Interreg, inter-regional cooperation and cross-border cooperation with neighbourhood countries 2014-2020: state of play

Lunchtime briefing, 7 May 2015, 13:00-14:30
European Committee of the Regions, Jacques Delors building, room JDE 51 - 99-101 rue Belliard - 1040 Brussels

Speakers: Agnès Monfret, European Commission, DG Regional and Urban Policy, Head of Unit "European cross-border cooperation" and Jean-Marc Venineaux, European Commission, DG Regional and Urban Policy, Nicolas Singer, Senior Project officer, and Petra Geitner, Senior Finance officer, Interreg Europe programme, Nathalie Thiberge, programme officer DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations.

Since 25 years, the Interreg programmes facilitate cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation as part of EU Cohesion Policy. With the beginning of the period 2014-2020, new provisions entered into force and include a first-ever regulation on European Territorial Cooperation. This lunchtime briefing will provide an overview on the new generation of Interreg programmes including on the cross-border programmes with accession countries and the new Interreg Europe programme on inter-regional cooperation. During the briefing, representatives of the European Commission's DG for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and of the Interreg Europe Managing Authority will present the state of implementation and the challenges ahead. The state of play with regard to cross-border cooperation under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI-CBC) will also be included in the presentations.

• What is the state of implementation of the 2014-2020 cross-border, transnational and cross-border programmes with accession and partner countries?
• What is new in the Interreg Europe programme and how can regions and cities benefit from it?
• What are the main differences compared to the previous period, the thematic priorities and the key challenges of implementation?
• What are the main Interreg events and activities planned in 2015 and beyond?

Lunchtime briefings at the CoR provide insights into issues relevant for officials working for regional and local administrations and the offices and representations of regions and member states in Brussels, EU institutions, and colleagues from associations, think-tanks and similar organisations. During the briefings, there are usually two or three contributions of 10-15 minutes each, mostly by colleagues of the European Commission or other EU institutions, regions and agencies or programmes, which are followed a Q+A session of 30 minutes. Briefings can be followed live on the web and presentations and video recordings are made public afterwards. Lunchtime briefings are attended by 50-100 colleagues on average and recordings are looked at up to 800 times.

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