Agreement reached on EU funding for cross-border projects
The European Parliament and European Union (EU) Member States have reached agreement on the funding for cross-border programmes for the next seven years.
Following the deal, which must still be formally endorsed by the Parliament and European Council, €8 billion will be available for transnational projects between 2021 and 2027 through the EU's Interreg instrument.
The European Commission welcomed the agreement.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “I welcome this political agreement on the Interreg Regulation. This programme supports and facilitates territorial cooperation, with a view to overcoming formal and informal obstacles that prevent border regions from growing and developing to their full potential.
"It also facilitates cooperation of regions at external borders, addressing their specific development needs and contributing to a safer and more secure Europe."
The sixth generation of Interreg will support cooperation between regions, citizens and economic stakeholders over their respective land and maritime borders. The new legislation will also cover the cooperation between regions at transnational level in the framework of the Macro regional and Sea basin Strategies: Baltic, Ionian/Adriatic and Black seas, Danube and Alps.
For the first time, a specific allocation will be dedicated to strengthening the cooperation of outermost regions with their neighbouring environment, such as the Caribbean regions, to stimulate economic exchanges among regional partners and their mutual development.
Interregional cooperation will also continue to promote exchange of expertise, good practices and capacity building through a dedicated set of programmes: Interreg Europe, Urbact, Interact and ESPON.
More resources are expected to be spent on climate action and social programmes, including public health, as well as increased support for small projects.
