Interreg

Interreg is a Community initiative which aims to stimulate interregional cooperation in the European Union. It started in 1989, and is financed under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Aims of the programme

It is designed to stimulate the cooperation between the member states of the European Union on different levels. One of its main targets is to diminish the influence of national borders in order to attain equal economic, social and cultural development of the whole territory of the European Union.

The Interreg initiative is designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union, by fostering the balanced development of the continent through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. Special emphasis has been placed on integrating remote regions and those which share external borders with the candidate countries.

Organization

Interreg was launched as Interreg I for the programming period 1989-93, and continued as Interreg II for the subsequent period 1994-99. It has moved on to Interreg III for the period 2000-2006. Projects from that period are currently closing, and will all have done so by the end of 2008. Interreg IV will cover 2007-2012.

To apply for Interreg funding, Member States must submit an Operational Programme (OP) which is a standard procedure common to all EU Cohesion Policy programmes. However, Interreg differs from the majority of Cohesion Policy programmes in one important respect: it involves a collaboration among authorities of two or more Member States. Interreg measures are not only required to demonstrate a positive impact on the development on either side of the border but their design and, possibly, their implementation must be carried out on a common cross-border basis.

Once the OPs have been approved by the Commission, the implementation of the programmes is co-ordinated by Steering Committees, composed by representatives of the authorities responsible for Cohesion Policy measures in each Member State, i.e. central state or regional agencies. Like almost all Cohesion Policy measures, Interreg projects require co-funding to be provided by Member States, regional authorities or the project leaders themselves.

The final beneficiaries of Interreg funds are usually public authorities, interest associations and non-profit organisations, such as chambers of commerce, employer organisations, unions or research institutes. Private firms are only eligible if they apply through a consortium of several firms.

Interreg III had a total budget of 4,9 billion euro (1999 prices); Interreg IV has a budget of almost 7,8 billion euro (2006 prices). Interreg is made up of three strands: Interreg A, Interreg B and Interreg C. [cite web
last =European Commission
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authorlink =
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title = Interreg III: the strands A, B, C and the programmes
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publisher =European Commission
date =2006-06-06
url =http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/interreg3/abc/abc_en.htm
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accessdate = 2007-06-28 ] They are described in more detail below [ [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/l_210/l_21020060731en00250078.pdf l_21020060731en00250078.pdf ] ]

trand A : cross-border cooperation

Cross-border cooperation between adjacent regions aims to develop cross-border social and economic centres through common development strategies. The term 'cross-border region' is often used to refer to the resulting entities, provided there is some degree of local activity involved. [M Perkmann 2003: http://hdl.handle.net/2134/660] The term 'Euroregion' is also used to refer to the various types of entities that are used to administer Interreg funds. In many cases, they have established secretariats that are funded via 'technical assistance', which is the component of Interreg funding aimed at establishing the administrative infrastructure for the local deployment of Interreg.

Interreg A is by far the largest strand in terms of budget, using up to 74% of all resources (some 5,6 billion euros). Priorities for action in strand IIIA are:

* Promotion of urban, rural and coastal development
* Strengthening the spirit of enterprise
* Developing small and medium-sized enterprises, including those in the tourism sector
* Developing local employment initiatives
* Assistance for labour market integration and social inclusion
* Initiatives for encouraging shared use of human resources, and facilities for research and development, education, culture, communication, health and civil protection
* Measures for environmental protection, improving energy efficiency and renewable energy sources
* Improving transport, information and communication networks and services, water and energy systems
* Increasing cooperation in legal and administrative areas
* Increasing human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation

Examples of Interreg IIIA projects

* [http://www.interreg-alcotra.org/ Alcotra] , a French-Italian cross-border programme in the Alps

trand B : transnational cooperation

Transnational cooperation involving national, regional and local authorities aims to promote better integration within the Union through the formation of large groups of European regions. Strand B is the intermediate level, where generally non-contiguous regions from several different countries cooperate because they experience joint or comparable problems. The budget for this strand is 21% of the total budget for territorial cooperation, or 1,6 billion euros. Under Interreg III, there were 13 'programmes', large regions within which these cooperations took place. Under Interreg IV, their definitions have changed somewhat, and in addition regions from outside a programme can participate in a project within that programme.

Proposals for transnational cooperation under IIIB had to take account of:

* Experience from previous Interreg programmes;
* Priorities for Community policies, especially trans-European transport networks ;
* Recommendations made in the European Spatial Development Plan (ESDP).

Within this context, the priorities for action are as follows:

* Drawing up regional development strategies at transnational level, including cooperation between towns or urban areas and rural areas
* Promoting effective and sustainable transport systems, together with better access to the information society. The aim here is to facilitate communication between island or peripheral regions.
* Promoting protection of the environment and natural resources, particularly water resources.

In the specific case of ultra-peripheral regions, transnational cooperation encourages the following initiatives:

* Economic integration and improved cooperation between these regions and regions in other Member States
* Improved links with the countries of their wider geographic area (Caribbean, Latin America, Atlantic Ocean, North West Africa and the Indian Ocean)

Examples of Interreg IIIB projects

Lists

* [http://www.bsrinterreg.net/projects_final.html Selected Baltic Sea projects]
* [http://www.bsrinterreg.net/projects.html Index of all Baltic Sea projects]
* [http://www.northsearegion.eu/iiib/projects/in-your-area/ Index of North Sea Programme projects] by area

Individual highlights

*Arc Manche
* [http://www.hstconnect.net/ HST Connect] , a project on high speed train connections
*North Sea Cycle Route

trand C: interregional cooperation

Interregional cooperation aims to improve the effectiveness of regional development policies and instruments through large-scale information exchange and sharing of experience (networks). This is the smallest strand of the three, having resources of only 0,4 billion euros. Priorities for action in strand IIIC are:

*Exchanges of experience and good practice between Member States and with third countries concerning cross-border and transnational cooperation under Strands A and B of INTERREG III
* Cooperation initiatives in sectors such as research, technology development, enterprise, the information society, tourism, culture or the environment.

Examples of Interreg IIIC projects

* [http://www.aap2020.net/ Adriatic Action Plan 2020] , on sustainable development
* [http://www.communityrivers.com/ Community rivers]
* [http://connectedcities.eu Connected Cities] , on sustainable mobility and spatial development
* [http://transurban.demekav.gr/ TranSUrban] , on urban regeneration and public transport
* [http://www.urbike.net/ Urbike] , on cycling in cities
* [http://www.wirelesscities.org/ Wireless cities] , which aims to increase ICT usage in some cities

References

External links

* [http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/interreg3/index_en.htm Interreg III]

See also

* ESPRID
* European Spatial Development Perspective
* European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation