The EU cooperation programmes with neighbouring regions include 184 regions with 260 million people in 33 countries and laid down along the EU external borders from the Northern Periphery to the Mediterranean region and from Atlantic to Black Sea Basin. These programmes support economic and social development of the border areas through joint actions including in environment protections, public health services, safety and security measures, connectivity, support to SMEs and entrepreneurship.
The cross-border cooperation (CBC) between EU Member States and Neighbourhood region was first established under European Neighbourhood policy and funded by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) for the period 2007-2013 with the aim to promote good neighbourhood relations and gradual economic integration of participating countries. This was further reconfirmed under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) for the period 2014-2020.
In 2021-2027, the cooperation will be governed by the EU Cohesion policy and the programmes will be fully part of Interreg. In order to highlight the external dimension of Cohesion policy and at the same time to emphasise how close EU and partner countries stand, the new programmes is called “Interreg NEXT”.
Following the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and in line with the EU restrictive measures, the Commission is suspending the cooperation with Russia and Belarus in the European Neighbourhood Instrument cross-border cooperation programmes (ENI CBC) and their participation in programming of the 2021-2027 Interreg NEXT programmes.
Interreg NEXT cooperation programmes for the period 2021-2027 have an allocation of EUR 1.1 billion from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA).
The preparation of the 2021-2027 programmes involving Russia and Belarus is currently suspended. The Commission is exploring ways how to use the budget foreseen for these programmes for helping Ukraine and its people, including the refugees.
Additional national co-funding is ensured by the Member States, partner countries and third countries (Norway).
The Interreg NEXT programmes under shared management by the EU Member states with a counterpart authority in the partner country. All countries participating in a programme are represented in joint structure called the Monitoring Committee, monitoring the programme implementation and achievement of programme goals.
The strong commitment and ownership by participating countries, which makes the Interreg NEXT programmes a unique cooperation mechanism, is maintained with partnership on equal footing, with jointly defined priorities, with local actions that involve at least one partner from each side of the border and with balanced programme budget.
The 2021-2027 programmes are mainly governed by the Interreg Regulation.
The programme strategies are defined around the EU objectives for smarter, greener, more connected, more social Europe and Neighbourhood and addressing the regional needs regarding good cooperation governance and more secure borders.
Special focus is given to:
| Cross-border cooperation | Programme Website |
|---|---|
| Poland-Ukraine Programme | http://www.pbu2020.eu/en |
| Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Programme | http://www.huskroua-cbc.net/ |
| Romania-Ukraine Programme | https://ro-ua.net/en/ |
| Romania-Republic of Moldova Programme | https://ro-md.net/en/ |
| Italy-Tunisia Programme | http://www.italietunisie.eu/ |
| Transnational cooperation | Programme Website |
|---|---|
| Black Sea Programme | http://blacksea-cbc.net/ |
| Mediterranean Sea Programme | https://www.enicbcmed.eu/ |
