Memo: Operational programme 2007-2013: Indian Ocean

On 27 March 2008, the European Commission approved an Operational Programme for the Indian Ocean for the period 2007-2013.

This operational programme comes under the 'European Territorial Cooperation' Objective and has a total budget of around EUR 47 million. The financing provided by the Community via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is around EUR 35 million, representing some 0.4% of total EU investment under the 'European Territorial Cooperation' objective in the context of the 2007-2013 cohesion policy.

The non-EU countries involved in this cooperation programme are all the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, in particular the countries in the South-West Indian Ocean belonging to the Indian Ocean Commission (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles), and for which the involvement of the European Development Fund (EDF) will be sought.