Plugging into the future of Interreg: The North Sea crowd has spoken!

Rivers flow across borders. The challenges resulting from the transitions are borderless, what needs to be maintained and strengthened is the flow of relevant knowledge across borders, where urban and more rural areas can learn from each other

This powerful quote encapsulates the essence of Interreg cooperation. Regions frequently encounter similar challenges. Hence, bringing people together and sharing knowledge and best practices is of paramount importance. 

People are at the heart of Interreg cooperation. Their firsthand experience with Interreg provides valuable insights into the territorial cooperation needs and operational inefficiencies. By embracing stakeholders´ inputs, Interreg can make strategic adjustments to maximize its future impact, creating a competitive, sustainable, and cohesive Europe.

Discussions on the post-2027 Cohesion Policy and Interreg are ongoing at the European level. The results will impact the future of the Interreg community, so it is important that stakeholders participate in the debate. 

To this end, the European Commission´s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) launched a Europe-wide stakeholder consultation in 2024. DG REGIO invited all Interreg programmes to consult stakeholders in their respective areas. As part of these broader efforts, Interreg North Sea committed to giving as many stakeholders in the region as possible a voice in shaping the future of Interreg. Participants´ feedback is harvested in the report "Stakeholder consultation – Shaping the future Interreg together". 

The consultation took place from April through October 2024. Altogether 340 stakeholders provided responses, 233 people via an online survey and 107 people via participation in one of 10 focus groups. We greatly appreciate this impressive level of engagement.

Consulted stakeholders represent all programme countries and a wide range of organisation types. This ensures the results reflect an accurate and complete picture of stakeholders´sentiments with regards to Interreg. 

Below is a summary of the most salient points emerging from the consultation. To find out more, please download the full report. 

1. Participants emphasise the need for enhanced regional cooperation in four key areas: First, they highlight the urgency to tackle climate change and protect biodiversity and ecosystems. Secondly, the need to transition towards renewable energy and promote the circular economy. Low-carbon mobility emerges as a third area requiring cooperation. Lastly, they stress the key role of innovation in tackling key challenges such as ageing populations, resource scarcity, and marine pollution.
    
2. Stakeholders applaud how Interreg brings people together and fosters knowledge exchange. This promotes synergies and allows regions to tackle pressing issues without having to reinvent the wheel.
    
3. Participants identify administrative complexities as a major obstacle to cooperation under Interreg. Drafting the application and reporting emerge as main areas of difficulty.
    
4. A further obstacle to cooperation is financial. Stakeholders ask for pre-financing and higher co-financing rates.
    
5. Stakeholders point out the need to strengthen knowledge exchange mechanisms and to build on existing knowledge developed by previous projects. Furthermore, they emphasize the importance of cooperation among Interreg programmes to maximize the collective impact.
    
6. Many stakeholders call for funding support to explore idea viability and assess the partnership fit prior to the project application submission. In addition, they highlight the need to involve more private businesses to ensure long term impact of Interreg projects.
    
7. Stakeholders consistently emphasise the critical need to better include rural organisations in Interreg projects.
    
8. Many underscore the importance of supporting smaller organisations, for example via project management training, assistance with application writing and reporting, and higher subsidy rates. This would enable them to take part despite their limited capacity.
    
9. Stakeholders emphasise the need for an agile approach to project management. They maintain that greater flexibility is essential for projects to successfully adjust their trajectory to emerging insights and developments.
    
10. Many respondents underline the need to harmonise regulations across countries. They maintain that it poses significant obstacles to effective cooperation.

We submitted the results to DG REGIO in December 2024. The findings by all Interreg programmes will be presented on 27 March 2025 at the Interreg GO! event and will inform the discussions on the future Cohesion Policy and Interreg. On the following day, all EU ministers in charge of Cohesion Policy will meet to discuss the policy and its future. 

A warm thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in our survey or join our focus groups!  Your voices matter deeply. They are not just data points, but real experiences and hopes that will shape the future of Cohesion Policy. Together, we are building a policy that truly reflects the needs of our communities and creates positive change where it matters most.

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Mariana Dominte is an IVY (Interreg Volunteer Youth) at the Interreg North Sea Programme. During her time with us she has delivered invaluable contributions and has become a much-appreciated colleague. As part of her tasks she has been in charge of analysing the stakeholder consultation data and drafting the report. Mariana holds a master's degree in international economic integration and development. She is strongly interested in transnational cooperation and sustainability.