EC approves €320M for cross-border cooperation programme with Spain

The European Commission on Tuesday approved the allocation of €320 million for cross-border cooperation between Portugal and Spain, in what is the largest programme of its kind in the European Union for the period 2021-2027.

In a statement, the EU executive points out that the programme, called “Interreg Spain-Portugal” (“POCTEP”), “will create jobs, stimulate climate and energy transition and provide better healthcare for people living in these cross-border regions.”

According to the European Commission, “the programme will support cross-border cooperation through networks between small and medium-sized enterprises to improve research and knowledge transfer”, “finance projects to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings” and “will also support sustainable tourism, the preservation of cultural heritage, better healthcare infrastructure and vocational training for people living in the cross-border region.”

“I am pleased to see that Europe’s biggest cross-border cooperation programme has been approved. Many of the challenges that Europe’s regions are currently facing can only be tackled through greater regional cooperation,” commented the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, Elisa Ferreira, who said that “the POCTEP programme exploits the full potential for cooperation between the border regions of Spain and Portugal.”

European territorial cooperation, one of the main objectives of cohesion policy, provides a framework for national, regional and local actors from different member states to carry out joint initiatives and exchange views on measures. The central objective of this European territorial cooperation is “the promotion of harmonious economic, social and territorial development throughout the Union,” according to Brussels.