Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung

About Interreg

Interreg, or officially, “European Territorial Cooperation”, is part of the European Union's structural and investment policy. For more than 30 years, it has been supporting cross-border cooperations between regions, towns and cities influencing everyday life for example in the fields of energy and climate change, environmental and ressource protection, labour market and social affairs, and transport. Interreg is implemented through four priority areas (so-called strands).

Overview of Interreg programmes

Graphics with the four Interreg strands
Source: BBSR

Interreg – four strands:

  • cross-border cooperation (Strand A): promoting an integrated and harmonious regional development between neighbouring regions with joint land and sea borders;
  • transnational cooperation (Strand B): cooperation between national, regional and local partners in transnational cooperation areas or sea basins in order to increase the territorial integration of these areas;
  • interregional cooperation (Strand C): cooperation networks and exchange of experiences in order to improve the efficiency of existing regional development and cohesion instruments;
  • cooperation between the EU's outermost regions (Strand D). This Strand does not concern Germany.

Interreg is not centrally managed by the European Commission. In each border region, each transnational cooperation area, representatives of the national and regional authorities of the member states involved come together and define the development priorities of their relevant programme involving local authorities, business and social partners and non-governmental organisations. A programme is then realised via concrete projects. Partners from both sides of a border or, in the case of transnational programmes, even from several countries have to team up and participate in such projects. Within the projects as well, objectives are defined, projects are realised and performance is reviewed jointly by the partners.