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Interreg

European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), better known as Interreg, is one of the two goals of cohesion policy and provides a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States. The programme is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and it is part of the European Cohesion policy.

The interreg programme is only accessible to European regions, however, due to the neighboring condition of specific OCTs, many Interreg projects have been awarded to OCT organisations.

Eligibility of OCTs

The OCTs are not eligible to receive financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). However, they may participate in Interreg programmes which finance joint actions across national borders.

In practice, organisations based in the OCTs participate in Interreg projects:

Mostly at their own expenses although some of their costs are sometimes borne by a partner based in the EU territory; or with the support of pre-allocated national funds (e.g. Greenland);
With the support of the European Development Fund (EDF).
Thanks to being located in an EU territory: TAAF headquarters are located in Saint-Pierre, Ile de La Réunion (France).

Key facts of the programme

The overarching objective of European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) is to promote a harmonious economic, social and territorial development of the Union as a whole. Interreg is built around three strands of cooperation: cross-border (Interreg A), transnational (Interreg B) and interregional (Interreg C).

The 2021-2027 programme will include, for the first time, a specific allocation of €280 million will be dedicated to strengthening the cooperation of outermost regions with their neighbouring environment, such as the Caribbean OCTs, to stimulate economic exchanges among regional partners and their mutual development.

The interreg programme is accessible to European regions, however, due to the neighboring condition of specific OCTs, many Interreg projects have been awarded to OCT organisations.

Relevance of programme for OCTs

In the previous programming period, many OCTs were able to access Interreg via the following subprogrammes:

Interreg Caribbean: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten
Interreg Indian Ocean: Southern French and Antarctic Territories – TAAF
Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic: Greenland

The programme allowed the islands to receive financing to develop joint projects with neighboring European regions, supporting their development. It is expected that a similar scheme will continue in the current MFF 2021-2027.

How is the programme managed ?

Each regional subprogramme is managed by an specific local authority. This section will be updated as soon as the situation for upcoming programming period is clarified.