Presentation of the NWE Programme
INTERREG IVB NWE is a financial instrument of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy focusing on the North West Europe area. Its purpose is to meet the European Territorial Cooperation Objective by means of funding transnational projects.
Bringing European governance together
The North West Europe (NWE) Programme, also known as “INTERREG IVB NWE”, supports organisations of all layers of governance who wish to work together. The NWE area consists of 8 countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, UK and Switzerland. The aim is to find innovative options to make the best use of available territorial assets to address common challenges.
Transnational cooperation is about looking beyond local issues and national or regional borders, meeting people, exchanging experiences, sharing knowledge, developing a new culture, and achieving better results together rather than alone.
The “raison d’être” of the Programme is to bring Europe together to create a more cohesive EU society!
INTERREG: an instrument to make the area more competitive and sustainable
The IVB Programme is a follow up of the INTERREG IIIB NWE Programme (2000-2006), under which 99 transnational cooperation projects were approved to a total of €330 million ERDF (European Regional Development Fund). But IVB is a follow-up with the clear ambition to build and capitalise on the IIIB experience and to progress from there. In practice this means more investments, even stronger partnerships and even more concrete results than before.
These themes for cooperation are translated into four Programme Priorities which are explained in detail in the Operational Programme, the reference document for NWE:
- Capitalising on innovation
- Managing resources and risks
- Improving connectivity
- Strengthening communities
Between 2007 and 2013, the Programme will allocate more than €355 million ERDF to the most innovative and ambitious projects.
Further information :
A comprehensive description of the Programme strategy and Priorities as well as a socio-economic analysis of the NWE region are included in the INTERREG IVB North West Europe 2007-2013 Operational Programme. This document is available at www.nweurope.eu
