Regional Projects South
EU cooperation with partners on a regional basis, as well as cooperation among the partners themselves, is considered important. It complements national assistance programmes, addresses challenges with a regional dimension and promotes cooperation among partners on issues of mutual interest.
Issues such as protection of the environment, tackling sea pollution, fighting organized crime and terrorism, and gender support are cross-cutting and have no borders. They can only be tackled through cooperation at a regional level.
The priority areas for regional co-operation with the South have been defined in the European Commission’s Regional Strategy Paper (2007-2013) and Regional Indicative Programme (2007-2010) for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
Funding of about €333 million has been earmarked for 2007-2010.
The main cooperation fields with the South were defined since the start of the Euro-Med Partnership and the
The projects are funded by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), the main financial mechanism through which assistance is given to European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries, plus
The overall allocation for the ENPI, managed by DG EuropeAid, is almost €12 billion for the period 2007-2013. Around 90 percent of ENPI funds will be used for bilateral actions, that is country initiatives and regional actions involving two or more partner countries, while the remaining 10 percent will be allocated to Cross-Border Cooperation and the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).
