The Conference of the Italian regions and autonomous provinces has expressed its support to the ENI CBC Med Programme in a common position transmitted to the government, as key document for the negotiations on the post 2020 regulatory framework.

On 20 of September 2018, the Conference of the Italian regions and autonomous provinces issued a common position on the future of European Territorial Cooperation for the period 2021-2027, as defined in the draft INTERREG Regulation.

The document, transmitted by Mr. Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna region, to Ms. Barbara Lezzi, Minister for the South, and Ms. Erika Stefani, Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies, provides an overview of the main critical issues identified in the European Commission's proposal and formulates specific recommendations to the Italian government to support the upcoming negotiations within the EU institutions (European Parliament and the Council) on the INTERREG Regulation.

Concerning the potential integration of internal and external cooperation, the Italian regions and provinces have highlighted that “the model of cooperation envisaged in the proposed INTERREG Regulation foresees an orientation that risks canceling the specificities, in terms of strategic objectives and technical modalities, which have so far characterized the ENI CBC programmes and have made their effective implementation possible.”

“In defining the future programmes, it is important to safeguard the continuity of the current cooperation areas, and with it, the value of the past experience and of the results achieved, making sure that the institutional networks between governmental and local actors can continue to find in the programmes a privileged framework for multi-level and multi-thematic cooperation, based on the principles of differentiation, joint ownership and flexibility that inspired the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2015,” adds the document.

The common position of the Italian regions and provinces goes hand in hand with that of the 13 countries participation in the ENI CBC Med Programme, as recently expressed in a joint letter addressed to the European Commission and the European External Action Service.

Read the common position of the Conference of the Italian regions and autonomous provinces

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