The project's budget must be proportionate to:

• The activities planned,
• the project's duration,
• and the number of partners involved.

The allocation among the partners must reflect the activities and outputs planned each semester, as well as each partner's responsibilities.

To plan the budget, the partnership should identify the resources needed by each partner to complete the activities and estimate the related costs and when they will be paid.

Based on experience of previous programmes, a project's total budget usually ranges from 1 MEUR to 2 MEUR.

The total budget of the project includes the costs foreseen for both the core phase and the follow-up phase.

However, in the planning phase of the budget, especially when preparing the project's spending plan, it is important to take into consideration the activities foreseen.

The main activities of the follow-up phase are related to monitoring the results, exchange of experience on policy improvements if relevant and pilot actions if relevant.

Considering these activities might be less intense than the activities expected during the core-phase, this should be taken into consideration when drawing up the project's budget and should be reflected in the spending plan.

Budget amounts can be reallocated from one cost category to another, and the budget of a cost category can be exceeded (without a maximum limit) if this is fully justified by a project’s needs and the project’s activities remain in line with the application form.

Budget amounts can be re-allocated between partners too. Two types of budget change between partners are possible:

1. A budget reallocation of up to 20% of the total partner budget stated in the latest approved application form (flexibility rule) A partner’s total budget can be exceeded by a maximum of 20 % of the original total amount if this is compensated by an underspend in the budget(s) of other partner(s). This type of budget reallocation does not require the programme’s formal prior approval but must be reported and justified through the progress report.
2. A budget reallocation of over 20% of the total partner budget stated in the latest approved application form A budget reallocation between partners greater than the 20% budget flexibility limit requires a formal approval by the managing authority/ joint secretariat and it must be incorporated in the application form through a request for change procedure (“major budget change”). In principle, a major budget change should happen only once during a project’s lifetime.

Budget reallocations between partners and cost categories are possible on the condition that the total amount(s) of Interreg Funds and/or Norwegian funding awarded to a project are not exceeded.

Norwegian partners are ineligible to Interreg Fund but can receive up to 50% from pre-allocated national funds that Norway makes available to support its direct participation in Interreg Europe programme.

Under the Interreg Europe programme, the project activities are co-financed by the Interreg Fund at either 70% or 80% depending on the legal status of the project partner.

Public or public equivalent bodies have an 80% co-financing rate while private not for profit bodies have a 70% co-financing rate.

The remaining 30% or 20% co-financing must be provided by the partners themselves and it may come from the partners’ own budget or from other sources.

National public co-financing is ensured in certain member states.

For more information, please contact your national point of contact.

For project partners from EU Member States, project activities are co-financed by the Interreg Fund at either 70% or 80% depending on the legal status of the project partner.

The remaining 30% or 20% must be provided by the partners themselves.

Partners’ own contributions may come from their own budgets or from other sources. Each partner must make a commitment to provide their own contribution through a declaration.

National, regional or local public authorities; institutions governed by public law and private non-profit bodies based in the 27 EU Member States, the seven EU candidate countries of the program as well as in Norway and Switzerland are eligible for Interreg Europe funding.

Public authorities are generally understood to be national, regional, or local authorities.

In order to be considered a public law body / body governed by public law, an organisation must comply with Article 2.4 of Directive 2014/24/EU, according to which: ‘bodies governed by public law’ means bodies that have all the following characteristics:

• (a) they are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;
• (b) they have legal personality; and
• (c) they are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional, or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional, or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; […].

In the context of the Interreg Europe programme a private non-profit body must comply with the following criteria:

• a) they do not have an industrial or commercial character
• b) they have a legal personality
• c) they are not financed, for the most part, by the state, regional, or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law; or are not subject to management supervision by those bodies; or not having an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional, or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law.

In view of the above criteria, some partner states consider organisations such as cluster organisations, chambers of commerce, business and entrepreneurs’ associations or trade unions to be private non-profit bodies.

In Interreg Europe projects, private non-profit bodies cannot take on the role of lead partner.

Each partner state is responsible for confirming the legal status of partners located on its territory. If there is any doubt in this respect, applicants should contact their partner state representative directly. Partner state contact details are available on the programme’s website.

Based on Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059, the different cost categories applicable in the programme are:

• staff
• office and administration
• travel and accommodation
• external expertise and services
• equipment
• infrastructure and works (only for pilot actions)

In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060 Article 64 (1) (c) i, VAT is eligible for projects the total cost of which is below EUR 5,000,000 (including VAT).

Considering their usual budget (between 1 MEUR and 2MEUR), VAT is eligible for Interreg Europe projects.

We expect that most regions will reach policy improvements during the core phase.

For the rest of the regions, the action plans will be integrated directly in the relevant section of the last progress report of the core phase.

We estimate that such a task should be easily performed using internal resources (staff costs).

Therefore, we do not expect project partners to plan costs for the elaboration of the action plan at application stage.

Control costs for the verification of expenditure are considered eligible unless there are stricter national rules established at partner state level.

Projects should therefore foresee a budget for these controls depending on the control arrangements applicable in the relevant Partner States for each of the project partners.

This point should be carefully checked in the specific-country requirements available on the Interreg Europe website.

For more information, watch the video  (4:48 - 5:06).

Costs related to the preparation of the project are covered for approved projects.

These costs are fixed in the form of a lump sum of EUR 17,500 Interreg Fund for approved projects (EUR 14,000 Interreg Fund  and EUR 8,750 Norwegian funding).

This amount is automatically included in the lead partner’s budget in the application form and will be added to the reported expenditure of the lead partner in the first progress report.

However, even if the preparation costs are allocated to the lead partner’s budget, the partnership should share them to reflect the involvement of the partners in the preparation of the application form.

This distribution should be done in a fair and transparent way and included in the partnership agreement.

For more information, watch the video (0:30 - 1:34).

Costs for project activities are eligible from the date of the monitoring committee’s approval of the project until the end date of the project.

The end date of the project marks the end of the eligibility period for expenditure, and it is the date by which the last progress report must be submitted to the joint secretariat.

Under Interreg Europe programme rules, staff costs can only be reported according to the fixed percentage method.

It is therefore not possible to use other methods such as the calculation of staff costs on an hourly basis with timesheets.

The staff costs of employees working part-time on the project must be calculated on a real costs basis using a fixed percentage of the gross employment cost (incl. employer’s contributions) in accordance with article 55 (5) of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060.

Staff costs should be planned in order to reflect the involvement of the staff member(s) working on the project.

Applicants should estimate how many staff members will work on the project and how much time they will dedicate to project tasks, and plan the budget accordingly.

For employees working full time on the project, the total monthly gross employment cost (incl. employer’s social contributions) can be claimed.

For Interreg Europe, the staff costs of employees working part-time on the project must be calculated on a real costs basis using a fixed percentage of the gross employment cost (incl. employer’s contributions).

This fixed percentage should be an average of the time spent by the staff member(s) on the project activities.

For more information, watch the video (1:34 - 3:41).

Staff costs cover costs for staff members employed by the partner organisation and who work on the project directly.

Staff costs refers to the partner organisation’s gross employment costs, which usually comprise:

1. Salary payments (specified in an employment/ work contract)
2. Other costs directly linked to salary payments paid and not recoverable by the employer: Employment taxes
   Social security (including health coverage and pension contributions).

In accordance with the partner organisation’s personnel policy, costs such as bonuses, fuel, lease car, relocation benefits, luncheon vouchers, etc. can be fully or partly claimed after calculating the share eligible for the project.

Only the costs or the share of the costs that are not recoverable by the employer are eligible.

For more information, watch the video (0:47 - 2:33).

The task assignment letter is a document setting out the fixed percentage worked on the project by a staff member of a partner organisation.

Unless this percentage is indicated in an another document (e.g. the employment contract), the task assignment letter should be provided as a supporting document when reporting the costs.

It usually:

• is issued for the specific employee at the beginning of the period to which it applies
• is dated and signed by the employee and a line manager/ supervisor
• contains the percentage of time dedicated to the project per month and a description of the project related role, responsibilities, and monthly tasks assigned to the employee in question and which provides sufficient evidence for the time allocation
• Is reviewed (e.g., during the annual staff appraisal) and the percentage and/or description of tasks adjusted, if really needed (e.g., if the role, tasks and/or responsibilities of the employee change).

A template is available on below.

With the 15% flat rate, projects do not need to plan a detailed budget for the ‘travel and accommodation’ cost category.

The application form will automatically calculate a budget corresponding to 15% of the planned staff costs.

When it comes to reporting travel and accommodation expenditure, the flat rate of 15% is automatically applied to the reported eligible staff costs of each project partner concerned.

Project partners do not need to provide justification or supporting documents for travel and accommodation costs. Nor do they need to document that the expenditure has been incurred and paid or that the flat rate corresponds to reality.

For more information, watch the video (4:22 - 6:43).

In Interreg Europe, the travel and accommodation costs are calculated:

1. as a flat rate of 15% of the partner’s staff costs
2. or on a real cost basis, only when the flat rate is not an appropriate method for the partner for justified reasons (e.g., the project partner comes from an outermost or remote region).

For the sake of simplification, project partners are asked to choose option 1 (flat rate).

If a project partner chooses option 2 (real costs), they must justify why in the application form.

Each project partner will have to indicate their choice between options 1 and 2 in the application form. It will not be possible to change this choice after the signature of the subsidy contract.

The flat rate for travel and accommodation costs represents a major simplification. With the 15% flat rate, projects do not need to plan a detailed budget for the ‘travel and accommodation’ cost category.

The application form will automatically calculate a budget corresponding to 15% of the planned staff costs for each partner choosing this option.

When it comes to reporting travel and accommodation expenditure, the flat rate of 15% is automatically applied to the reported eligible staff costs of each project partner concerned.

Project partners do not need to provide justification or supporting documents for travel and accommodation costs. Nor do they need to document that the expenditure has been incurred and paid or that the flat rate corresponds to reality.

External expertise and service costs include expenditure paid, based on contracts or written agreements, and related invoices or requests for reimbursement to external service providers who are subcontracted to carry out certain tasks or activities linked to delivering the project.

In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059 Article 42, expenditure on external expertise and service are limited to the following services and expertise provided by an organisation other than the project partner:

• studies or surveys (such as evaluations, strategies, concept notes, design plans, handbooks)
• training
• translations
• development, modifications and updates to IT systems and website
• promotion, communication, publicity, promotional items and activities or information linked to an project or to a programme as such
• financial management
• services related to the organisation and implementation of events or meetings (including rent, catering, or interpretation)
• participation in events (such as registration fees)
• legal consultancy and notarial services, technical and financial expertise, other consultancy and accountancy services
• intellectual property rights
• verifications pursuant to point (a) of Article 74(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and Article 46(1) of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059 (i.e. cost of expenditure control)
• the provision of guarantees by a bank or other financial institution where required by Union or national law or by a programming document adopted by the monitoring committee
• travel and accommodation for external experts, speakers, chairpersons of meetings and service providers
• other specific expertise and services needed for projects. In the project budget in the application form, the following types of external expertise and services costs can be selected: include list

Project management services can be externalised and related costs should be planned (and later on reported) under the cost category 'External expertise and services', in section F.2 of the application form, under the type of costs "management - external support".

In case project management is externalised, this should be indicated in the relevant section of the application form (Section C.8.3 Financial management and reporting).

The project end date marks the end of the eligibility of the expenditure.

This means that by this date:

• all project activities must be completed (incl. all procedures related to the administrative closure of the project, such as financial control)
• all payments must have been made, meaning debited from the bank account
• the last progress report is submitted to the joint secretariat.

Any expenditure incurred, invoiced, or paid after the project end date indicated in the latest approved application form will be ineligible.

Therefore, in order to be eligible, costs for the verification of expenditure of the final progress report have to be paid out before the end date of the project, provided the check itself is be concluded before the end date.

There is no need to provide the task-assignment letter to the Joint Secretariat.

However, it should be submitted to the controller as part of the supporting documents for staff costs reported.

Country-specific information, including information about the control system and the verification of expenditure can be found on Interreg Europe website.

Both signatures are valid.

The most important is that the declaration is actually signed: “Declarations must be signed.

Electronic signatures will be accepted if evidence of this electronic signature is provided This evidence usually takes the form of an electronic certificate included in the pdf document.

If is not possible to supply this certificate, then the lead applicant must provide evidence that the document has been electronically signed (e.g., certificate to be scanned together with the declaration and submitted as one pdf document in the Portal).”

Associated policy authorities do not directly receive funding.

However, their travel and accommodation costs may be paid by the main partner (and reported as external expertise costs).

Click on the link below to find information about the next call for project proposals.

You can find partners by joining our Interreg Europe community.

It includes a partner search database to put in contact the members working on the same topic.

You can also contact our national points of contact for additional assistance in this field.

There is no limit to the number of projects an organisation can be involved in.

Nevertheless, the programme recommends that the number is kept low. Participating in an interregional cooperation project is demanding and the participation of the same organisation in several projects may not always be realistic.

In particular, the participation of small organisations in numerous applications can call into question their seriousness and credibility. Approval in such cases also increases the risk of double funding.

Of course, large public organisations with many departments, or organisations from smaller countries where the number of eligible partners is more limited, may be able to justify their participation in multiple applications.

The involvement of the same organisation in different applications/projects needs to be justified in the dedicated field of the application form (under the section ‘Main policy instruments addressed’)

A partnership of between 5 to 8 ‘regions’ appears to be the configuration which best ensures a rich and successful interregional learning process.

The recommended number of partners per project (without considering the possible involvement of an advisory partner) is therefore from minimum 5 up to 16 partners when the following points are also considered:

• The participation of the policy responsible authorities as partners is compulsory for at least 50% of the policy instruments addressed in a project application
• The most relevant organisation(s) for the issue addressed by the project are also encouraged to be involved as partners.

However, the complexity of managing a large partnership must not be underestimated. Large partnerships should preferably be proposed by lead partners who have sufficient experience in managing interregional cooperation projects.

The participation of the policy responsible authorities as partners is compulsory for at least 50% of the policy instruments addressed in your project application.

For any instruments where this is not the case, the relevant policy responsible authorities must be involved as ‘associated policy authorities’.

In terms of eligibility criteria, the application should involve partners from three, four or five geographical areas defined below by the programme:

• North,
• East,
• South,
• West
• and candidate countries area.

These partners should also represent at least three countries, of which at least two partners must be from EU Member States, with the latter applying for Interreg Europe funding.

This criterion does not apply to applications where more than one outermost region is involved. In such a case, the minimum regulatory requirement applies (projects must involve partners from at least three countries, at least two of which shall be beneficiaries from Member States and financed by the Interreg Europe programme).

In terms of quality assessment criteria, partnerships should go beyond cross-border and transnational cooperation areas and more generally go beyond areas formed by a group of geographically proximate countries.

The balanced geographical coverage should also be reflected in a project’s financial arrangements. The budget allocation should in principle be balanced between countries, including between a group of geographically close countries and the other countries represented.

This is possible as long as this involvement is clearly justified, complementarities in terms of budget among these partners that address the same policy instrument are foreseen and the overall partnership is geographically balanced and mixes more and less developed regions.

Yes. Seven EU candidate countries can join, as well as Norway and Switzerland as partners. 

Countries outside the programme area are welcome to participate in an Interreg Europe project if their participation contributes to its delivery. However, these partners must provide their own funding since they will be ineligible to receive funding from the Interreg Fund, or Norwegian funds. Like any other partner, their participation and financial contribution must be formalised through a partner declaration.

Please note that travel and accommodation costs incurred by these partners can be covered by the other project partners being funded directly by the programme. In this scenario, these costs should be reported under the cost category ‘travel and accommodation’ of the EU partner concerned.

The geographical coverage takes into consideration all partners, including advisory partners. However, associated policy authorities and stakeholder organisations are not ‘partners’.

Partnerships should go beyond cross-border and transnational cooperation areas and more generally go beyond areas formed by a group of geographically proximate countries.

In the same spirit, the added value of involving several regions from the same country in a project should be explained in the application form.

Partnerships in which at least 80% of the partners come from the same cross border or transnational cooperation area, or in which at least 80% of the funding is allocated to the same cross border or transnational cooperation area, will be scored ‘eliminated’ under criterion 5 of the strategic assessment (‘Geographical coverage’).

Before developing a project idea, applicants should consult the programme website and browse through the projects already supported by Interreg Europe (in the previous and present programming periods) to check if their topic of interest has already been covered.

As far as possible, applicants should ensure that their own idea offers added value compared to past or current initiatives. Interreg Europe cannot finance the mere continuation of past projects.

The question of innovative character is therefore particularly important for partnerships supported under previous EU programmes and which would like to develop a follow-up proposal.

The lead partner role can only be endorsed by a public body or body governed by public law from EU or Norway, which has the capacity to assume the lead partner responsibilities as stated in our programme manual. Universities that comply with those requirements can indeed be Lead Partners.

The following bodies are eligible to receive Interreg or Norwegian funds and can therefore participate as ‘partners’ in Interreg Europe projects:

• Public authorities
• Public law bodies (bodies governed by public law)
• Private non-profit bodies.

Private for-profit organisations cannot join an Interreg Europe project as partners and therefore can't receive funding.

However, they can join a stakeholder group if they have a stake in the policy issue addressed by a project. The stakeholder organisations do not receive funding from the programme.

However, the travel and accommodation costs incurred by stakeholder group members for participating in project activities are eligible if they are paid for by the partners who are directly funded by the programme.

The following bodies are eligible to receive ERDF or Norwegian funding and can therefore participate as ‘partners’ in Interreg Europe projects:

• Public authorities (generally understood as national, regional, or local authorities)
• Public law bodies (bodies governed by public law)
• Private non-profit bodies.

For more information about the partnership requirements, watch the video start at 4:19.

Universities are welcome to participate in Interreg Europe projects.

Non-profit universities might join the project as a partner (formal partner, lead partner or advisory partner), they would then receive Interreg Fund or Norwegian funding and would be involved in the project activities.

They can also join as advisory partners if they do not address a policy instrument themselves but offer a particular capability that can help the project achieve its goals.

Universities can also endorse the role of Lead Partner and be the formal link between the project and the managing authority/joint secretariat.

For-profit universities might join a project as a member of the stakeholder group if they have a stake in the policy issue addressed by the project. The stakeholder organisations do not receive funding from the programme. However, the travel and accommodation costs incurred by stakeholder group members for participating in project activities are eligible if they are paid for by the partners who are directly funded by the programme.

Interreg Europe regularly opens calls for projects. To get involved in a project, you will need to define your project topic and join or build a partnership.

To find partners and information on your topic, we invite you to register to our Interreg Europe community. It includes a partner search database to put in contact the members working on the same topic.

You may also contact our national points of contact for additional assistance in this field. In addition, we invite you to read our calls terms of reference and our programme manual where you will find all necessary information to prepare your application.

Advisory lead partners do not address a policy instrument, but as lead partners they ensure the formal link between the project and the managing authority/joint secretariat (in accordance with Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059).

The advisory lead partner takes on the responsibility for management, communication, implementation, and coordination of the project activities undertaken by the partners involved.

An advisory partner participates in the project in order to offer a particular capability that can help the project achieve its goals. For example, this may be the case of an academic institution specialised in either the topic tackled by the project or in the exchange of experience process.

Since Interreg Europe projects focus on the exchange of experience among organisations that are responsible for their own policy instruments, the participation of advisory partners should remain limited (most interregional cooperation projects are implemented without advisory partners).

The participation of these partners should therefore be clearly justified in the application form). Interreg Europe recommends that a project does not involve more than one advisory partner.

The envisaged stakeholder group members need to be identified at the application stage. Associated policy authorities will automatically be members of the stakeholder groups.

The stakeholder group should be constituted of organisations from the ‘region’ with a stake in the policy issue addressed. The stakeholder group is also an opportunity to involve organisations which, although not eligible for Interreg Europe (e.g., those from the private ‘for profit’ sector), are still important for the development of the policy.

For more information on the stakeholder group, watch the video starting at 3:50.

Interreg Europe scope includes the fields defined by the policy and specific objectives presented in Article 5 of the common provisions regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and Article 3 of the ERDF regulation (EU) 2021/1058. The programme specific objectives are also described in the programme manual.

Your project should target only one policy objective among the programme scope, based on the policy instruments that are adressed by the partners.

Interreg Europe scope includes the fields defined by the policy and specific objectives presented in Article 5 of the common provisions regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and Article 3 of the ERDF regulation (EU) 2021/1058.

We cover six topics:

• Smarter Europe
• Greener Europe
• A more connected Europe
• A more social Europe
• Europe closer to citizens
• Better European governance

The programme specific objectives are also described in the programme manual and in the video below  (0:23 - 0:43 & 9:40 - 11:32).

The main activities during the core phase will relate to the following:

• exchange of experience
• pilot actions (if relevant)

The exchange of experience between partners (also called ‘interregional learning process’) is the main catalyst for generating the expected policy improvement in the participating regions.

The typical activities related to this learning process will include:

• seminars,
• workshops,
• site visits,
• staff exchanges,
• and peer reviews.

The learning process is based on the identification, analysis, and exchange of policy knowledge and practice from the participating regions in the policy field tackled by the project.

The activities are the basis of the exchange of experience and can include:

• joint thematic surveys / studies / analysis
• interregional study visits
• interregional thematic seminars / workshops
• interregional peer-reviews 
• interregional staff exchanges
• meetings with the stakeholder group (compulsory)
• joint pilot actions
• participation in the Policy Learning Platform activities
• preparation of action plans (compulsory only for regions where no policy improvement is achieved by the end of the core phase)

Projects are welcome to integrate online activities into their strategy whenever possible to minimise their environmental impact. However, this online format cannot fully replace in-person exchange.

There are many ways to organise a successful learning process between partners and there is no ‘one size fits all’ method.The approach may depend, for instance, on the number of partners involved or on the nature of the subject addressed.

Experience gained in previous programmes has shown a variety of methods from ‘simple working methods’ based on traditional networking activities, such as thematic seminars, study visits, and staff exchanges, to a more sophisticated approach based on tools such as joint analysis, case studies, peer reviews, or joint pilot actions.

As either approach can be successful, Interreg Europe does not impose a specific methodology but, based on experience gained in previous programmes, it recommends making the learning process as simple as possible.

At the end of the day, it is up to each interregional cooperation project to propose a strategy that is tailored to the needs of the participating regions and which ensures an efficient learning process between the partners and in the stakeholder groups.

Yes, stakeholder group meetings are compulsory. They should be used to share the lessons learnt from the interregional cooperation activities with the stakeholders and allow them to input their opinions and ideas into the project.

No, an action plan is compulsory only for regions where no policy improvement is achieved by the end of the core phase.

A policy responsible authority is the organisation in charge of elaborating and/or implementing a specific policy instrument. The concept ‘policy responsible authority’ is not related to the legal status of the organisation.

In most cases the policy responsible authority is a public body (i.e., local, regional, or national authority). For instance, the policy responsible authority for a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is the city itself.

However, other organisations, such as bodies governed by public law, may also be considered policy responsible authorities, if they have an official role in the elaboration and/or implementation of the policy instrument addressed.

In the case of Investment for jobs and growth goal programmes, the policy responsible authorities are the relevant managing authorities or intermediate bodies.

In case of doubt, the relevant Partner State should be contacted since only the Partner State can confirm whether an organisation from its territory qualify as a policy responsible authority for the policy instruments addressed in its country.

The EAFRD programmes can be addressed in our projects as policy instruments as long as this is coherent with their issue addressed and the corresponding objective that fall within the scope of the cohesion policy.

However, please note that these rural development programmes will not be considered as an Investment for Jobs and Growth goal programme.

Therefore, you will need to make sure that at least one of the policy instruments addressed in the project is an Investment for jobs and growth goal programme.

This may not be an issue as long as a fair idea of the content of this future policy instrument is available.

Information on the content of the programme is indeed needed so that the partner can explain in the application form what kind of improvements are expected from this instrument and under which priorities.

A policy instrument is a means of public intervention. It refers to any strategy, programme, or law developed by public authorities and implemented to improve a specific territorial situation. In most cases, financial resources are allocated to a policy instrument.

However, an instrument can also refer to a strategy or legislative framework with no specific funding (e.g., a Smart Specialisation Strategy) as long as this strategy or legislative framework comply with the above definition (i.e., ‘developed by public authorities and implemented to improve a specific territorial situation’). In principle, internal documents of organisations (e.g., mission statements, in-house strategic orientations) does not qualify as policy instruments.

In the context of Interreg Europe, operational programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal are ‘policy instruments’. Beyond the EU’s cohesion policy programmes, local, regional, or national public authorities implement their own policy instruments, which can also be addressed by Interreg Europe projects.

Watch the video to find out:

• What is a policy instrument (2:50 - 4:05)
• Examples of policy instruments and how to improve them (5:01 - 9:39)

Each participating region must focus on one main policy instrument even if regional development issues can often be addressed through several policy instruments.

The number of policy instruments adressed by the project should correspond to the number of 'regions' involved.

The notion of ‘Investment for jobs and growth goal’ comes from the EC regulation (further information on the Investment for jobs and growth goal can be found in the Cohesion Policy legislation 2021 – 2027 (e.g., Article 5(2)(a) of the Common Provision Regulation (EU) 2021/1060) and this is related to the Operational Programmes adopted by the European Commission at the beginning of a programming period, financed through ERDF and ESF+ (but also through the Cohesion Fund and the Just Transition Fund - JTF) and prepared by each Country and/or region.

At least one policy instrument addressed in the application must be an Investment for jobs and growth goal programme.

To find out more about policy instruments, watch the video starting at 2:50.

A pilot action is an implementation-related activity dedicated to testing a new approach to public intervention.

This is usually the transfer of a successful practice from one region to another, but it can also be a new initiative jointly designed by the project.

The ultimate objective of a pilot action is that, when it is successful, it is ultimately integrated into the policy instrument addressed and therefore contributes to improving it.

For more information on pilot actions, watch the video (2:12 - 3:30).

No. Pilot actions may be requested as a complement to the exchange of experience activities, but the latter remains the core focus of Interreg Europe projects.

Due to the demanding character of pilot actions, the programme can only authorise a maximum of one pilot action per region per project.

Requests for approval to carry out one or more pilot actions can be made at two moments during project:

1. At application stage : In the preparation phase of the proposal, the partnership may identify an innovative practice with the potential to be integrated and/or supported under the policy instrument(s) addressed, but which needs to be tested before being rolled out. In such a scenario, the project may include, at application stage, one or more pilot actions.
2. After the midterm review: The identification of an innovative practice which can be tested in one or several partner regions can also happen during the core phase. In this scenario, the project can request a pilot action in the semester following the midterm review meeting.

For more information, watch the video (2:10 - 5:29)

Funding will concern implementation-related activities dedicated to testing a new approach to public intervention, or initiatives jointly designed by the project.

Thus, only costs incurred and paid by the partners listed in the application form are eligible. This means that a pilot action cannot consist in transferring the project ERDF/Norwegian subsidy to third parties (e.g., through a direct subsidy to an SME).

This also means that a voucher scheme is eligible only under the condition that the service provided by the voucher is directly contracted and paid by the Interreg Europe partner.

Moreover, any external / third party organisations benefiting from the pilot actions activities must be selected in a fair and transparent way.

A pilot action budget usually stands between EUR 40,000 and 120,000 depending on the activities foreseen. It can include costs for equipement and for infrastructure and works. The costs of infrastructure and works are eligible only if they are specifically needed to implement the pilot action.

Due to the nature of pilot actions under Interreg Europe, the eligibility of costs for infrastructure and works is usually limited to small scale building materials or labour needed for works .

The application form is available during our call for projects in our Portal. Please make sure to fill in all sections to submit a full application.

Once submitted, each application is subject to a two-step selection procedure led by the Joint Secretariat.

Project proposals are first checked against the eligibility criteria in order to ensure that they fulfil the programme’s administrative requirements. Only proposals that comply with the eligibility criteria step go on to the second step.

The second step of the selection procedure is the quality assessment.

This involves checking the application form against five criteria. It is based on a scoring system, resulting in a ranked list of all eligible applications.

The monitoring committee will usually meet within eight months after the end of each call to approve projects.

No, please do not create your own project logo.

We will give you your main visual at the start of your project. It will consist of the programme’s logo and your project’s acronym, and will comply with the Regulations and the programme requirements.

You must use your project’s main visual on all your communication materials intended for the public and for participants in your activities.

No, please do not build your own website. We will provide one for you.

Your project website will have:

• a homepage,
• a news section,
• an event section,
• the good practices you’ve submitted,
• a library for documents you wish to share with your audience,
• a contact section,
• and the possibility to create extra pages

You will be responsible for editing and updating your website at least once every six months.

We have a list a publicity requirements that you need to keep in mind when communicating about your project:

• Use the logo set (project main visual) on all communication materials
• Publish information about the project on every partner institution’s website (why not link to our own project’s website)
• Put up an A3 project poster in a clearly visible and public place at each partner institution’s office
• Set up a plaque or billboard at the start of the physical implementation of your pilot project (if relevant)
• Mention EU support on all documents used for the public or participants in project activities
• Update your project website at least once every six months
• Get a royalty-free, non-exclusive, and irrevocable license for all your project communication and visibility materials. And grant any pre-existing rights to us and the European Union.
• In addition, you will need to:

Use the project branding rules and guidelines in your project communication

• Participate in 6-10 programme events
• Provide us with 1 high-quality photo
• Produce and publish at least two short videos about the project
• Regularly publish and update your project’s presentation on achievements
• Organise one final project dissemination event

We provide you many templates to support you in your project communication. 

In your application, you must include these required activities:

• Main project visual
• A3 poster
• Plaque (if relevant)
• Mention on your institutional website and social media accounts (if available)
• Updating your project website
• Final high-level event

You must also include up to 10 recommended activities such as:

• The programme’s events
• Policy Learning Platform events
• European institution events
• Partner State events

Finally, you should also include support activities for your project implementation. We organise various webinars and workshops for you where you can meet with other projects and exchange with them on different topics.

Don’t forget. Don’t just plan them, but include them in your budget.

Your communication strategy is an important part of your application form and you should invest time in defining and refining it.

1. Start by defining the communication objectives that will contribute towards your overall project objective
2. Next, identify your project’s key target groups
3. Define a list of the preferred and most appropriate communication channels and tools for each target group
4. Don’t forget to include the activities that we require like the poster and the project website
5. Plan your implementation and evaluation
6. Finally, draw up a schedule of activities

In the context of interregional cooperation, there are several reasons for this:

• the European institutions (the European Commission in particular) wish to demonstrate to the wider public how European funds are spent 
• the public authorities involved in projects need to show the added-value of allocating resources to cooperation and how they use public funds more efficiently as a result
• Interreg Europe’s result-oriented approach also requires the less tangible, but no less effective policy results to be visible

A communication strategy sets out how communication will help you achieve your project’s overall objectives.

A strategy identifies how the project will reach those who need to be reached and what they need to hear to ensure the project is a success.

It is a roadmap that serves throughout your project’s lifetime.

The easiest way to identify your target groups is to draw up a list of important people and organisations who need to know about the project and its work.

Next, group them according to their current level of engagement/ interest in the issue you tackle, and their ability to influence the outcome of your project.

Your key target groups will be those people who have a high interest in the issue you tackle and high influence on your project’s outcome.

In the context of Interreg Europe, a good practice is defined as an initiative related to regional development policy which has proved to be successful in a region and which is of potential interest to other regions.

‘Proved successful’ is when the good practice has already provided tangible and measurable results in achieving a specific objective.

Since Interreg Europe is dedicated to improving regional development policies, a good practice is usually related to public intervention. In principle, a private initiative is not considered as a good practice', unless if there is evidence that it has already inspired public policies.

Although the Interreg Europe programme primarily refers to good practices, valuable learning also derives from unsuccessful practices. Lessons learnt from unsuccessful experiences can also be taken into consideration in the exchange of experience process.

Examples of good practices can be found in the good practice database on the programme website.

For more info, watch the video (1:17 - 2:11).

Interreg Europe is dedicated to reinforcing ‘the effectiveness of cohesion policy’.

It pursues the overall objective to improve the implementation of regional development policies, including Investment for jobs and growth goal programmes, by promoting the exchange of experiences, innovative approaches, and capacity building in relation to the identification, dissemination, and transfer of good practices among regional policy actors.

Interreg Europe is therefore dedicated to cooperation among regional policy organisations from across Europe.

By supporting learning and increasing the capacities of these organisations, the programme will strive to improve the design and delivery of regional development policies.

For more information, watch the video (1:09 - 2:50).

The role of discovery partner is for organisations coming from the EU candidate countries.

The discovery partner is involved in the project to get acquainted with the interregional exchange of experience process supported within Interreg Europe.

The objective is to increase its capacity on the issue addressed by the project but also on the management of interregional cooperation projects.

The discovery partner’s involvement in the project is lighter than other partners because they do not address any policy instrument.

The programme recommends a maximum of two discovery partners per project.

The discovery partner’s involvement in the project is lighter than other partners because they do not address any policy instrument.

However, they are still expected to participate in all the main activities of the project as much as possible (e.g., in the main interregional policy learning events).

The discovery partner’s budget should be planned in line with their involvement in the main project activities, also taking into consideration that they do not address any policy instrument.