Designing the EU’s Cohesion policy and its European Territorial Cooperation programmes is a long process. While many Interreg programmes are just organising their first calls for the 2021-2027 period, strategic reflections on the future of Cohesion policy (post 2027) have therefore already been launched by the Commission.
A group of high-level specialists has been established early in 2023, bringing together representatives of academia, national, regional, and local politicians, socio-economic partners, and representatives of civil society. It will reflect on how to maximise the effectiveness of Cohesion policy with a view to tackling the multiple challenges identified in the 8th Cohesion Report, from the innovation divide to the demographic change.
Six meetings have already taken place since the beginning of the year to address topics like developing the European growth model, enhancing resilience, or enhancing the role of place-based policies.
The most recent meeting, titled “Reinforcing territorial cooperation and addressing challenges on European integration”, took place on 4 July 2023 and specifically addressed the topic of European Territorial Cooperation. As previous ones, this meeting was web streamed so feel free to have a look at the video if you are interested in getting an insider’s view on the making of Interreg.
Another 4 meetings are planned by the end of the year. The agenda, minutes and video recordings of these sessions can be found on the Commission website.
The Group will publish its strategic conclusions and recommendations in early 2024, and we are looking forward to the outcomes of these discussions!