Act on cross-border cooperation bodies (LOCT) - Goal (EGTC)

This law aims to allow the establishment of cross-border cooperation organizations within the territory of the canton of Geneva.

1. Swiss and French local authorities, groupings of such authorities, or public establishments affiliated with them may establish a cross-border cooperation entity governed by public law, with its headquarters located in the territory of the Canton of Geneva, in accordance with the applicable provisions of international agreements related to cross-border cooperation and the provisions of this law. The members of a cross-border cooperation entity remain, for other matters, subject to their internal law.

2. Swiss cantons or public entities affiliated with them may also participate in the creation of or become a member of such an entity.

1. The cross-border cooperation entity is created by the concurrent expression of the will of its constituent members. Such will is expressed through the adoption and approval, by each member according to the procedures applicable to such a decision concerning them, of the statutes of the cross-border cooperation entity.

2. The cross-border cooperation entity is defined by its statutes, which shall contain at least the following indications

a) the local authorities or public establishments composing it;

b) its purpose, missions, and its relations with the local authorities or public entities composing it, particularly concerning the responsibility for actions carried out on their behalf;

c) its name, the location of its headquarters, the geographical area concerned;

d) the competencies of its bodies, its operation, the number of representatives of the members in the bodies;

e) the procedure for convening the members;

f) the quorums;

g) the modalities and majorities required for deliberations;

h) the modalities of its operation, notably regarding personnel management;

i) the criteria according to which the members must contribute to financial needs and the budgetary and accounting rules;

j) the conditions for amending the statutes, particularly the accession and withdrawal of members;

k) its duration and the conditions for its dissolution;

l) the conditions for its liquidation after dissolution.

3. When the statutes have been adopted by all signing members, they are submitted to the Council of State. The statutes are approved by the Grand Council and enter into force simultaneously with the law approving the creation of the cross-border cooperation entity. (1)

4. The statutes determine the modalities of their amendment, including the conditions related to the accession of new members and the withdrawal of members.

5. Any amendment to the statutes must be submitted to the Council of State and approved without delay by the Grand Council. (1)

6. If the consequences of an amendment to the statutes adopted by the members are such that the cross-border cooperation entity no longer meets the conditions of this law, the Grand Council shall refuse its approval. (1)

1. The law of the Grand Council approving the creation of the cross-border cooperation entity confers upon it the status of a public law corporation.

2. The cross-border cooperation entity possesses the legal capacity necessary to fulfill its missions.

1. The cross-border cooperation body shall consist of an assembly and other bodies as provided in the statutes.

2. The assembly is a body in which all members of the cross-border cooperation body are represented and participate in decision-making.

3. The powers conferred on other bodies do not deprive the assembly of its general competence over the affairs of the cross-border cooperation body.

1. The cross-border cooperation organization has an annual budget adopted by the assembly. The budget, including the costs related to servicing any potential borrowing, must be balanced.

2. Contributions from the member entities of a cross-border cooperation organization, as recorded in its budget, constitute mandatory expenditures for each member.

3. Any resort to borrowing must, if necessary, be approved by the competent body or bodies for such a decision in each of the member entities.

4. Accounting shall be conducted according to the following principles

a) the budget and operational account, the investment plan and account, as well as the balance sheet, are prepared for the calendar year;

b) all financial and accounting transactions must be recorded in the accounts;

c) income and expenditures cannot be offset;

d) transactions must be recorded at the time the rights and obligations actually arise;

e) budgetary appropriations can only be used for the purposes specified in the budget;

f) an unused budgetary appropriation expires at the end of the fiscal year;

g) the accounts of the cross-border cooperation organization must be audited by an independent auditor, in accordance with Swiss law provisions.

5. The audited accounts of the cross-border cooperation organization are submitted to the supervisory authorities of the entities participating in the cross-border cooperation organization. The bodies of the cross-border cooperation organization shall provide, within the limits of the law, all additional information to enable the competent authorities to carry out the controls provided for by law.

1. The statutes or the assembly specify the arrangements and the representative powers of the cross-border cooperation body in its relations with third parties.

2. The cross-border cooperation body is bound by the signature of the person or persons designated by the statutes or the assembly.

3. The cross-border cooperation body cannot maintain direct relations with a third State on its own.

1. Decisions of the assembly are enforceable by right.

2. The ordinary legal remedies remain reserved against any act of the cross-border cooperation body producing legal effects.

3. The decisions adopted by the assembly are transmitted, for informational purposes, to the European, Regional, and Federal Affairs Department (3) of the State of Geneva.

1. Members of the cross-border cooperation body are obliged to fulfill in good faith the obligations they owe to their partners and the cross-border cooperation body. Any default may result in the liability of the entity concerned.

2. The cross-border cooperation body is liable for the acts of its organs and its agents. When the damage has been caused intentionally or by gross negligence of an agent or members of an organ of the cross-border cooperation body, it has, even after the end of the mandate or service relationships, a right of recourse against the elected officials, civil servants, or agents.

3. In the event of the cross-border cooperation body's inability to meet its obligations, regardless of their nature, its members are responsible for its debts. The statutes may determine the modalities of distributing the burden among the members. In the absence thereof, the members are bound in proportion to their previous participation.

1. For all questions or disputes related to the interpretation or application of this law, the legal forum is in the Canton of Geneva, subject to direct appeals under federal law.

2. Nothing in this law may be invoked to alter the scope and exercise of remedies provided by national law in the context of relations between a member entity of a cross-border cooperation organization and any of its constituents.

1. The dissolution of the cross-border cooperation body is carried out in accordance with the provisions of its statutes. The decision or act of dissolution is transmitted to the Council of State, which submits it for approval to the Grand Council. (1)

2. The liquidation is conducted by the bodies of the cross-border cooperation entity.

3. In the event of insufficient assets of the cross-border cooperation entity at the time of liquidation, its members are liable for debts incurred before the dissolution is declared until they are extinguished, under the conditions of Article 9, paragraph 3, above.

Under the terms of this law, the canton of Geneva may participate in the establishment or operation of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation created in accordance with European Union law.

This law shall come into force the day after its promulgation in the Official Gazette.