Table 3.

Positive aspects of the cross-border collaboration in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR).

Area	Positive aspect	Participants (ID)
Communication	Structured and regular communication is very helpful, especially with EMRIC and the Euregio Meuse-Rhine as an organization	4
Communication	Communication generally functions well across the borders as it is based on a strong network	9
Preparedness	Exercises and preparation within EMRIC are useful for certain scenarios in cross-border collaboration	8
General collaboration	Good collaboration with EMRIC	16
General collaboration	Good collaboration between Eupen (German speaking community in BE) and Aachen (DE) for EMS	16
General collaboration	Considerably less collaboration between the hospitals in Maastricht and Eupen, but still works well	16
General collaboration	Positive cross-border collaboration between hospitals: on operational level in the ICU etc. very good and easy collaboration but on organizational level very complicated and difficult	2
Processes	Processes between South Limburg (NL) and Germany are improving more and more; advanced notification of German EMS to Dutch hospitals works well	10
Best practice exchange	Monitoring and exchange about national COVID-19 measures was helpful to learn from each other and allowed for aligning/adapting hygienic measures, such as wearing masks (especially in the beginning of the pandemic)	18