The issues of legislative regulation of cross-border cooperation are of particular importance for the Russian Federation. Our country has the longest state border in the world. More than half of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation occupy a frontier position and cooperate more or less with neighboring regions of 18 states. All this creates unique conditions for the development of cross-border cooperation, however, the current regulatory and legal regulations of this sphere did not allow full realization of the existing potential of relations with the border states.
Therefore, in modern conditions, the development and adoption of the draft federal law No. 351626-5 “On the basics of cross-border cooperation” became especially relevant.
The bill was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading on June 30, 2010. However, its completion by the second reading took a rather long period of time. This was largely due to the fact that the bill, in addition to defining the tasks and principles of cross-border cooperation, the main areas of interaction of subjects of cross-border cooperation with the relevant subjects of neighboring countries, was the delineation of the powers of federal bodies, bodies of subjects of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies in the field of cross-border cooperation .
Amended by the amendments of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 10, 2016, amendments to the deputies of the State Duma of the VII convocation, as well as proposals of the border regions of the Russian Federation presented during the parliamentary hearings held on April 10, 2017 on “Legislative regulation of cross-border cooperation in the Russian Federation: prospects for development “, the bill was adopted by the State Duma in the third reading on July 14, 2017 (399 -” for “, 0 -” against “).
The Federal Law “On the Basics of Cross-Border Cooperation” adopted by the State Duma will allow the Russian Federation to comply with international legal obligations undertaken upon accession to the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities and Authorities, the Additional Protocol, Protocol No. 2 to it, and Protocol No. 3 , concerning the European Regional Cooperation Unions (EWRO).
The federal law is important and necessary for cross-border cooperation with the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is enough to note that the Russian-Kazakh border has a length of more than 7,000 km. Border relations within the framework of the CIS presuppose closer cooperation for at least two reasons: firstly, the borders between the republics in the USSR were only administrative, and therefore the border areas are interdependent. This is true for transport communications, and for economic ties, and for cultural and humanitarian relations. And the population of the border areas in many ways has the same ethnic character. Secondly, a visa-free regime, a free trade zone, a cultural and linguistic community attach special importance to the cross-border relations between Russia and the CIS countries.
The Federal Law “On the Basics of Cross-Border Cooperation” adopted by the State Duma includes such new concepts for the Russian legal system as “territories of cross-border cooperation”, “international program of cross-border cooperation”, “draft international program of cross-border cooperation” into the orbit of legislative regulation;
determines the powers of the federal executive body authorized to carry out functions to develop state policy and regulatory and legal regulation in the field of cross-border cooperation (at present, such a body is the Ministry
economic development of the Russian Federation), the powers of the state authorities of the border regions of the Russian Federation and local self-government bodies of the border municipal formations. It is important to note here that the solution of such issues at the legislative level should help to ensure maximum conflict-free activity of subjects of cross-border cooperation in such a sensitive sphere of social relations.