Editor's note
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 26.04.2024, 01:30
The Baltics through a “common language” in Interreg
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Interreg has a rather short history representing however a
vital instrument in the EU’s integration process: since 1990, Interreg was
developed as a Union’s initiative with an initial budget of about € 1 billion
covering exclusively cross-border cooperation. Later, Interreg has been
extended to transnational and interregional cooperation.
Recent legislative proposals (adopted in May 2018)
concerning the European cohesion policy “after 2020” include key EU instruments
supporting project funding cooperation among the EU states. Interreg in its
redesign form aims at joint recovery measures facing common challenges and
finding shared solutions in such sectors as health, environment, research,
education, sustainable transport, energy and growth in general. See: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_3885
Main goals of the EU’s cohesion policy provide a framework
of the EU-states’ cooperation in implementing joint actions among national,
regional and local authorities in the EU states. The overarching objective of
European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) is to promote a harmonious economic,
social and territorial development in Europe; it is built around three strands
of cooperation: cross-border
(Interreg A), transnational (Interreg
B) and interregional (Interreg C).
Five programming periods of Interreg have succeeded each other: INTERREG
I (1990-93), INTERREG II (1994-99), INTERREG III (2000-06), INTERREG IV
(2007-13) and INTERREG V (2014-20).
Facing the new stage of Union’s cohesion, the trilogies’
negotiations have been concluded among the EU institutions on the final legal
texts, i.e. the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council in the
beginning of December 2020.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira underlined on the occasion of the
draft, that the political
agreement on the new Interreg facilitated cooperation of regions at external
borders, “… addressing their specific development needs and contributing to a
safer and more secure Europe”.
Reference:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_2261
With a budget of over € 8 billion, the 6th
generation of Interreg will support cooperation between regions, citizens and
economic entities in the member states territories and maritime borders. The
new Interreg-6 will also cover the cooperation between regions at transnational
level in the framework of the macro-regional and sea-basin EU’s strategies:
e.g. in the Baltic Sea, the Ionian-Adriatic seas, the Danube and Alps regions.
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.
The main elements of new post-2020 Interreg include the
following financial allocations: € 5, 8 bln for cross border cooperation; €1, 5
bln for transnational cooperation, € 490 million for interregional cooperation
and € 280 million for outermost regions.
Specifically, new provisions on thematic concentration
include supporting measures contributing to the achievement of the European
Green Deal as well as measures falling under the European Social Fund Plus
Regulation, well as between internal land borders. They also encourage new
specific objectives under Interreg, aiming in particular to make Europe safer
and more secure.
In the MFF-2027 on the directions including cohesion,
resilience and values is allocated about € 427 billion.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/eu-budget-2021-2027_en
More information in the following EU’s web-links: - Interreg
- European Territorial Co-operation; - EU
cohesion policy action against coronavirus; - Cohesion Open Data Platform and COVID-19 dashboard;
- Recovery
plan; - 2021-2027
long-term EU budget & Next Generation EU.
