With an indicative budget of 72 million EUR from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), our first call addresses public and private organisations across central Europe. We invite you to work together and jointly solve common challenges that know no borders – to ultimately reach our programme vision.
“Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE envisions a united central Europe that cooperates to become smarter, greener and better connected together. Based on shared needs and a common identity, the programme aims for a trustful culture of cooperation beyond borders.”
Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE envisions a united central Europe that cooperates – to become smarter, greener and better connected together. Based on shared needs and a common identity in an area long divided by the ‘Iron Curtain’, the programme aims for a trustful culture of cooperation beyond administrative borders.
Central Europe is a core area of the European Union. Interreg CE covers regions and cities from nine EU Member States: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The current programme area will be enlarged in 2021-27 by the region of Braunschweig in Germany.
With an area of more than one million square km, the programme affects the lives of about 148 million people, which share a common history and cultural identity. At the same time, the territory is characterised by structural differences between regions with growing urban and industrialised areas (e.g. capital city agglomerations like Warsaw, Prague, Berlin, Vienna, or Budapest) and rural or peripheral areas often characterised by lower competitiveness and shrinking populations.
Central Europe covers different landscapes ranging from high and low mountain ranges to wide plains, large river basins and lake districts. It is home to remarkable heritage sites, including post-industrial sites, and pristine nature. It also crosses climate zones. Wide open spaces in rural areas, fragile mountainous areas and natural landscapes such as the Green Belt are inhabited by a wide variety of valuable and protected plants and animals. This rich natural and cultural heritage represents an important location factor that needs to be better valorised and protected.
The programme territory runs along large parts of the former Iron Curtain covering regions with significant differences in their socioeconomic history. The area is an important cross-junction for European north-south and east-west connections beyond its own borders. As a historical consequence, many trade and transport routes cross the area on transnational rivers, streets and railroads. This makes central Europe a hub for socio-economically relevant corridors to which many regions are physically connected.
To learn more and submit the proposal, please visit the website of Interreg Central Europe.