Greens from a thriving student town and a cosy border community have joined forces for the European elections of 2009, as a result of the Heerlen Group's crossborder conference in Kleve in spring 2008. After contacts in May and October 2008 the Nijmegen-Kleve connection is now really up and running. On 24th November the two council fractions met in Nijmegen to discuss plans for the region, such as a tourist card with discounts for museums and free regional public transport, and a cycling track for work and recreation purposes.
Light rail connections between Nijmegen and Kleve, one of the themes suggested in May, are still highly desirable for most, but there is some opposition. The Greens are going to work on this all the same and find out whether the rail connection would be eligible for European subsidies. In the meantime they will strive for a better bus connection with buses running on gas - which might be an issue for a common action. The above mentioned points will be laid down in a common election brochure for the whole region.
The Greens also have connections with the new farmers' cooperative Oregional, a Dutch cross-border cooperative striving for consumption of local products in the area and offering tourist facilities: www.oregional.nl (German version of the site still under construction). The Gruenen will bring people together to stimulate this on the German side as well.
