Interreg 30

European Territorial Cooperation, better known as Interreg, celebrates its 30-year anniversary during 2020.

Interreg, launched in 1990, is the EU’s flagship scheme that aims to encourage territorial cooperation across borders by providing a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States. During the three decades, it has proven that borders are not barriers and has brought Europeans closer together by helping to tackle common challenges and creating new opportunities for cooperation across borders.

The celebrations throughout 2020 will provide the opportunity to demonstrate the achievements so far, but also the chance to focus on the future by launching the debate on cooperation policy post-2020 as we are entering a crucial phase to shape the future of the programming period. While it is the time to think about Interreg funding, it is also the moment to go beyond funding and to use existing mechanisms in order to anchor cooperation in a more sustainable policy environment, such as the Macro Regional Strategies (MRS) or the Border Focal Point (BFP).

Within the framework of the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities, to be organized in the autumn, Interreg will be in limelight all over the European Union.