Memo: Belgium, France, the Netherlands and United Kingdom – Operational Programme 2007-13: Two Seas Cross-border Co-operation Programme

On 19 September 2008 the European Commission approved a Cross-border Co-operation Operational Programme between Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for the period 2007-13. This programme involves Community support for the following regions: Nord and Pas de Calais (France); Norfolk, Suffolk, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock, Essex CC, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex CC, West Sussex, Portsmouth, Southampton, Hampshire CC, Isle of Wight, the Medway Towns, Kent CC, Bournemouth and Poole, Dorset CC, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Plymouth, Torbay, Devon CC (United Kingdom); the districts of Antwerpen, Brugge, Oostende, Veurne, Eeklo, Gent, Sint-Niklaas (Belgium); Delft en Westland, Groot-Rijnmond, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Overig Zeeland and West-Noord-Brabant (Netherlands).

The regions of Somme and Aisne (France), Somerset, Wiltshire CC, Surrey and Cambridgeshire CC (United Kingdom), Diksmuide, Ieper, Kortrijk, Roeselare and Tielt (Province of West-Vlaanderen), Aalst, Dendermonde, Oudenaarde (Province of Oost-Vlaanderen), Mechelen, and Turnhout (Province of Antwerpen) in Belgium, and Zuid-Oost Zuid-Holland (Province of Zuid-Holland) in the Netherlands, which are eligible to participate in the projects as adjacent areas, receive a maximum of 20% of the ERDF funding allocated to the programme.

The total budget of the Programme is about €295 million, with Community assistance through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) amounting to some €167 million. This represents approximately 1.9% of the total EU investment earmarked for the European Territorial Co-operation Objective under the Cohesion Policy 2007-13.