Building on a successful pilot action from 2014-2020, the Commission proposes to create the Interregional Innovative Investments. Regions with matching ‘smart specialisation’ assets will be given more support to build pan-European clusters in priority sectors such as big data, circular economy, advanced manufacturing or cybersecurity.
For cross-border cooperation, the regions to be supported by the ERDF shall be the NUTS level 3 regions of the Union along all internal and external land borders with third countries or partner countries. Regions on maritime borders which are connected over the sea by a fixed link shall also be supported under cross-border cooperation.
Specific objectives under PO4:
- enhancing the effectiveness of labour markets and improving access to Quality employment across borders;
- improving access to and the quality of education, training and lifelong Learning across borders with a view to increasing the educational attainment and skills
- levels thereof as to be recognised across borders;
- enhancing the equal and timely access to quality, sustainable and affordable healthcare services across borders;
- improving accessibility, effectiveness and resilience of healthcare systems and long-term care services across borders;
- promoting social inclusion and tackling poverty, including by enhancing equal opportunities and combating discrimination across borders.
Proposals should focus also on:
- Enhance the institutional capacity of public authorities, in particular those mandated to manage a specific territory, and of stakeholders;
- Enhance efficient public administration by promoting legal and
- administrative cooperation and cooperation between citizens and institutions, in particular, with a view to resolving legal and other obstacles in border regions;