Title V
Extensive consultation in Maastricht and the Euregio yields few decisions. Tribunal is a private, invitation-only network that operates differently: you don’t come to listen, but to help make decisions. Every Session concludes with a Ruling: a framework, specified steps and who will speak to whom. Three ways to join the discussion. Request the documents: the agenda, the case study and three key questions. It costs nothing and involves no obligation. Would you prefer a chat first? Ask us to call you back.
Then the connections: who speaks to whom, with names included. This is how the decision reaches the city.
Art. I. The Circle
The Euregio has knowledge, capital, technology and governance. What is missing is a single forum where these can come together to shape a decision.
Academia, business and government each view the same issue from their own perspective. You know the result: lots of consultation, few decisions. Initiatives in Maastricht are fragmented. The border with Belgium and Germany remains a barrier rather than an opportunity.
Every consultation without a result comes at a cost. Talent trained in Maastricht goes on to build elsewhere. European, national and regional funds remain fragmented because the partners who could pool them are not sitting at the same table. Maastricht built its reputation on the Sphinx, ENCI and the university. That legacy calls for a continuation. Not in a report, but in what is built and created. What is not decided here will be decided by others.
Tribunal brings people together based on what they can contribute, to foster cross-fertilisation that leads to results. Here, it is not who speaks the loudest that counts, but who asks the sharpest question. Every participant brings something the others lack: knowledge, capital, a mandate or a system that already works.
Sphinx, ENCI and the university helped build Maastricht; you want the city to build the next era itself. A cheque is not enough for you, nor is a discussion group. As the linchpin between business, academia and government, you see the blueprint and, drawing on your experience, help shape an idea in Maastricht.
Is a competitor elsewhere producing faster, more cheaply or more sustainably, and are you struggling to find young technical talent? Here, there’s no brainstorming and no research project without a product. The framework must be feasible on your shop floor: process improvements that you can prototype quickly and that are commercially viable. You’ll go home with concrete steps and names to follow up on.
Does your research need to achieve more than just a place in a journal? Here, your work moves from publication to realisation, through cross-fertilisation with industry and governance, without diluting the underlying research. Whether your lab is in Maastricht, Aachen or Eindhoven, this is where the link to the companies of the Tristate City lies. Your contributions remain protected within balanced partnerships.
Does the border hold back what the Liège–Maastricht–Brussels axis can achieve together? You are the architect of the playing field; at the table sit the entrepreneurs and researchers who want to build on it. In this way, a local case study becomes a building block of the Urban Economy at a macro level. Neutral ground, no lobbying for any single interest.
Prefer building to meetings? A case study is your test environment: you put your architecture through its paces against a real-world challenge, with the people who decide on the next step. What stands the test here can scale from Eindhoven and Aachen to Cologne. Your code and your concepts remain yours, on your own infrastructure.
We only name those sitting at the table with their permission. During a discussion, you’ll find out who the initiators are. [team profiles to follow]
Do you recognise your role? Read the documents to find out how a Session leads to a Ruling. Reading them does not commit you to anything.
Art. II. The types
You only associate your name with what you have seen first. That is why you choose for yourself how close you sit to the table. As a guest, you first attend one Session. Each form begins with the plays.
For those who wish to see the blueprint first: does a Session actually reach a decision?
For those who want to have a say in decisions and shape their own case.
For those who wish to help shape the agenda and take charge of a case, from the initial enquiry to the final outcome.
Not sure which option suits you best? A single conversation with one of the organisers will clarify things, with no obligation. If you’re considering becoming a founding partner, please select ‘Call me back’.
Knowledge in the city
Knowledge left on the shelf achieves nothing. When she sits down at the table, she is given a task.
Art. III. The proceeds
The risk with any network is that it becomes a talking shop, with reports that end up in a drawer. That is why every Session yields three things that you take home with you.
At the end of each Session, the group establishes a framework, setting out specific steps. Each step has an owner and a deadline. The secretariat records the Ruling and circulates it. This ensures that your contributions do not go unheeded.
All Decisions are entered into a single register. This allows you to see which steps have been taken and which are still outstanding. Each subsequent Session builds on the previous one, rather than starting from scratch.
Each Ruling specifies who will speak to whom. This creates a network of people who know each other by name, with a specific reason to contact one another. For a director: the entrepreneurs and researchers who can implement a policy objective. For an entrepreneur: direct access to decision-makers. For a researcher: the company that can apply your work. For an SME innovator: the researcher or digital architect who can improve your process.
The quality lies with the members themselves. The rapporteur prepares the key steps so that no one sits down at the table unprepared. One five-minute presentation. Afterwards, the group works towards a decision in fixed rounds, and the final ten minutes are reserved for the Ruling: who does what, and when. The Wennink Report is our starting point, not a legal code. We’ll keep writing.
See the Wennink Report, ‘The Path to Future Prosperity’, December 2025.
The Tribunal is funded by membership fees and additional contributions. A contribution does not buy a position: the Ruling is the result of the deliberations. Contributions: [rates on request]
Prefer proof to a promise? Read the five cases for Maastricht and the example Ruling: from case study to tasks with an owner. Then you can decide for yourself.
Art. IV. The core
A tribunal does not talk endlessly. It reaches a ruling.
A forum that merely talks costs you time and reputation. Membership of Tribunal is therefore a workplace for those who wish to move the Euregio forward. You do not pay to belong, but to work towards a decision. What you contribute remains yours: your figures, your code and your research. You decide what to share. Your company figures will only appear in the register if you wish them to. Tribunal is neutral ground: no lobbying for any single interest. Directors and civil servants participate in a personal capacity.
Tribunal is not for you if you’re looking for a platform or a network to collect business cards. It is, however, for you if you’re prepared to prepare a case and stand by a decision. We invite people based on what they bring to the table, not on their title.
Does this sound like you? Request the documents. It takes just one message and there’s no obligation.
Final provision
Choose whichever option takes you the least time. You’ll receive the documents by email: the agenda, the case study and three key questions. Would your secretariat prefer to handle this? Please provide their address. Would you prefer a chat first? Please leave your number. One of the organisers will ring you at a time that suits you. You’ll hear from us within five working days. No newsletter, no resale.
First Session: [date of first Session to follow], [venue to follow]. Attendance is by invitation only.