Interreg Mediterranean

Description

WHAT IS INTERREG MED?
Partner States from 13 countries are working together in the transnational European Cooperation Programme for the Mediterranean area, The Interreg MED Programme 2014-2020. The transnational setup allows them to tackle challenges beyond national borders, such as the rise of low carbon economy, the protection of natural and cultural resources and the strengthening of innovation.

The main objective of the Interreg MED Programme is to promote sustainable growth in the Mediterranean area by fostering innovative concepts and practices and a reasonable use of resources and by supporting social integration through an integrated and territorially based cooperation approach.

BUDGET AND CO-FINANCING

The total budget for the 2014-2020 period amounts to 265 Mio €, composed of 224 Mio € ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), 9 Mio IPA (Instrument of Pre-Accession) and national co-funding.

The co-financing rate for partners not concerned by state aid is 85%. The co-financing rate for economic operators and structures concerned by state aid is 85% or 50%.

An integrated management of ERDF and IPA funds will be (further) implemented.

KEY PRINCIPLES

In the period 2014-2020, Interreg MED Programme will promote cooperation between a varied typology of actors of these thirteen Mediterranean countries. Our aim lies in optimizing existing results achieved in the previous period as well as facilitating new cooperation frameworks for all partners situated in the Programme cooperation area.

Accordingly, Interreg MED Programme establishes the following key cooperation principles aiming at consolidating the character of future projects and their related activities.

These fundamental principles represent the DNA of the Interreg MED Programme and are coherent with the promotion of development, of good governance and supported by the European Union Cohesion Policy.

• Thematic concentration
• Result-orientation
• Transnationality
• Territorial relevance
• Sustainability
• Transferability
• Capitalisation

BACKGROUND

The Europe 2020 strategy, together with the Territorial Agenda 2020 provided the strategic framework for EU cohesion policy 2014-2020 and as such for the Interreg MED Programme. The regulatory framework is provided by the regulations for cohesion policy 2014-2020. These are accompanied by a Common Strategic Framework (CSF) setting out key actions to address EU priorities and giving guidance to ensure coordination between funds.

For the period 2014-2020, the Commission proposed certain important changes to the way the cohesion policy should be implemented. One important aspect for future project design is the demand for fewer, but more result oriented and high quality projects. More emphasis has to be put on the demand side to clearly identify the real needs of target groups and end-users to ensure a more effective use of projects outputs.

Throughout the drafting of the Cooperation Programme, various analyses and consultations were carried out. External experts dedicated their efforts to moderation, diagnostic analysis of the territory, design of an indicator system, strategic environmental assessment and ex-ante analysis :

• SWOT analyses (August 2013)
• Ex-ante evaluation (May 2014)
• Strategic Environment Assessment – SEA (May 2014)
• Non-technical summary of the SEA (March 2014 – produced for the public consultation)
• Results of the first public consultation
• Results of the second public consultation