Euroregion members address future funding priorities
.On Friday, December 02, 2022, the members of the Euroregion PRO EUROPA VIADRINA, Mittlere Oder e.V., met in the Uckermark room of the East Brandenburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry for their regular general meeting. Mr. Rainer Schinkel, Chairman of the German sponsoring association of the Euroregion (alderman district Märkisch-Oderland), welcomed the representatives:inside the member institutions.
.The members exchanged views in detail on current priorities of activity of the Euroregion, its members and other actors of cross-border cooperation, as well as the contents of the new INTERREG program Brandenburg - Poland. Rainer Schinkel summarized the optimistic tenor of the discussion as follows: "In addition to climate and environmental protection, crisis prevention, education and cooperation, the new INTERREG program also provides for special funding opportunities in the area of culture and tourism for cross-border initiatives in the period up to 2027. In the future, the small project fund, which is important for countless actors in the entire border region, will continue to be available for use. Thus, on the one hand, many of the upcoming needs can be well responded to, and on the other hand, the German-Polish contacts, partnerships and friendships that have developed over the past decades can also be supported in the future. We are very well positioned with the office and the view of the projects of the now expiring funding period has shown everyone how important the work of the Euroregion is. The projects contribute to no small extent to enable cross-border encounters whether with children or seniors, but also to build infrastructure, which is important for the border region."
In view of the launch event for the new INTERREG program announced by the managing authority for January 11, 2023 in the Collegium Polonicum (Słubice), confidence is nurtured that the first German-Polish projects can still be applied for and approved in the course of 2023. The members also hope that the gap between the funding opportunities of the two European funding periods will remain as small as possible. Against this background, the members with their unanimous resolution of the work and budget plan established planning security and ability to act for the challenges of the year 2023, in which also the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Euroregion will be celebrated.
Background: European funding to improve cross-border cooperation is provided through INTERREG programs in EU funding periods lasting for 7 years. The future INTERREG program to promote cross-border cooperation in the program area Brandenburg - Poland (Lubuskie) in the period until 2027 was approved by the EU at the end of November 2022.
.On the Internet page www.interreg-brandenburg-polska.eu key data on the program are presented and the launch event on 11.01.2023 in the Collegium Polonicum (Słubice) announced. In a few days, the wording of the INTERREG program Brandenburg - Poland 2021 - 2027 approved by the EU and further details on how to apply will also be available here. Interested parties can submit their project outlines for consultation at the Joint Secretariat (contact see www.interreg-brandenburg-polska.eu/kontakt) with immediate effect.