Programme: Interreg Europe

Purpose:
The purpose of the this programme is to provide support to projects and thematic platforms based around its four Priority Areas: (1) Research and Innovation, (2) SME Competitiveness, (3) Low-Carbon Economy and (4) Environment and Resource Efficiency.

Funding Description:
Interested regional or local government organisations with an interest in one of the four policy topics (see above) must identify government organisations in other European regions interested with the same interest. They must also be interested in both receiving solutions that have worked in other regions, or giving their own successful policy interventions to other regions.

Groups of up-to 10 public sector organisations from different EU countries that have identified sufficient common interest around a particular topic can then form a "project". A project is commitment by the interested organisations to work together for between two or three years to successfully transfer successful policy solutions between their regions.

The project can be submitted to the INTERREG Programme for approval. Submission occurs as a result of open public Calls for Projects by the INTERREG programme. Organisations in successfully approved projects can receive upto 85% of their cost of participation. 

The project's workplan, over 2 to 3 years, is quite intensive requiring substantial input in time and working through a pre-defined set of stages with the other organisations in the project to ensure that transferred policy is successfully embedded within the home region's policy offering.