SECTION 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’).

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