Agreement between the Swiss Federal Council, the Government of the French Republic, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on Cross-border Cooperation between Local Authorities and Local Public Bodies (Karlsruhe Agreement) (Karlsruher Übereinkommen) - Purpose

1. The purpose of this Convention is to facilitate and promote cross-border cooperation between German, French, Luxembourgish, and Swiss territorial authorities and local public entities within their competencies, and in compliance with domestic law and international obligations of the contracting parties.

1. This Convention applies to the following regional and local public authorities, as well as their associations and legally independent public institutions

1. in the Federal Republic of Germany

a. in the state of Baden-Württemberg to municipalities and districts,

b. in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate to municipalities, collective municipalities, districts, and the Palatinate District Association,

c. in Saarland to municipalities, districts, and the Saarbrücken City Association;

2. in the French Republic to the Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté, and Rhône-Alpes regions, to the municipalities, departments, and their associations within these regions, as well as to their public institutions, provided that the regional authorities participate in this cross-border cooperation;

3. in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to municipalities, municipal syndicates, and public law institutions under the supervision of the municipalities, as well as to nature parks as regional authorities;

4. in the Swiss Confederation (including the associations and legally independent public institutions of the named cantons)

a. in the Canton of Solothurn to municipalities and districts,

b. in the Canton of Basel-Stadt to municipalities,

c. in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft to municipalities,

d. in the Canton of Aargau to municipalities,

e. in the Canton of Jura to municipalities and districts.

2. The states mentioned in paragraph 1 number 1 and the cantons mentioned in paragraph 1 number 4 can also enter into agreements that are not of an international law nature with each other and with the regional and local public authorities mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article regarding cross-border cooperation projects, provided that these fall within their jurisdiction under domestic law and do not conflict with foreign affairs or particularly international obligations.

3. The state representatives in the French departments and regions are authorized, together with the competent authorities of the respective states and cantons, to examine how initiatives between French regional authorities on the one hand and the states and cantons on the other hand can be facilitated when their effective implementation is hindered by different domestic legal provisions in the concerned states; the French regional authorities shall not be impaired in the free exercise of their powers by this.

4. The contracting parties may, by mutual agreement and in writing, extend the scope of this Convention to additional regional authorities or their associations and public institutions, as well as to other legal public entities, provided that participation is permissible under domestic law and regional authorities are involved in the forms of cross-border cooperation.

5. Regional and local public authorities in the sense of this Convention are the entities mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2, and 4.

6. In this Convention, the term "cross-border cooperation" means cross-border cooperation between regional and local public authorities, excluding the cross-border cooperation practiced by sovereign states, which is not governed by this Convention.

1. Local authorities and local public entities may enter into cooperation agreements within the areas of responsibility that they share under the applicable domestic law. Such cooperation agreements must be in written form. They are to be executed in one original in the language of each contracting party, with all texts being equally authentic. Cooperation agreements with a Luxembourg or Swiss local authority or local public entity may be drafted in German or French.

2. The aim of cooperation agreements is to allow the parties to coordinate their decisions, as well as to provide services and operate public institutions that are of joint local interest. For this purpose, cooperation agreements may provide for the establishment of cooperation entities, which, under the respective domestic law of the contracting parties, may be entities with or without legal personality.

3. In the case of the Federal Republic of Germany, the transfer of sovereign rights to cross-border neighboring institutions within the meaning of Article 24, Paragraph 1a of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany may be considered by the federal states on a case-by-case basis, if and to the extent that the conditions under domestic law are met.

1. Any territorial authority or local public entity entering into a cooperation agreement must comply with the procedures and controls applicable to it under national law before concluding the agreement. Similarly, actions taken by a territorial authority or local public entity to implement a cooperation agreement are subject to the procedures and controls provided by national law.

2. The cooperation agreement must specify its duration. It must also regulate the conditions for terminating the cooperation.

3. Powers exercised by a local authority on behalf of or under the instruction of another, as well as regulatory and policing powers, cannot be the subject of a cooperation agreement.

4. A cooperation agreement cannot result in a change to the legal status or powers of the territorial authorities or local public entities involved.

5. The cooperation agreement must govern the relationship among the participating territorial authorities or local public entities as to their liability towards third parties.

6. Cooperation agreements must specify which law applies to the obligations contained within them. It must be the law of one of the contracting parties. Disputes regarding compliance with these obligations are to be adjudicated by the courts of the contracting party whose law has been chosen.

1. In the cooperation agreement, it may be specifically stipulated that one territorial authority or local public entity shall perform tasks on behalf of and following the instructions of another territorial authority or local public entity, while respecting the domestic law of the instructing authority.

2. If the provision of public services by the territorial authority or local public entity of one contracting party is entrusted or delegated to a territorial authority or local public entity of another contracting party or to one of the cross-border cooperation entities mentioned in Articles 10 and 11, the provisions and procedures of the domestic law of each contracting party shall apply thereto.

1. If a cooperation agreement provides for the awarding of public contracts, the awarding is subject to the law of the contracting party applicable to the local authority or the cooperation bodies mentioned in Articles 10 and 11, under whose responsibility the awarding is carried out.

2. If local authorities or local public entities of the other contracting parties directly or indirectly participate in the financing of the public contract, the cooperation agreement must list the obligations of each local authority or local public entity, which arise for the procedures of announcement, public tender, and selection of applicants, taking into account the nature and costs of such a measure.

3. Local authorities and local public entities shall take all appropriate measures to enable each of them to fulfill their obligations under national law without prejudice to the law applicable to these public contracts.

1. Cooperation agreements bind only the territorial entities and local public authorities between which they are concluded. The contracting parties are in no way liable for the consequences of the contractual obligations arising from cooperation agreements concluded by territorial entities or local public authorities, or for the implementation of these cooperation agreements.

2. If a cooperation agreement is declared null and void in one of the contracting parties in accordance with its national law, the other contracting parties shall be promptly informed of the declaration of nullity.

1. To establish effective cross-border cooperation, cooperation agreements may provide for the creation of entities without legal personality (Art. 9), the creation of entities with legal personality or participation in them (Art. 10), or the creation of cross-border local public unions (Art. 11).

2. If a territorial authority or local public entity intends to create an entity for cross-border cooperation outside the state to which it belongs, or to participate in such an entity, it requires prior approval in accordance with the domestic law of the contracting party to which it belongs.

3. The competent supervisory authority shall inform the competent authorities of the contracting parties about the measures it intends to take and the results of the supervision, insofar as the information may affect the cooperation of the territorial authorities or local public entities participating in it.

4. The statutes and decisions of an entity for cross-border cooperation must be drafted in the language of each of the contracting parties. For entities of cross-border cooperation involving a Luxembourg or Swiss territorial authority or local public entity, they may be drafted in German or French.

1. Territorial corporations and local public entities may establish joint bodies without legal personality and without financial sovereignty pursuant to Art. 3; these include, in particular, conferences, municipal working groups, expert and reflection groups, as well as coordination committees, which examine matters of common interest, develop proposals for cooperation, exchange information, or contribute to ensuring that relevant entities take the measures necessary to achieve the intended objectives.

2. An entity without legal personality may not make decisions binding its members or third parties.

3. A cooperation agreement providing for the establishment of an entity without legal personality must include provisions on

a. the areas in which the entity is to operate,

b. the establishment and functioning of the entity,

c. the duration for which the entity is established.

4. An entity without legal personality is subject to the law specified in the cooperation agreement.

1. Territorial Authorities and Local Public Bodies may participate in or establish entities with legal personality, provided that these entities are among those that, according to the domestic law of the Contracting Party where they are based, are permitted to include foreign territorial authorities.

1. Territorial authorities and local public bodies may establish cross-border local associations that undertake tasks and provide services in which each of them has an interest. The cross-border local association is subject to the domestic law applicable to public entities for municipal cooperation of the Contracting Party in whose territory it has its registered office.

2. The cross-border local association is a legal entity under public law. It acquires its own legal personality from the day the founding resolution becomes legally effective. It possesses legal capacity and financial autonomy.

1. The local government entities or local public authorities participating in a cross-border local purpose association shall agree upon a statute.

2. The statute of a cross-border local purpose association must particularly contain provisions regarding

1. the local government entities or local public authorities of which it is composed,

2. the association’s objective, the association’s tasks, and the relationships between the association and the local government entities or local public authorities of which it is composed, especially with regard to liability for activities that the association conducts on their behalf,

3. the name and seat of the association as well as the association’s territory,

4. the responsibilities of the association's bodies, the association’s mode of operation, and the number of representatives of the association members in the bodies,

5. the procedure for convening the members,

6. the quorum,

7. the manner of decision-making and the majorities required for it,

8. the association’s mode of operation, particularly concerning personnel management,

9. the criteria according to which the association members must contribute to meeting the financial needs, as well as budgetary and accounting regulations,

10. the conditions for amending the statute, particularly regarding the accession or withdrawal of association members,

11. the duration for which the purpose association is established, and the conditions for its dissolution subject to the provisions listed below,

12. the conditions for the liquidation of the purpose association after its dissolution.

3. The statute of the cross-border local purpose association must specify the conditions under which the statute may be amended. Amendments to the statute require a two-thirds majority of the statutory number of representatives of the local government entities and local public authorities in the association assembly. The statute may provide additional regulations. For cross-border local purpose associations that include local government entities or local public authorities from three of the four contracting parties, a three-quarters majority is required.

1. Bodies of the Cross-border Local Purpose Association are the Association Assembly, the Association Chairman, as well as one or more Deputy Chairmen. The Deputy Chairmen are to be elected from among the members who, as territorial authorities and local public bodies, do not belong to the Contracting Party whose national the Chairman is. Each territorial authority or local public body is entitled to at least one seat in the Association Assembly; no territorial authority or local public body may have more than half of the seats. The statutes of the cross-border local purpose association may, in compliance with the national law of each of the Contracting Parties, provide for additional bodies.

2. The appointment of representatives of the territorial authorities or local public bodies to the Association Assembly and their mandate are governed by the national law of the Contracting Party to which the respective territorial authority or local public body belongs.

3. The Association Assembly decides on matters arising from the purpose of the association.

4. The Chairman ensures the execution of the decisions of the Association Assembly and represents the cross-border local purpose association in all legal matters. He may delegate parts of his tasks to one or more Deputy Chairmen under his own responsibility and supervision.

1. The cross-border local special-purpose association is financed through contributions from its members; these are compulsory expenditures for the members. The association may also finance itself through revenues generated from services it provides.

2. The cross-border local special-purpose association submits an annual budget, which is decided upon by the assembly of the association; it prepares a financial statement and an annual report, which must be certified by experts. These experts must be independent of the territorial authorities or local public entities forming the special-purpose association.

3. Insofar as a cross-border local special-purpose association is authorized to take out loans, an agreement must be reached among all association members regarding the borrowing and the details of loan repayment. In the event of difficulties or the dissolution of the cross-border local special-purpose association, the territorial authorities or local public entities shall be liable in proportion to their previous participation, unless the statutes provide otherwise. The liability of the territorial authorities or local public entities as members of the association for its obligations continues until they are fulfilled.

1. The dissolution of a cross-border local special-purpose association occurs by operation of law either upon the expiration of the period for which it was established or upon the achievement of the objective pursued by its formation. Dissolution can also occur pursuant to a unanimous resolution by the association members, provided that the claims of third parties are secured by the terms of the liquidation.

1. This Convention shall also apply to agreements on cross-border cooperation between territorial communities and local public authorities that were concluded before its entry into force. These agreements shall be adjusted to the provisions of this Convention within five years of its entry into force, insofar as possible.

2. The competences and powers of other bodies existing within the framework of interstate cross-border cooperation shall remain unaffected.

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the day on which the last contracting party notifies the other contracting parties that the necessary domestic requirements for the entry into force of the Convention have been met.

1. This Convention is concluded for an indefinite period.

2. Each Contracting Party may terminate this Convention with a notice period of at least one year at the end of a calendar year, by communicating in writing to the other Contracting Parties.

3. If this Convention is terminated, the measures of cooperation which became effective before the termination and the provisions directly relating to the forms of cooperation shall remain unaffected.