1st Day of INTERREG Conference Gets Underway

Today represented the first day of the conference organised under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, together with the European Commission and the INTERACT programme, as a means of celebrating '25 Years of INTERREG'.

The two-day event, on 15 and 16 September 2015, was today launched by Corina Creţu, European Commissioner for Regional Polica, and Camille Gira, Luxembourg Secretary of State for Sustainable Development at a press conference in Redange.

INTERREG, or the European Territorial Cooperation, is a financial instrument of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aimed at facilitating cooperation between partners across borders. National, regional and local actors are able to use the INTERREG framework to discuss common challenges and develop shared solutions thereto.

The Secretary of State reported that the site of Redange was selected in order to highlight examples of projects in the field of cooperation, as it is predominantly small municipalities which depend on functional cooperation and networking. The goal is to show how such projects may also contribute to current societal challenges, such as climate change and other environmental objectives, which will be brought sharply into focus during the Paris Climate Conference to be held in December under the Luxembourg Presidency.

The Secretary of State also cited cross-border workers, of which 170,000 leave their home countries each day to work across the border in Luxembourg, as a major challenge in corss-border cooperation for Luxembourg and the Greater Region.

The Commissioner in turn presented the INTERREG concept, describing its inception in 1990 as a community intitiative. INTERREG is today a reliable instrument in the support of cross-border cooperation, with more than €10 billion having been invested in more than 100 cooperation programmes. In addition, INTERREG does not just connect people and territories, but also stimulates job creation and growth and helps to create safer and healthier regions.

Local partners then presented three INTERREG projects focused on energy and the environment, including Pôlénergie which raises local awareness abut renewable energy sources and their uses; Vallénergie which purses cross-border activities to achieve energy self-sufficiency in the project area; and Aquafil which combines interregional activities concerning the protection and restoration of river systems. European cooperation has culminated in the establishment of several river contracts in Luxembourg.

At the first day of the conference, Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, François Bausch and European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu spoke before sessions in which the conference looked back at the history of INTERREG with a special ARTE series 'Le Dessous des Cartes'.

This was then followed by discussions concerning the behavioural dimension of international cooperation and dissemination of innovation.

The second day of the conference will focuse on territorial cooperation, through examples from West Africa and Latin America which will instigate discussions on visions for Europe and its regions. In addition to the presentation of facts and new sources of inspiration and reflection, participants will also have the opportunity to choose the winner of the "INTERREG Project Slam" with the participation of projects throughout Europe. To ensure broad participation, there will be a lively exchange and interaction with users under the official Twitter hashtag # INTERREG25.