Brussels, 28/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - With more than €104 million out of a total of €223 million earmarked from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the support for innovative activities constitutes the main investment from the Interreg V-A cross-border cooperation programme between France and the United Kingdom, adopted by the European Commission on Wednesday 28 October.
Together with the EUROPE 2020 Strategy, this programme also seeks to support high added value innovative sectors by developing research programmes of excellence throughout the cross-border region and beyond certain regions restricted to the southeast of England. Moreover, Interreg also includes a support section on research and development programmes for regional SMEs whose levels have been identified as below the European average.
The cross-border programme also includes two other sections. One has a budget for €41.9 million and seeks to support the transition to a low carbon emissions economy by strengthening the regional renewable energy sector through the introduction of new technologies and supporting research programmes in this field.
The third and final priority has an allocation of almost €63 million and seeks to improve the attractiveness of the regions involved by way of promoting the advantages of cultural and environmental heritage, with an emphasis on the protection of coastal ecosystems and transitional waters or the surface waters close to semi-salty and semi-freshwater river openings. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)