Brussels, 08/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 September, the European Commission adopted the 2014-2020 cross border cooperation programme for Hungary and Croatia. It has a total budget of €73.9 million, with €60.8 million coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The programme aims to strengthen economic ties between the two countries and preserve the region's environment.
The programme will focus on four main areas: supporting the competitiveness of SMEs; the promotion of the sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage in the two countries; enhancing cross-border cooperation and investing in educational programmes, particularly in view of promoting mutual understanding and the expansion of a knowledge-based economy at local and cross-border levels.
Some of the objectives aim to increase the average gross value added per capita of industry and services sectors in the programme area, as well as increase annual tourist overnight stays by 88,000, the number of habitats with “A: excellent conservation” status of selected Special Bird Protection Areas from 179 to 192 and the number of educational institutions in the border region that offer courses jointly or with region or neighbouring country-specific content from 29 to 90.
The programme will affect almost 2.1 million people, 46% of whom will be in Hungary and 54% in Croatia. In addition to experiencing a difficult economic situation, the region also has had to confront a sharp demographic decline over recent years and in certain areas a fall of 12.4% in the population between 2001 and 2011. Around 16,000 Croats live in the Hungarian region targeted by the programme and around 14,000 Hungarians live in the Croatian border region. (Pascal Hansens)