijdende Arbeidsbemiddeling).

Martin Unfried, 'ontgrenzer' at the ITEM expertise centre has presented the ITEM Cross-border impact assessment at the conference "Grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit an der deutschen Außengrenze - Herausforderungen, Hindernisse und Entwicklungschancen" in Berlin on 12 and 13 December 2016.

On Friday 16 December 2016 Prof. dr. Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn accepted the unique chair ‘Cross-border Pension Tax Law’. The video of the inaugural lecture of Prof. dr. Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn, titled 'Cross-border fiscal organisation of pensions' is now available.

Alexander Hoogenboom, scientific coordinator at ITEM, is the winner of the Ius Commune Prize of 2016. Alexander Hoogenboom won the 2016 Ius Commune Prize for his paper ‘In Search of a Rationale for the EU Citizenship Jurisprudence’. The prize was awarded at the 15th Ius Commune Conference on 24 November 2016.