News
[ Project ]
IPP project presents innovation as opportunity to regions
The Interregional Partnership Platform (IPP) project on increasing the innovation capacity of regions in Europe came to its end in March 2013. The results of the cooperation among partners from Germany, Latvia, Spain and Hungary are now available for regions, local communities, municipalities, industrial parks, innovation agencies and other organisations interested in interregional and EU innovation know-how.
[ Programme ]
INTERREG IVC Feedback Seminar on the Exchange of Experience Study 'Improving policy-making through learning'
The INTERREG IVC programme is organising a seminar to disseminate the results of the study carried by INTERREG IVC programe on how projects apprehend and organise successfully their exchange of experience.
About the programme
Helping Regions share solutions
INTERREG IVC provides funding for interregional cooperation (Part of the C strand of the ETC (as well as of the former Interreg III Community Initiative), its aim is to promote exchange and transfer of knowledge and best ...) across Europe. It is implemented under the European Community’s territorial co-operation objective and financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (The ERDF is intended to help reduce imbalances between regions of the Community. The Fund was set up in 1975 and grants financial assistance for development projects ...) . The Operational Programme (a document developed by EU countries and /or regions and approved by the Commission, which defines their priorities as well as the programming required to achieve ...) was approved in September 2007 and the period for INTERREG IVC will last from 2007-2013. This programme follows on from the INTERREG IIIC programme which ran from 2002-2006.
The overall objective of the INTERREG IVC Programme is to improve the effectiveness of regional policies and instruments. A project builds on the exchange of experiences among partners who are ideally responsible for the development of their local and regional policies.
The areas of support are innovation and the knowledge economy, environment and risk prevention. Thus, the programme aims to contribute to the economic modernisation and competitiveness of Europe. INTERREG IVc is linked to the objectives of Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas.
Typical tools for exchange of experience are networking activities such as thematic workshops, seminars, conferences, surveys, and study visits. Project partners cooperate to identify and transfer good practices. Possible project outcomes include for example case study collections, policy recommendations, strategic guidelines or action plans. INTERREG IVC also allows light implementation or piloting, but only if these complement the exchange of experience activities.
Supporting sustainable regional development
The programme supports two types of projects : Regional Initiative Projects (Regional Initiative Projects are ‘classic’ interregional cooperation projects comparable to those already supported under the INTERREG IIIC programme. They allow ...) and Capitalisation Projects (Capitalisation Projects are interregional cooperation projects which focus specifically on the transfer of regional development good practices into mainstream EU ...) .
In Regional Initiative Projects partners work together to exchange experiences in a policy field of their interest. They can choose between three levels of intensity for their cooperation. These vary from simple networking to the development of policy instruments or the establishment of mini-programmes (mini-programmes are projects with a limited number of partners developing a joint framework for interregional cooperation that will be implemented through a limited ...) .
In Capitalisation Projects partners build on already identified good practices. Capitalisation projects are set up to transfer these good practices into mainstream programmes of EU Structural Funds (The EU's Structural Funds are administered by the Commission to finance Community structural aid. They comprise the Guidance Section of the EAGGF for agriculture, ...) . This is done by developing action plans and involving relevant policy makers. The European Commission offers additional expertise to some of these projects, named Fast Tract Projects.
More information about how and when to apply can be found on the assistance page.
Founding documents
Further information about the programme and related European Union regulations can be downloaded below.
European regulations
The INTERREG IVC Programme is financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), whose principles and regulations are laid down in Council Regulation N° 1083/2006 (General Regulation), Council and Parliament Regulation N° 1080/2006 (ERDF Regulation) and Commission Regulation N° 1828/2006 (Implementation Regulation). The Regulation on the use of the Euro in Structural Funds (Commission Regulation N° 0643/2000) also applies to the INTERREG IVC Programme.
Please note that the INTERREG IVC programme does not exercise the option available in Article 7 (4) (i) of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 amended by Regulation (EC) No 397/2009. It is thus not possible to declare costs on the basis of flat rates, standard scales of unit cost or lump sums.
- Council Regulation No 1083/2006: legal background for Cohesion Policy (Cohesion policy was enshrined in the Treaties with the adoption of the Single European Act (1986). It is built on the assumption that redistribution between richer ...) funding
- Council and Parliament Regulation No 1080/2006: legal background for ERDF
- Commission Regulation No 1828/2006: rules for implementing Cohesion Policy funds
- Commission Regulation No 0643/2000: use of the Euro in Structural Funds
The Subsidy Contract (contract between the Managing Authority and the operation’s Lead Partner. It determines the rights and responsibilities of the Lead Partner and the Managing Authority, ...) also mentions four Directives and one Regulation related to public procurement procedures in the European Union. They can be downloaded on the following file:
Programme regulations
The principles and regulations for projects developed within the Programme are laid down in the Operational Programme.
- Operational Programme: background and the logical framework of the programme
- Agreement between Member States, Managing Authorithy & Certifying Authorithy
- EC Decision on INTERREG IVC Programme
- SEA Environment Report
- Final Ex-Ante Evaluation Report
- Public Consultation Summarising Statement
Programme evaluation
During the course of 2010 - around the midway point of the programme implementation - the programme carried out an external evaluation of its positioning in relation to its strategic objectives and possible future orientation. The final report of this evaluation is published for consultation.
An update of this evaluation was carried out in early 2013, the full report of which can be downloaded below.
Study on Exchange of Experience
A specific study on exchange of experience processes aims to provide a better understanding of how the projects organised their exchange of experience among partners under the operational element dedicated to this aspect in the application form (Component 3) and also how the exchange of experience process can directly influence the policy framework of the concerned regions. Moreover, the study highlight successful or less successful approaches and practices from the exchange of experience processes and draw recommendations with a view to further improve the way the exchange of experience is carried out in the present but also in the future programming periods. The research was carried out in July 2012 - January 2013
INTERREG IVC Annual Implementation Reports
The Annual Implementation Reports of the INTERREG IVC Programme present the state of play of the Programme and provide details on the Programme's and projects' achievements.
