PRESENTATION IN MAURITANIA OF THE NEW INTERREG MAC PROJECTS

On 20 February 2025, the conference for the presentation of the projects approved in the 1st Interreg MAC (Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands) call for proposals was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The conference was held within the framework of the strategic project ATLANTE, approved by the Interreg MAC programme to support and boost cooperation with the programme’s African partners.

The institutional opening was attended by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Spanish Ambassador, the European Union Ambassador, the Mauritanian Minister of Economy and Finance and senior officials from the Government of the Azores and the Canary Islands (Directorate General for Relations with Africa and Directorate General for European Affairs, Managing Authority of the Interreg MAC programme).

The projects were presented by representatives of the organisations responsible (main partners from the Canary Islands) together with their Mauritanian partners (universities, tourist offices, chambers of commerce, national and training institutes, etc.). The strong commitment to joint work at both the institutional and technical levels for the implementation of the projects was evident, as was the importance of the previous experience in most of the partnerships.

Nine of the ten approved projects were presented with Mauritanian partners, mainly within Priority 1 of the programme (Smart MAC) in areas such as the green and blue economy (desalination, algae, aquaculture, food security) and business competitiveness and innovation (tourism, ports, adapted training) with 2 projects also in Priority 2 (Green MAC) on renewable energies, biodiversity and green and blue infrastructures and finally a project within the framework of Priority 4 (Mobility MAC) to address the phenomenon of migration in a global manner (Observatory of mobility between the Canary Islands and Africa). The importance of the training component foreseen in most of the projects was emphasized.


RESULTS OF THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE FUTURE OF INTERREG AFTER 2027

The European Commission has called on all Interreg programmes to consult their partners, beneficiaries and citizens on how to make European territorial cooperation work better in the future period 2028-2034.

During the months of September and October 2024, the Interreg MAC programme opened a public consultation process to gather stakeholders’ views on our programme and to identify proposals for improvements to be implemented in the next programming period.

You can consult the results of the Public Consultation on the following link:
Consultation Results


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE INTERREG PROGRAMMES JOINTLY DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF INTERREG

The Interreg post-27 Harvesting Event, organised by the Interact programme together with DG Regio of the European Commission, took place in Brussels on 25-26 November. 

More than 200 representatives of the 86 Interreg territorial cooperation programmes of the European Union and the Member States discussed the seven key issues affecting the future of Interreg in the coming period 2028-2034: cooperation at the external borders of the Union, improved governance, flexibility and adaptability of the programmes, synergies and cooperation (capitalisation/macro-regional and sea basin strategies), performance-based implementation, simplified costs and other elements such as the maritime dimension of Interreg, data management, common indicators, etc. 

Furthermore, experiences have been exchanged on the public consultations carried out by the programmes on the future of Interreg and some provisional conclusions have been put forward. The work will be continued with a further pooling of experience between the Commission and the Interreg programmes in March 2025 at the Interreg GO! meeting. 

In addition to actively participating in the Harvesting Event, representatives of the Managing Authority and the Joint Secretariat of the INTERREG Madeira-Azores-Canary Islands (MAC) programme held a meeting with the other Interreg programmes of the EU’s Outermost Regions (ORs) and the European Commission at the Canary Islands Government office in Brussels. At this meeting, specific issues were discussed on the future of the Interreg ORs programmes as external borders of the Union and progress was made on the materialisation of the ERDF-NDICI funds through joint calls for proposals between the two funds.


INTERREG MAC SEMINARS IN MADEIRA AND AZORES (5 and 7 NOVEMBER 2024): LAUNCHING OF PROJECTS APPROVED UNDER THE 1ST CALL OF THE INTERREG MAC TERRITORIAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME 2021-2027

The kick-off seminars for Portuguese partners of projects approved under the 1st call of the Interreg MAC 21-27 programme will be held on 5 November in Funchal (Madeira) and 7 November in Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira).

Representatives of the Managing Authority, the Joint Secretariat and the Regional Governments of Madeira and the Azores will participate. Fundamental issues for the correct implementation and management of the approved projects will be discussed.

REGISTRATION: Please fill in the following application form until Monday 4th November, due to limited capacity.

Link registration forms:

Download the AGENDAS:


INTERREG MAC 2014-2020 DAYS: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS OF THE 2ND CALL PROJECTS

The Interreg MAC programme organises, in online format, several Seminars to present the results of the 66 projects co-financed in the framework of the 2nd call of the period 2014-2020. 

The dates of the Seminars (one for each Priority Axis) will be as follows:

- 16th April: Axis 1 (R&D&I), 20 projects.

- 23 April: Axis 2 (Competitiveness of enterprises), 14 projects.

- 7 May: Axis 3 (Climate change and risk prevention), 11 projects.

- 23 May: Axis 4 (Environment and resource efficiency), 15 projects.

- 11 June: Axis 5 (Institutional capacity and efficiency of public administrations), 6 projects.

We invite all those interested in learning about the projects developed and their results to join the online seminars. Interpretation will be available in 4 languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English and French. Attendance is free, no limits in the number of participants.

We will keep you informed about the specific agenda of each conference and the Zoom link to join.


Workshop "Single Market Programme: Opportunities for the outermost regions"

The workshop ‘’Single Market Programme: Opportunities for the outermost regions’’ will take place online:

08 February 2024

13:00–16:00 (Canary Islands, Madeira) | 12:00–15:00 (Azores)

Interpretation will be provided in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English during the event

The Single Market Programme (SMP) is the EU funding programme to help the single market reach its full potential and supports businesses, in particular Small and Medium Sized enterprises in benefitting from the Single Market and ensure Europe’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides an integrated package to support and strengthen the governance of the single market. The programme includes in some activities support to outermost regions and their integration in the internal market.

This workshop will focus on:

  • presenting the Single Market Programme and its specific opportunities for the EU Outermost Regions
  • providing recommendations on application procedures
  • sharing experiences from past beneficiaries
  • dedicating time for questions and answers

Make sure to confirm your participation by registering here and do not hesitate to share this invitation with colleagues!

Should you have any questions, please reach us out at OMRevents@ecorys.com

This information has been sent by Ecorys on behalf of the DG REGIO