On the 21 september the third call Interreg Central Europe has been launched. Around 60 million EUR are available for new, transnational cooperation ideas for supporting transnational project ideas that help to improve capacities for urban and regional development in four key priority areas.

The Interreg CE Programme supports regional cooperation among nine central European countries. The overall objective of the programme is “to cooperate beyond borders to make central European cities and regions better places to live and work” by implementing smart solutions answering to regional challenges in the fields of innovation, low-carbon economy, environment. Differently from previous calls (2015-2016) this third call for proposals will be better targeted on priority axes with specific objectives.

More specifically:

Axes 1 – innovation 

• Specific objectives. To improve sustainable linkages among actors of the innovation systems for strengthening regional innovation capacity in central Europe.

Target focus:

• Bottom-up implementation of smart specialisation strategies (RIS3) in industrial sectors that are technology priority areas in central Europe 1 ·
• Triple and quadruple helix approaches to strengthen the participation of public and civil society actors (in particular RIS3 key actors) ·
• Innovative practices such as open innovation and co-creation approaches involving e.g. the creative sector (overlaps with SO 3.2 targeting cultural and creative industries have to be avoided). ·
• Actions for bringing innovation closer to the market such as financing mechanisms for market introduction and leverage of innovation

• Specific objectives: To improve skills and entrepreneurial competences for advancing economic and social innovation in central European regions

Target focus:

Social innovation and integration of disadvantaged groups and regions

• Bottom-up social innovation practices creating and strengthening support infrastructure, services and schemes (e.g. mentoring, community-owned initiatives, services of general interest)
• Integration of migrants and other disadvantaged groups into society and the labour market
• Innovation of social policies (e.g. tackling policy related challenges, policy improvements and coordination)
• Development of entrepreneurial competences for social entrepreneurship (including entrepreneurship of migrants) and entrepreneurship aiming to create positive social effects

Axes 2- Low carbon strategies

• Specific objectives: To develop and implement solutions for increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy usage in public infrastructures

Target focus:

Energy efficiency and renewable energy usage in public infrastructure other than public buildings and streetlights:

• Transport infrastructure including railway, road, waterways, terminals etc. (overlaps with Priority Axis 4 have to be avoided) ·
• Water infrastructure including distribution and maintenance of water supply
• Waste and waste water infrastructure including collection and treatment
• ICT infrastructure including data storage and distribution systems
• Financing aspects of energy-efficient renovation
• Integration of renewable energy sources

• Specific objectives: To improve territorially based low-carbon energy planning strategies and policies supporting climate change mitigation

Axis 3 – Natural and cultural resources

• Specific objectives: To improve integrated environmental management capacities for the protection and sustainable use of natural heritage and resources
• Specific objectives: To improve capacities for the sustainable use of cultural heritage and resources

Target focus:

• Cultural and creative industries (CCI) including: · CCI entrepreneurship · CCI policies · cross-sectorial cooperation and linkages of CCI to other sectors or innovative technologies
• Specific objectives: To improve environmental management of functional urban areas to make them more liveable places

Axis 4 – Transport

• Specific objectives: To improve planning and coordination of regional passenger transport system for better connections to national and European transport networks
• Specific objectives: To improve coordination among freight transport stakeholders for increasing multi-modal environmentally-friendly freight solutions

Projects supported shall deliver concrete and visible outputs and results in response to well-identified challenges of the programme area and addressing development needs in an integrated manner. Projects focusing on purely academic cooperation or basic research or aiming at mere networking and exchanging of experience and/or not demonstrating the translation of outputs arising from “soft” actions (surveys, studies, etc.) into concrete and sustainable results will not be supported by the Interreg CE Programme.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are:

„. National, regional and local public bodies (including EGTCs in the meaning of Article 2(16) of Regulation (EU) No

1303/2013);

„. Private institutions, including private companies, having legal personality;

„. International organisations acting under the national law of any CENTRAL EUROPE Member State or, with restrictions,

under international law

The CENTRAL EUROPE programme area includes all regions from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as eight Länder from Germany (Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen) and nine regions from Italy (Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia,Liguria, Lombardia, Piemonte, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto).

Partnership

Projects supported must involve in the partnership at least three financing partners, from at least three countries and being at least two of the partners located in CENTRAL EUROPE regions.

Applicants located outside the programme area but within the EU can also apply for funding as project partners. Please note that ERDF allocated to a single project for such partners, together with the ERDF spent outside the programme area, cannot exceed 20 % of the total ERDF contribution to such project. The involvement of partners from EU regions outside the programme area shall bring a clear benefit to the regions of the programme area. Their involvement is considered as exceptional and must be duly justified.

The recommended maximum size of a partnership should not exceed 12 partners. The recommended project duration is from 24 to a maximum of 36 months, taking into account that the latest possible end date for a project is 31 December 2021.

Cofinancing

The following co-financing rates apply:

„. Up to 85 %for applicants of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia;

„. Up to 80 % for applicants of Austria, Germany, Italy.

Budget

The programme will allocate around 60m EUR ERDF to the third call for proposals. 20 millions euros for priority 1,3,4 and 10 mil for priority 2.

Project proposals must be submitted at the latest by Thursday, 25 January 2018 at 18:00 CET.