The European Commission (EC) is the political expression of the member states of the Union and is responsible for formulating Strategies and Policies with the main aim of improving the living conditions of Europe's citizens.

One of the Strategies developed by the EU to contribute to strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union is the Common Cohesion Policy. It aims to correct imbalances between countries and regions and addresses the Union's political priorities, in particular, green and digital transition.

The Common Cohesion Policy applies to Program Periods. From 2000 their duration lasts 7 years and so they started with the Programming Period 2000-2006, followed by 2007-2013 and a few months ago 2014-2020 was completed.

We are now going through the period 2021 - 2027 and the European Commission has modified several of its priorities compared to previous periods, to be able to meet the old and new challenges. Economic Crisis, Combating Poverty and Unemployment, Migration, Climate Change and Environmental Protection, Improving Citizens' Health, Education and Equality and many more issues that need to be confronted effectively.

To achieve the goal of a better quality of life for European citizens, the European Commission has produced the NextGenerationEu (NGEU) strategy - a recovery plan that sets out targets for the period 2019-2024. The recovery plan includes a budget of 750 billion € as part of the total European Budget of 1,824.30 billion € of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the Programming Period 2021-2027.

The priorities* set by NGEU are:

1. A more Competitive and Smarter Europe,
2. A Greener Europe, moving towards a clean zero carbon economy,
3. A more Connected Europe by enhancing mobility of citizens and goods,
4. A more Social and Inclusive Europe,
5. Europe closer to its citizens by promoting the Sustainable and Integrated Development of all its regions.

* More info can be found at ……. https://europa.eu/next-generation-eu/index_en

ProTeA PC is committed to serving European goals, believing in the vision of a United Europe that provides equal opportunities for all, and secures its citizens, guaranteeing them a better standard of living.

This is the reason for offering its specialized experience to design and implement actions that support the objectives of the Common European Cohesion Policy in general.

Implementation of the Common Cohesion Policy is also supported in the new Programming Period 2017 - 2021 by a series of financial tools, the most important of which are:

• the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which invests in the social and economic development of European Regions and Cities. It funds all 5 priorities but focuses mainly on 1 and 2.
• the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), which invests in jobs and the social inclusion of citizens. It mainly focuses on priority 4.
• the Cohesion Fund (CF), which invests in the environment and finances the transportation infrastructures of underdeveloped areas. CF mainly focuses on priorities 2 and 3.
• the Just Transition Fund (JTF), which supports the regions mostly affected by the transition to climate neutrality.

INTERREG is one of the tools used by the Union to fund the European Territorial Cooperation Strategy (ETC-European Territorial Cooperation), especially to support the interregional and cross-border cooperation of its members, but also with regional, neighboring countries that do not belong to the European Union.
Therefore, in the period 2021 - 2027, Interreg will continue to strengthen proposals that respond to and support the Cohesion Policy of the European Union, through the 3 strands of cooperation: Cross-border (Interreg A), Transnational (Interreg B) and Interregional (Interreg B).
Finally, Interreg has additional tools for cooperation with neighboring countries such as Interreg NEXT, Interreg Outmost Regions and Interreg IPA, through which it builds relationships of mutual trust and cooperation with Europe's neighbors.

With emphasis and experience in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Environment, Transport, Energy and Sustainable Regional Development, ProTeA executives are constantly available to support Local and Regional actors in their needs, designing, developing, and implementing appropriate Projects, within the Programmes of the above European Funds tools.