What is NEXT? It’s both a title, and the name of a new generation of programmes. It’s the title of the Annual Conference of the ENI CBC community, which is taking place in Brussels today and tomorrow. And it’s the name chosen for the third cycle of programmes at the external EU borders in the period 2021-2027: the “Interreg NEXT (Neighbourhood External) programming”.

Around 200 people – both from EU Member States and Partner Countries – have convened at the Square Brussels Convention Centre for the conference organised by the European Commission with TESIM support.

Beside the official welcoming of the ENI CBC community into the Interreg family, the agenda is focusing on the post-2020 CBC strategic programming, in the framework of the European Neighbourhood and the Cohesion policy. the Conference is expected to offer the opportunity to discuss and exchange views among participants, but also to raise awareness of the need to already start the programming process, focusing on coordination with other EU instruments.

During the event the European Commission will present its draft Joint paper to provide strategic orientations on the future programmes, including policy objectives, themes and possible scenarios for geography. In the framework of five geographical clusters, the representatives of programmes and participating countries will be invited to share their observations on key aspects, like the policy context, the proposed scenarios and the lessons learnt from previous CBC programmes. The overall aim is to build the ground for a solid programming process.

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Press release

ENI CBC Med – Cooperating across borders in the Mediterranean