CHAPTER I

This Regulation lays down rules for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) with a view to fostering cooperation between Member States and their regions inside the Union and between Member States, their regions and third countries, partner countries, other territories or overseas countries and territories (OCTs), or regional integration and cooperation organisations. This Regulation also lays down the provisions necessary to ensure effective programming including on technical assistance, monitoring, evaluation, communication, eligibility, management and control, as well as financial management of programmes under Interreg (‘Interreg programmes’) supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). With regard to support from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III), the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the funding for all the OCTs for the 2021-2027 programming period established as a programme by Decision 2013/755/EU (jointly referred to as ‘the external financing instruments of the Union’) to Interreg programmes, this Regulation sets out additional specific objectives as well as the integration of those funds into Interreg programmes, the criteria for third countries, partner countries and OCTs and their regions to be eligible and certain specific implementation rules. With regard to support from the ERDF and the external financing instruments of the Union (jointly referred to as ‘the Interreg funds’) to Interreg programmes, this Regulation sets out the Interreg-specific objectives as well as the organisation of Interreg, the eligibility criteria for Member States, third countries, partner countries and OCTs and their regions, the financial resources, and the criteria for their allocation. Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 shall apply to Interreg programmes, except where specifically provided for otherwise under those Regulations and this Regulation or where Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 can only apply to the Investment for jobs and growth goal. For the purpose of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 apply. The following definitions also apply: ‘IPA III beneficiary’ means a country or territory listed in the relevant annex to the IPA III Regulation; ‘third country’ means a country which is not a Member State and does not receive support from the Interreg funds or which contributes to the general budget of the Union (‘Union budget’) by external assigned revenue; ‘partner country’ means an IPA III beneficiary or a country or territory covered, for Interreg A and B programmes, by the Neighbourhood area listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/947 or the Russian Federation, or for Interreg C and D programmes, a country or territory covered by any geographic area under NDICI, and which receives support from the external financing instruments of the Union; ‘cross-border legal body’ means a legal body established pursuant to the law of one of the participating countries in an Interreg programme provided that it is set up by territorial authorities or other bodies from at least two participating countries; ‘regional integration and cooperation organisation’ means, in the context of outermost regions cooperation, a group of third countries or regions in the same geographic area that aim to cooperate closely on issues of common interest, of which Member States may also be part. For the purpose of this Regulation, where Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 refers to a ‘Member State’, this shall be construed as meaning ‘the Member State hosting the managing authority’ and where that Regulation refers to ‘Each Member State’ or ‘Member States’, this shall be construed as meaning ‘the Member States and, where applicable, third countries, partner countries and OCTs participating in a given Interreg programme’. For the purpose of this Regulation, where Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 refers to ‘the Funds’ as listed in point (a) of Article 1(1) of that Regulation or to Regulation (EU) 2021/1058, this shall be construed as also covering the respective external financing instrument of the Union. Under Interreg, the ERDF and, where applicable, external financing instruments of the Union, shall support the following strands: cross-border cooperation between adjacent regions to promote integrated and harmonious regional development between neighbouring land and maritime border regions (‘Interreg A’): internal cross-border cooperation between adjacent border regions of two or more Member States or between adjacent border regions of at least one Member State and one or more third countries referred to in Article 4(2); or external cross-border cooperation, between adjacent border regions of at least one Member State and of one or more of the following: IPA III beneficiaries; partner countries supported by NDICI; or the Russian Federation, for the purpose of enabling its participation in cross-border cooperation also supported by NDICI; transnational cooperation over larger transnational territories or around sea basins, involving national, regional and local programme partners in Member States, third countries and partner countries and OCTs, with a view to achieving a higher degree of territorial integration (‘Interreg B’); interregional cooperation to reinforce the effectiveness of cohesion policy (‘Interreg C’) by promoting: exchange of experiences, innovative approaches and capacity building focusing on policy objectives set out in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and the Interreg-specific objective ‘a better cooperation governance’, in relation to the identification, dissemination and transfer of good practices into regional development policies including Investment for jobs and growth goal programmes (the ‘Interreg Europe programme’); exchange of experiences, innovative approaches and capacity building in relation to the identification, transfer and capitalisation of good practices on integrated and sustainable urban development, taking into account the linkages between urban and rural areas, supporting actions developed in the framework of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 and while also complementing in a coordinated way with the initiative outlined in Article 12 of that Regulation (the ‘URBACT programme’); exchange of experiences, innovative approaches and capacity building with a view to (the ‘INTERACT programme’): harmonising and simplifying the implementation of Interreg programmes as well as contributing to the capitalisation of their results; harmonising and simplifying the possible cooperation actions referred to in point (d) (vi) of Article 22(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060; supporting the setting-up, functioning and use of European groupings of territorial cooperation (EGTCs); analysis of development trends in relation to the aims of territorial cohesion (the ‘ESPON programme’); outermost regions’ cooperation among themselves and with their neighbouring third or partner countries or OCTs, or regional integration and cooperation organisations, or several thereof, to facilitate their regional integration and harmonious development in their neighbourhood (‘Interreg D’). For cross-border cooperation, the regions to be supported by the ERDF shall be the NUTS level 3 regions of the Union along all internal and external land borders with third countries or partner countries and all NUTS level 3 regions of the Union along maritime borders separated by a maximum of 150 km of sea, without prejudice to potential adjustments needed to ensure the coherence and continuity of cooperation programme areas and where cross-border interaction may effectively take place. Internal cross-border cooperation Interreg programmes may cover regions in Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom which are equivalent to NUTS level 3 regions as well as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino. For external cross-border cooperation, the regions to be supported by IPA III or NDICI shall be NUTS level 3 regions of the respective partner country or, in the absence of a NUTS classification, equivalent areas along all land and maritime borders between Member States and partner countries eligible under IPA III or NDICI, without prejudice to potential adjustments needed to ensure the coherence and continuity of cooperation programme areas. For transnational cooperation, the regions to be supported by the ERDF shall be the NUTS level 2 regions of the Union, including outermost regions, covering larger transnational territories and taking into account, where applicable, macro-regional strategies or sea-basin strategies. At the request of the Member State or Member States concerned when submitting a transnational cooperation programme, that programme may also include one or more outermost regions from the Member State or Member States concerned. Transnational cooperation programmes may cover the following territories, whether or not they are supported from the Union budget: regions in Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom as well as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino; OCTs; the Faroe Islands; regions of partner countries under IPA III or NDICI. The regions, third countries, partner countries or OCTs referred to in paragraph 3 shall be NUTS level 2 regions or, in the absence of a NUTS classification, equivalent areas. For interregional cooperation, the entire territory of the Union, including the outermost regions, shall be supported by the ERDF. Interregional cooperation programmes may cover the whole territory of third countries, partner countries and other territories, or a part thereof, or OCTs referred to in Articles 4, 5 and 7, whether or not they are supported by the external financing instruments of the Union. For the outermost regions’ cooperation, all regions listed in the first paragraph of Article 349 TFEU shall be supported by the ERDF. Interreg programmes involving the outermost regions may cover partner countries or parts thereof supported by the NDICI or OCTs supported by the Overseas Countries and Territories Programme (OCTP), or both. For the purposes of Articles 4 to 7, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting out the list of Interreg programme areas to receive support, broken down for each strand and each Interreg programme. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 63(2). External cross-border programmes shall be listed as ‘Interreg A IPA III CBC programmes’ (IPA III-CBC) or ‘Interreg A NEXT programmes’ (NDICI-CBC). The implementing acts referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall also contain a list specifying those NUTS level 3 regions of the Union taken into account for the ERDF allocation for cross-border cooperation at all internal borders and those external borders covered by the external financing instruments of the Union. Regions of third or partner countries or territories outside the Union which do not receive support from the ERDF or from an external financing instrument of the Union, or which contribute to the Union budget by external assigned revenue, shall also be mentioned in the list referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1. The ERDF resources for Interreg programmes shall amount to EUR 8050000000 in 2018 prices of the global resources available for budgetary commitment from the ERDF, ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund for the 2021-2027 programming period and set out in Article 109(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. The resources referred to in paragraph 1 shall be allocated as follows: 72,2 % (i.e., a total of EUR 5812790000 for land and maritime cross-border cooperation (‘strand A’)); 18,2 % (i.e., a total of EUR 1466000000 for transnational cooperation (‘strand B’)); 6,1 % (i.e., a total of EUR 490000000 for interregional cooperation (‘strand C’)); 3,5 % (i.e., a total of EUR 281210000 for outermost regions’ cooperation (‘strand D’)). The Commission shall communicate to each Member State its share of the global amounts for strands A, B and D, pursuant to the methodology provided for in point 8 of Annex XXVI of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, broken down by year. Each Member State may transfer up to 15% of its financial allocation for each of the strands A, B and D from one of those strands to one or more of the others. Based on the amounts communicated pursuant to paragraph 3, each Member State shall inform the Commission whether and how it has used the transfer option provided for in paragraph 4 and the resulting distribution of its share among the Interreg programmes in which the Member State participates. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting out the multi-annual strategy documents with regard to external cross-border and transnational cooperation programmes supported by the ERDF and NDICI, by the ERDF and IPA III, or by the ERDF, NDICI and IPA III. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 63(2) of this Regulation and, where appropriate, with due respect for the procedure set out in the IPA III Regulation. With regard to Interreg programmes supported by the ERDF and the NDICI, the implementing act shall set out the elements referred to in Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947. With regard to Interreg programmes supported by the ERDF and IPA III, the implementing act shall also cover, where relevant, the participation of IPA III beneficiaries or partner countries in Interreg C and D programmes. The contribution from the ERDF to external cross-border Interreg programmes to be also supported from the financial envelope under IPA III-CBC or from the financial envelope under NDICI-CBC shall be established by the Commission and the Member States concerned. The ERDF contribution established for each Member State shall not subsequently be reallocated between the Member States concerned. The respective contributions from IPA III and NDICI to Interreg B, C and D programmes shall take account of the composition of the programme partnership by Member States, IPA III beneficiaries and partner countries. Those contributions may be set out in the multi-annual strategy documents covered by the first subparagraph of paragraph 1. Support from the ERDF shall be granted to individual external cross-border programmes provided that at least equivalent amounts are provided by IPA III CBC and NDICI-CBC under the relevant multi-annual strategy document. That contribution shall be subject to a maximum amount set out in the IPA III Regulation or Regulation (EU) 2021/947. However, where the review of the relevant strategic programming documents under IPA III or NDICI results in the reduction of the matching amount for the remaining years, each Member State concerned shall choose from the following options: to request the mechanism referred to in Article 12(3); to continue the Interreg programme with the remaining support from the ERDF and IPA III CBC or NDICI-CBC; or to combine the options referred to in points (a) and (b) of this subparagraph. The annual appropriations corresponding to the support from the ERDF, IPA III CBC or NDICI-CBC to external cross-border Interreg programmes shall be entered in the relevant budget lines for the 2021 budgetary exercise. Where the Commission has included a specific financial allocation to assist partner countries or regions under Regulation (EU) 2021/947 and OCTs under Decision 2013/755/EU, or both, in strengthening their cooperation with neighbouring outermost regions of the Union in accordance with Article 33(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947 or Article 87 of Decision 2013/755/EU, or both, the ERDF may also contribute in accordance with this Regulation, where appropriate and on the basis of reciprocity and proportionality as regards the level of funding from the NDICI or the OCTP, or both, to actions implemented by a partner country or region or any other entity under Regulation (EU) 2021/947, by a country, territory or any other entity under Decision 2013/755/EU or by a Union outermost region under, in particular, one or more joint Interreg B, C or D programmes or under cooperation measures referred to in Article 59 of this Regulation that are established and implemented pursuant to this Regulation. On the basis of the information provided by Member States pursuant to Article 9(5), the Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting out a list of all Interreg programmes and indicating for each programme the global amount of the total support from the ERDF and, where applicable, the total support from each external financing instrument of the Union. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 63(2). Those implementing acts shall also contain a list of the amounts transferred pursuant to Article 9(4) broken down by Member State. If for 2022 or 2023 an external cross-border programme has not been submitted to the Commission by 31 March of the year concerned, the annual contribution from the ERDF to that programme that has not been re-allocated to another programme submitted under the same category of external cross-border Interreg programmes shall be allocated to the internal cross-border Interreg programmes in which the Member State concerned participates. If, by 31 March 2024, there are still external cross-border Interreg programmes which have not been submitted to the Commission, the contribution from the ERDF referred to in Article 9(5) to those programmes for the remaining years up to 2027, which has not been re-allocated to another Interreg programme also supported by IPA III CBC or NDICI-CBC, respectively, shall be allocated to the internal cross-border Interreg programmes in which the Member State concerned participates. Any external cross-border Interreg programme already approved by the Commission shall be discontinued or the allocation to that programme shall be reduced, in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures, in particular if: none of the partner countries covered by the Interreg programme concerned has signed the relevant financing agreement by the deadlines set out in accordance with Article 59; or the Interreg programme cannot be implemented as planned due to problems in relations between the participating countries. In such cases, the contribution from the ERDF referred to in paragraph 1 corresponding to annual instalments not yet committed, or annual instalments committed and decommitted totally or partially during the same budgetary year, which have not been re-allocated to another Interreg programme also supported by IPA III CBC or NDICI-CBC, respectively, shall be allocated to the internal cross-border Interreg programmes in which the Member State concerned participates. With regard to an Interreg B programme already approved by the Commission, the participation of a partner country or of an OCT shall be discontinued if one of the situations set out in points (a) or (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 is fulfilled. The participating Member States and, where applicable, the remaining participating partner countries, shall request that: the Interreg programme be discontinued, in particular where the main joint development challenges thereof cannot be achieved without the participation of that partner country or OCT; the allocation to that Interreg programme be reduced, in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures; or the Interreg programme be continued without the participation of that partner country or OCT. Where the allocation to the Interreg programme is reduced pursuant to point (b), the contribution from the ERDF corresponding to annual instalments not yet committed, shall be allocated to another Interreg B programme in which one or more of the Member States concerned participate or, where a Member State only participates in one Interreg B programme, to one or more internal cross-border Interreg programmes in which that Member State participates. The contribution from IPA III, NDICI or OCTP reduced pursuant to this Article shall be used in accordance with the IPA III Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2021/947 or Decision 2013/755/EU, respectively. Where a third country, partner country or OCT which contributes to an Interreg programme with national resources which do not constitute the national co-financing of support from the ERDF or from an external financing instrument of the Union, reduces that contribution during the implementation of the Interreg programme, either globally or with regard to joint operations already selected and having received the document provided for in Article 22(6), the participating Member State or Member States shall request one of the options set out in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article. The co-financing rate at the level of each Interreg programme shall be not higher than 80 %. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this Article, the co-financing rate for Interreg D programmes shall be not higher than 85 % unless a higher percentage is fixed in Decision 2013/755/EU or any act adopted pursuant to that Decision or, where applicable, adopted pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/947, or any act adopted pursuant to that Regulation. Where Interreg programmes are supported by the ERDF and IPA III CBC and where the allocation from the ERDF is 50 % or less of the total Union allocation, a higher percentage may be fixed in the IPA III Regulation or any act adopted pursuant to that Regulation. Where Interreg programmes are supported by the ERDF, and either NDICI alone or both NDICI and IPA III, and where the allocation from the ERDF is 50 % or less of the total Union allocation, a higher percentage may be fixed in Regulation (EU) 2021/947 or any act adopted pursuant to that Regulation.

← preamble_5 · All articles · SECTION I →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.