The Interreg program Greece - Bulgaria
General Information on the Interreg Program "Greece - Bulgaria 2014 - 2020"
The European Territorial Cooperation Program "Greece - Bulgaria 2014 - 2020" was approved by the European Commission on 09/09/2015 with Decision C(2015)6283.
The total budget (ERDF and National contribution) for the European Territorial Cooperation Program "Greece - Bulgaria 2014 - 2020" amounts to 130,262,836.00 euros. The total funding consists of €110,723,408 (85%) ERDF funding and €19,539,428 (15%) National contribution.
The eligible area of the Program consists of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Prefectures of Evros, Kavala, Xanthi, Rhodope and Drama) and the Region of Central Macedonia (Provinces of Thessaloniki and Serres) in Greece and the Region of South - Central Planning and the Region of South – Western Planning District (Blagoevgrad, Smolyan, Kardjali and Haskovo districts) in Bulgaria.
Greece-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Area of the Programming Period 2014 - 2020
The area of cross-border cooperation between Greece and Bulgaria for the programming period 2014-2020 is identical to the current ETC program. It extends over 40,202 km2 and has a total population of 2.7 million inhabitants. It covers four territorial units at NUTS II level (Regions) and 11 territorial units at NUTS III level (Regional Units). The eligible area spans the entire Greek-Bulgarian border and borders Turkey (to the east) and the Republic of North Macedonia (to the west), two countries aspiring to gain access to the EU. It forms part of the EU's most south-eastern non-island region and lies between in three seas: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian-Adriatic Sea. Finally, it is at the crossroads of strategic fossil fuel pipelines that feed the EU market and European transport axes.
The residential structure of the region is characterized by the presence of 10 medium-large cities (>50,000 inhabitants) that gather 38.2% of the total population and 25 small cities (10,000 – 50,000 inhabitants).
Despite the historically relatively small amounts of funds allocated, there is a long history of cooperation in the eligible area, which began with the Community initiative INTERREG I (1989 – 1993).
The priority axes of the Program are:
- PA 1: Promotion of competitiveness and entrepreneurship in the cross-border area
- PA 2: Sustainable and climate adaptable cross-border area
- PA 3: Better interconnection in the cross-border area
- PA 4: Cross-border area without social exclusion
- PA 5: Technical Assistance
This website was created in the framework of the project «Support of Entrepreneurship in the Field of In-House Processing of Quality Farm Products in the Districts of Evros, Haskovo, Smolyan and Kardzhali» with the acronym Qualfarm and was financed by the Cooperation Program INTERREG V-A Greece - Bulgaria 2014-2020 with the grant agreement No.B6.3a.04/15.06.2021. Only the Public Cooperative Evros S.A. is responsible for this content and in no way expresses the views of the European Union, the participating countries, the Administrative Authority and the General Secretariat.