The INTERREG IVA 2 Seas Programme is part of the European Territorial Cooperation Objective of the Cohesion Policy for the period 2007-2013. It is a crossborder cooperation Programme part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Programme supports joint crossborder cooperation projects between organisations from England, France, Belgium-Flanders and the Netherlands, under a variety of themes including Economic Development, Environment and Quality of Life.

The Joint Technical Secretariat which runs the programme on a day to day basis is directly linked to the Regional Council of Nord Pas-de-Calais which is the Managing Authority for the Programme.

The Programme has two documents of reference. The Operational Programme (OP) describes the context and priorities for cooperation. All the rules and requirements for the eligibility of a project in the Programme and for the management and implementation of approved projects are defined in the Programme Manual.

The Programme can support a wide range of organisations located in the eligible area. These can be public bodies, public equivalent bodies, not-for-profit organisations and private bodies (small and medium enterprises (SMEs)). More information about the eligibility of beneficiaries can be found in section 2 of the Programme Manual.

The Programme supports a wide variety of themes in relation to the sustainable development of the area including Economic Development, Environment and Quality of Life. You can find the Programme priorities and an indication of supported activities in the Operational Programme.

Projects can be approved as ‘strategic projects’ in the framework of the 2 Seas Programme. There is no specific Call regarding ‘strategic projects’. The calendar of the calls published on the Programme website applies. It is the authorities responsible for the Programme who will decide on whether a project is a ‘strategic project’ or not. This will be during its evaluation after submission. More information about the procedures and potential themes can be found in the Key Info on ‘Strategic projects’.

The authorities responsible for the Programme have decided not to develop micro-projects in the framework of the 2 Seas Programme. However, there is no minimum size for a project and smaller organisations are of course welcome in the Programme.