Mediterranean countries join forces to promote smart and sustainable growth

The European Commission adopted today the 2014-2020 MED transnational cooperation programme, worth more than €275 million, with €224 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). A further €9.3 million has been allocated to the programme from the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA).

Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu said: "Europe's Mediterranean regions are diverse, ranging from densely populated urban centres to rural and island communities.  But they share common challenges when it comes to equipping their economies to compete in today's competitive global environment, and safeguarding the Mediterranean's unique natural and cultural heritage. I am glad that the EU is able to provide a framework for cooperation to address these challenges through the MED transnational programme."

The programme will promote cooperation between regions from 10 EU Member States (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, UK - Gibraltar) and 3 candidate countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania).

The Programme will focus on four main priorities:

• Boosting innovation through collaboration between SMEs, public authorities and research bodies, in order to promote smart and sustainable growth.
• Investing in the low-carbon economy, through energy efficiency, renewable energy production and use, as well as low carbon mobility.
• Protecting natural and cultural resources, and biodiversity, through joint analysis and planning, as well as the transfer of good practice.
• Enhancing Mediterranean governance through cooperation projects involving regional, national and international partners, in order to improve decision-making processes and develop common strategies.

The impacts of the programme are expected to include:

• Foster innovation  of public and private actors involved in green and blue growth sectors, creative industries and social economy, increasing by 16% the share of innovative clusters involved in transnational activities;
• Raise capacity for better management of energy in public buildings by doubling the number of plans with energy management measures for public building stocks;
• Increase access and use of sustainable transports systems by doubling the share of urban plans with low carbon transport soft actions;
• Improve by 10% the level of sustainability of tourism in MED coastal regions, through better cooperation and joint and integrated planning ;

The launch of the MED Programme 2014-2020 will take place on 23 June 2015 in Marseille.

OP Budget breakdown:

Total value:                                                     €275 905 320

Total ERDF contribution:                                 €224 322 525

Total IPA II contribution:                                 €9 355 783

Cross-border, transnational and interregional programmes 2014-2020

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