The Interreg (European Territorial Co-operation) programme was founded in 1990. Four successful periods of the programme have already passed. The purpose of the programme is to encourage balanced economic, social and territorial development of the EU. It covers three fields of cooperation: cross-border cooperation (Interreg A), transnational cooperation (Interreg B) and interregional cooperation (Interreg C). The budget of the programme in the 2014-2020 period exceeded EUR 12 billion. This year the programme marks its 30th anniversary since its foundation. The countries are to discuss ways to improve the programme’s achievements. The emphasis will be laid on good neighbor relations, environment and youth.
The fifth programming period (INTERREG V 2014-2020) is about to end soon. In the beginning of this period, no one could imagine that the world would have to deal with the Covid-19 challenge.
How the programme will develop from now on?
Ms loonela voiced confidence that there will be a sixth programming period of Interreg programme and that Bulgaria would continue cooperating with all its neighbors.
Removing cross-border obstacles and supporting interregional innovation projects (i.e. development of joint services by the member states) are among the priorities of the Interreg programme after 2020.
For the purpose, the European Commission is proposing a new instrument for the border regions, the so-called European Cross-Border Mechanism. It introduces common rules to tackle problems (for instance infrastructure problems) during the fulfillment of cross-border projects.
The Commission also supports interregional investments in innovations and the establishment of pan-European clusters in priority sectors- circle economy, cyber security, improvements in production technologies, etc.
“The aim is to achieve high living standard and economic prosperity in the member states”, Vivian Loonela says. “However, innovations are the necessary precondition for achieving sustainable development. “Digitalization” is the key word for the next programming period. However, we are to focus on the healthcare and tourism sectors as well. We have offered an additional EUR 500 million for interregional investments in innovations for the 2021-2027 period so that even the least developed European regions are able to integrate and develop their economies”.
English version: Kostadin Atanasov
Scotland is known as "The Land of the Brave" and recognized as the "Homeland of the Bagpipe". An instrument that carries the soul of Bulgarian folklore in its sound. According to unofficial data, the "brave" Bulgarians who are building a life in this..
Bulgaria participates in the Global Money Week initiative for yet another year. Global Money Week is an annual global awareness-raising campaign to ensure that young people, from an early age, are financially aware, and are gradually acquiring the..
Bulgaria, as distant as a mirage, has become a beloved land for a man who has never set foot in this country. For nearly 50 years, Mr Jayanta Chakrabarti has been closely following everything that happens here and probably knows more about our history and..
An international conference “AI and education: The road to innovative teaching and learning” brings together 50 teachers from the Bulgarian schools..
In 2024, Bulgaria has 15,737 foreign students, making up 8.6% of all current students in the country. By comparison, this share has doubled over the..
Divers will clean the seabed around the port of Sozopol today, reports BTA. "Since 2018, we have been doing the cleaning, completely voluntarily, with..
Rain / Snow
Rain
Scattered showers
Cloudy