The European Commission has approved the allocation of €320 million for cross-border cooperation between Portugal and Spain, in what is the largest program of its kind in the European Union for the period of 2021-2027.
In a statement, the community executive points out that the program, called Interreg Spain-Portugal (POCTEP), “will create jobs, stimulate the climate and energy transition and provide better health care for people living in these cross-border regions”.
According to the European Commission, “the program will support cross-border cooperation through networks between small and medium-sized enterprises to improve research and knowledge transfer”, “will finance projects to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings” and “will also support sustainable tourism development, the preservation of cultural heritage, better health infrastructure and professional training for people living in the cross-border region”.
Regional cooperation
“I am pleased to see that Europe’s largest cross-border cooperation program has been approved. Many of the challenges that Europe’s regions currently face can only be addressed through greater regional cooperation”, commented the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, according to which “the POCTEP program exploits the full potential of cooperation between the border regions of Spain and Portugal”.
This news story by HPN/Lusa has been originally published on The Portugal News.
