The former period of Structural Funds programmes and instruments came to its end in December 2006. In the new EU programming period of 2007-2013, the structure for interregional cooperation will be changed and it will be part of the new European Territorial Cooperation. European Territorial Cooperation will be not any more a Community Initiative, but an Objective in its own right, next to the Convergence and the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objectives. The Objective will have three strands: cross border (ex-Interreg IIIA), trans-national (ex Interreg IIIB) and interregional (ex Interreg IIIC, etc). Four different interregional programmes will exist, based on the experience of the current period: a successor programme of INTERREG IIIC, the URBACT, the INTERACT and the ESPON. In May the future budget of the EU for the 2007-2013 period was adopted. On 4 July the European Parliament adopted the legislative package for the new Cohesion Policy 2007-2013. In the middle of 2007 the new application round starts for interregional programs.

The Interregional Cooperation becomes more important in the new policy as it seems now, however the fundings are limited and compared to the other areas, much lower and the topics will be more specific. The topics for interregional cooperation defined by the European Commission and adopted by the European Parliament are the following:

• Innovation and the knowledge economy

  Future calls for applications may be based on specific themes such as: Technological Innovation, Research & Development in Regional Development, SMEs and Entrepreneurship and Clean Technologies.

This topic is based on the Lisbon Strategy. The Lisbon Strategy was adopted in March 2000 and aims to make the EU the most dynamic and competitive economy by 2010. Key areas of the Lisbon Strategy are: effective internal market, free & fair trade, better regulation, improving European infrastructure, investing in R&D, boosting innovation, creating a strong industrial base, more and better jobs, adaptable workforce and better education and skills. 

• Environment and risk prevention

  Under this topic future calls for applications may be based on specific themes such as: Environment, Risk prevention, Energy efficiency and biodiversity, Prevention of fires and floods and Protection of natural heritage.

This second topic is based on the Gothenburg Strategy. This strategy added in 2001 an environmental dimension to the Lisbon Strategy. It is designed to be a catalyst for policy makers and public opinion, to change society's behaviour. 

The Centurio Interreg IIIC Programme, in which the AER was the Lead Partner, reached its end in December 2006. The AER intends to submit a new application in the framework of the new EU interregional programmes. Both in the structure and in the participants there will be changes based on the experiences gained within the current programming period.