European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), better known as Interreg, is one of the two objectives of cohesion policy and provides a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States. The general objective of European Territorial Cooperation is to promote the harmonious economic, social and territorial development of the Union as a whole. Interreg is built around three areas of cooperation: cross-border (Interreg A), transnational (Interreg B) and interregional (Interreg C).

Interreg is the Union’s instrument for supporting cooperation between regions and countries: a new generation of Interreg programs in and outside the EU will further develop joint services and strengthen solidarity. Interreg provides funding for projects between Member States, their outermost regions, EU acceding countries and neighboring countries.

In 2021-2027, Interreg will continue to support cross-border mobility and development efforts to protect the environment, emergency services, skilled jobs and access to public services for the next generation of the EU.

Two new objectives will guide territorial cooperation:

Better collaboration management

A safer and more secure Europe.

Interreg impacts citizens’ lives at various levels. It covers cross-border cooperation on all land and sea borders of the EU; transnational cooperation, including macro-regional strategies and sea basins; and interregional cooperation that builds networks and allows leading regions to share their successes and experiences with other territories.

Interreg projects outside the EU cover several areas of the world:

Interreg NEXT, which includes the Eastern and Southern Neighborhood partner countries;

Interreg Outermost Regions, which deepens relations between the EU’s outermost regions and their neighbourhoods;

Interreg IPA, which promotes Member States’ cooperation with the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey and helps acceding countries to ease border obstacles and manage programs in the same way as Member States do. Cooperation of this kind strengthens countries’ capacity to improve people’s lives and builds trust with neighboring territories.

Thanks to more than seventy measures, regional funding has become easier after 2020, making access to this kind of support easier – whether you’re a public authority, school or hospital.

Changes include:

• Shorter, fewer and clearer rules;
• Less red tape for businesses;
• Streamlined performance.

Interreg promotes long-term and resource-efficient growth by supporting the competitiveness of all actors through local cooperation, and as a result accelerates society’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic through digital and environmental means.