Questions and Answers on the EU Cohesion policy legislative package 2021-2027

What is new for Cohesion policy under the next long-term EU budget?

The EU legislative package on Cohesion Policy for 2021-2027 has entered into force on 1st July. Many are the novelties compared to the previous programming period. The European Commission welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament of the political agreements on the legislative package of €373 billion and its signature by both co-legislators.

The new Common Provisions Regulation provides a joint legal framework for eight shared management funds: the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, and the European Social Fund Plus, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, the Just Transition Fund, and financial rules for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Border Management and Visa Instrument and the Internal Security Fund.

With a budget of €8.1 billion, the 6th generation of Interreg continues to shape territorial cooperation across Europe for all its different strands (cross border, transnational and interregional). It covers the cooperation at external borders of the Union, benefiting from the support of external instruments (such as the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance – IPA and the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – NDICI) and sets up a new strand dedicated to reinforcing the regional cooperation of outermost regions.

The European Commission has preapred a factsheet to concisely explain the main changes of the new programming period, visit the dedicated webpage to learn more.