         Interreg VI
-A Greece
-Italy Programme 2021
-2027 Interreg VI
-A Greece
-Italy 
2021-2027   D.5.3
. Final Version of the Cooperation Programme 
     Page 
2 of 
122  CONTENTS  1. 
 Joint Programme 
Strategy: Main Development Challenges and Policy Responses
 .... 6 1.1. Programme Area (not required for Interreg C programmes)
 .......................... 7 1.2.  Joint Programme Strategy: Summary of Main Joint Challenges, taking into account 
economic, social and territorial disparities
, as well as inequalities, Joint 
Investment Needs and Complimentary and Synergies with other Funding 
Programmes and Instruments, Lessons
-learnt from Past Experience and Macro
-regional Strategies and Sea
-basin Strategies where the Programme Area as a whole 
or partially is covered by one or more strategies
 ....................................... 8 1.3.  Justification for the Selection of Policy Objectives and the Interreg Spec
ific 
Objectives, corresponding Priorities, Specific Objectives and the forms of support, 
addressing, where appropriate, missing links in cross
-border infrastructure
 .... 39 2. Priorities
 ........................................................................................... 57 Priority 1: Enhanced cooperation for a more competitive and smarter GR
-IT area
 .... 57 Priority 2: Enhanced cooperation for a greener and low carbon GR
-IT area
 ............ 69 Priority 3
: Enhanced cooperation for a more social and inclusive GR
-IT area
 ........... 80 Priority 4: Enhanced governance for cooperation in the 
GR-IT area
 ...................... 92 3. Financing plan
 .................................................................................... 99 3.1.  Financial appropriations by year
 ........................................................ 99 3.2.  Total financial appropriations by fund and national co
-financing
 ................. 100 4. Action taken to involve the relevant programme partners in the preparation of the 
Interreg programme and the role of those programme partners in the 
implementation, monitoring and evaluation
 .............................................. 101 5. 
 Approach to communication and visibility for the Interreg programme (objectives, 
target audiences, communication channels, including social media 
outreach, where 
appropriate, planned budget and relevant indicators for monitoring and evaluation)
 ...................................................................................................... 105 6. 
 Indication of support to s
mall
-scale projects, including small projects within small 
project funds
 ..................................................................................... 109 7. 
 Implementing provisions
 ....................................................................... 110 7.1.  Programme authorities
 ................................................................... 110 7.2.  Procedure for setting up the joint secretariat
 ....................................... 111 7.3.  Apportionment of liabilities among participating Member States and where 
applicable, the third or partner countries and OCTs, in the event of financial 
corrections imposed by the managing authority or the Commission
 .............. 112 8. 
 Use of unit costs, lump sums, flat rates and financing not linked to costs
 .......... 114 ANNEX 1. Map of the Programme Area
 ........................................................... 115 ANNEX 2. SWOT Analysis of the Programme Area
 ............................................. 116 ANNEX 3. Appendix 3 (Interreg Regulation)
 ............. Errore. Il segnalibro non ‘ definito.
! Interreg VI
-A Greece
-Italy 2021
-2027   D.5.
3. Final Version of the Cooperation Programme 
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3 of 
122  TABLE WITH 
ABBREVIATIONS
  CCIs
 Cultural and Creative Industries
 CSF
 Common Strategic Framework 
 DESI
 Digital Economy and Society Index
 EC European Commission
 EGTC
 European Grouping of 
Territorial Cooperation
 ENI European Neighbourhood Instrument
 ERDF European Regional Development Fund
 EURCI European Regional Competitiveness Index 
 EUSAIR
 EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region
 GDP
 Gross Domestic Product
 GVA
 Gross Value 
Added
 IPs
 Investment Priorities
 ICT
 Information and Communications Technologies
 IPA
 Instrument for Pre
-Accession
 ISO
 Interreg Specific Objective
 JPC
 Joint Programming Committee
 JS Joint Secretariat
 MIS
 Management Information System
 MA Managing Authority
 MSME
 Micro, Small
- and Medium
-Sized Enterprise
 NEETs Not in Education, Employment, or Training
 PA  Priority Axis
 PC Programming Committee
 PO Policy Objective
 PPS Purchasing Power Standards
 ROP
 Regional Operational 
Programme
 RII
 Regional Innovation Index
 RIS3
 Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation
 RCI Regional Competitiveness Index
 SGIs
 Services of General Interest
 SME
 Small
- and Medium
-Sized Enterprise
 SO Specific Objective
 Interreg VI
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-Italy 2021
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122  INTRODUCTION
  The present deliverable D.3 is the second version (V1.1) of the final Cooperation Programme 
that will be submitted to the members of the Programming Committee for further 
comments, prior to the final submission to the EC.
 More specifically, t
he deliverable presents the final version of the Cooperation Programme 
which includes all the chapters of the Cooperation Programme taking into consideration the 
results of the first and the second round of Public Consultations as well as the decisions 
taken by the Programming Committee and other processes. More specifically (in 
chronological order): 
 "!The decisions of the 1
st Programming Committee that took place on 3
rd July 2020 
whereby the Rules of Procedure (RoPs) were approved and a first discussion was
 held 
with regard to the key characteristics of the new programming period on the basis of 
the Orientation Paper that was published by the Commission, as well as the possible 
territorial enlargement of the eligible area of the programme to include the regi
ons of 
Basilicata and Calabria. 
 "!The decisions of the 2
nd Programming Committee that was held on 9
th December 2020 
whereby the initiation of the 1
st Round of Public Consultations in a form of a web
-survey (google forms) was decided on the basis of the amen
ded versions of the 
submitted questionnaires for categories A, B and C.The Programming Committee 
approved the territorial analysis of the intermediate deliverable ID1.2 Ò1st Draft of 
the Cooperation Programme Interreg Greece 
Ð Italy 2021
-2027Ó (V1.2)and it
 was agreed 
to follow a bottom
-up approach in the selection of the ProgrammeÕs Policy Objectives 
and Specific Objectives considering also the results that will come out of the 
consultation. 
 "!The results that came out from the 1
st Round of Public Consultati
ons that took place 
between 28/12/2020 and 15/01/2021 and it was further extended until 29/01/2020. 
Such results are being included in the intermediate deliverable ID1.4 ÒFirst Round of 
the Public Consultations in the form of a Web
-SurveyÓ that was submitt
ed on 09/02/21.
 "!The discussions and decisions of the 3
rd Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 04/03/2021. The results that were presented by the consultant as per deliverable 
ID1.2 Ò1st Draft of the Cooperation Programme Interreg Greece 
Ð Italy 20
21-2027Ó that 
formed an updated version on the basis of the results of the Public Consultation, 
including an amended territorial analysis and intervention logic on the basis of the 
discussion and comments of the previous PC. The decision of the PC with reg
ard to the 
defined Policy Objectives and more particularly the selection of the following: PO1, 
PO2, PO4 and ISO1. 
 "!The results of the 2
nd Round of of
 Public Consultations that took place between 
15/04/21 and 14/05/21 as per the decision of the previous PC and was extended to 
04/06/2021. During this period, a web
-survey, two workshops and a number of targeted 
interviews with selected stakeholders took p
lace. The results are included in the Ò2nd 
Consultations ReportÓ that was submitted to the members of the PC on 22/06/21. 
 "!The discussions and decisions of the 4
th Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 14/07/2021. During the PC the consultant prese
nted the first final version of the 
Cooperation Programme as per the intermediate deliverable ID3.1. It was decided that 
the draft will be updated on the basis of a number of interventions and comments put 
forward by the members, in order to be sent for wr
itten procedure for further 
comments prior to the final submission to the Commission.
 Interreg VI
-A Greece
-Italy 2021
-2027   D.5.
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122  "!The discussions and decisions of the 5
th Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 23/09/2021. The draft Final Version of the Programme Document was presented by 
the consultant and the PC elaborated on it, especially in terms of indicative actions per 
SO, budget allocation among PAs/SOs, governance issues and indicators.
 "!The discussions and decisions of the 6
th Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 21/10/2021. The updated Final Version of the Programme Document was presented 
by the consultant and the PC elaborated on it, especially in terms of budget allocation 
among PAs/SOs, and the potential use of Sma
ll Projects / Small Project Fund as well as 
Simplified Cost Options (SCOs).
 "!The discussions and decisions of the 7
th Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 
14/12/2021. The updated Final Version of the Programme Document was presented 
by the consulta
nt and the PC elaborated on it, especially in terms
 of 
common actions 
on 
strategic proposals, 
national co
-financing rates
 and common
 indicators
.  "!The discussions and decisions of the 
8th Programming Committee (PC) that took place 
on 22/03/2022. The updated Final Version of the Programme Document was presented 
by the 
Managing Authority 
and the PC elaborated on it, especially in terms of
 justification on the use of financial instruments
, technical assistance arrangement sand 
next steps for the final submission of the Programme. 
  The chapters of the Programming Document follow the template included in the Interreg 
Regulation
1 and are as follows:
  1.!JOINT
 PROGRAMME
 STRATEGY:
 MAIN
 DEVELOPMENT
 CHALLENGES
 AND POLICY
 RESPONSES
 2.!PRIORITIES
 3.!FINANCING
 PLAN
 4.!ACTION
 TAKEN TO INVOLVE
 THE RELEVANT
 PROGRAMME
 PARTNERS
 IN THE PREPARATION
 OF THE INTERREG
 PROGRAMME
 AND THE ROLE
 OF THOSE
 PROGRAMME
 PARTNERS
 IN THE IMPLEMENTATION,
 MONITORING
 AND EVALUATION
 5.!APPROACH
 TO COMMUNICATION
 AND VISIBILITY
 FOR
 THE INTERREG
 PROGRAMME
 (OBJECTIVES,
 TARGET AUDIENCES,
 COMMUNICATION
 CHANNELS,
 INCLUDING
 SOCIAL
 MEDIA
 OUTREACH,
 WHERE
 APPROPRIATE,
 PLANNED
 BUDGET AND RELEVANT
 INDICATORS
 FOR
 MONITORING
 AND EVALUATION)
 6.!INDICATION
 OF SUPPOR
T TO SMALL
-SCALE
 PROJECTS,
 INCLUDING
 SMALL
 PROJECTS
 WITHIN
 SMALL
 PROJECT
 FUNDS 7.!IMPLEMENTING
 PROVISIONS
 8.!USE OF UNIT
 COSTS,
 LUMP
 SUMS,
 FLAT
 RATES AND FINANCING
 NOT
 LINKED
 TO COSTS.
                                              1 Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on specific provisions 
for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) supported by the European Regional Development Fund 
and external financing instruments 
(published in OJ L 231, 30.6.2021)
 Interreg VI
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-Italy 2021
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122  COOPERATION
 PROGRAMME
 INTERREG
 VI-A GREECE-ITALY
 2021-2027 !CCI 
  Title 
 Interreg V
!-A Greece
-Italy
 Version 
 V1.2
 First year 
 2021  Last year 
 2027 Eligible from 
  Eligible until 
  Commission decision number 
  Commission decision date 
  Programme amending decision 
number 
  Programme amending decision 
entry into force date 
  NUTS regions covered by the 
programme 
 EL541 
"#$%
, &#'()*%
 (Arta/Arta, Preveza) 
 EL542 
+),-#.$/%
 (Thesprotia)
 EL543 
!.01121%
 (Ioannina) 
 EL621 
30451678
 (Zakynthos) 
 EL622 
9'#45#%
 (Kerkyra) 
 EL623 
!604:
, 9);%<7120
 (Ithaki Kefallinia, Kefall
7nia) 
 EL624 
=)540>%
 (Lefkada) 
 EL631 
?2$.<7%4%#1%1/%
 (Aitoloakarnania) 
 EL632 
?@%A%
 (Achaia) 
 EL633 
B<)/%
 (Ileia) 
 ITF43 Taranto 
 ITF44 Brindisi
 ITF45 Lecce 
 ITF46 Foggia 
 ITF47 Bari 
 ITF48 Barletta
-Andria
-Trani 
 ITF52 Matera 
 ITF61 Cosenza 
 ITF62 Crotone 
 ITF63 Catanzaro 
 ITF65 Reggio di Calabria
 Strand
 A 1. 
 Joint Programme Strategy: Main Development Challenges and 
Policy Responses
  Interreg VI
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122  1.1.
 Programme Area (not required for 
Interreg C programmes)
 Reference: point (a) of Article 17(3), point (a) of Article 17(9)
 Text field [2000]
  Cross-border cooperation between Greece and Italy has been consolidating over the years. 
The Programme Area has been enlarged with the 
addition of two (2) new Italian regions, 
namely Basilicata and Calabria Regions, covering eleven (11) regional units from Greece and 
eleven (11) provinces from Italy. More specifically, it embraces:
 "!Three (3) Greek Regions: 
 o!The Region of Western Greece, including the following Regional Units: 
Aitoloakarnania, Achaia, Ileia; 
 o!The Region of Ionian Islands, including the following Regional Units: Zakynthos, 
Kerkyra, Kefalonia, Lefkada; and 
 o!The Region of Epirus, including the fo
llowing Regional Units: Arta, Thesprotia, 
Ioannina, Preveza;
 "!Three (3) Italian Regions: 
 o!The Region of Puglia, including the following Provinces: Foggia, Bari, Brindisi, 
Lecce, Barletta
-Andria
-Trani (BAT) and Taranto; 
 o!The newly added Region of Basilicata,
 including the Province of Matera; and 
 o!The newly added Region of Calabria, including the following Provinces: Catanzaro, 
Cosenza, Crotone and Reggio Calabria.
 The Programme area is located in the southern part of the European Union and covers a 
territory of 59.950,83 km
2 with a total population of 7,1 million inhabitants. 
 The Programme area is clearly maritime, but we can note also a relevant presence of rural 
areas in Puglia (Murgia, Capitanata and rural area of Salento), in Matera (where the c
oastline 
is only 35 km out of the total area of 3.479 km
2). Calabria is a very mountainous area like 
Epirus and some part of Region of Western Greece (Aitoloakarnania). Calabria and Epirus are 
also linked by historical migration of the Greek
-Epirotes in Ca
labria (Cosenza).
 In the Programme area there are islands: major islands in Greece (
Kerkyra
, Lefkada, 
Kefalonia
, Zakynthos
), as well as small islands in Greece and Italy (Tremiti in Puglia, Dino 
and Cirella in Calabria 
Ð Province of Cosenza). 
    Interreg VI
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-Italy 2021
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122  1.2. 
 Joint Programme Strategy: Summary of Main Joint Challenges, 
taking into account economic, social and territorial disparities, 
as well as inequalities, Joint Investment Needs and 
Complimentary and Synergies with other Funding Programmes 
and Instruments, Lesson
s-learnt from Past Experience and 
Macro
-regional Strategies and Sea
-basin Strategies where the 
Programme Area as a whole or partially is covered by one or 
more strategies
 Reference: point (b) of Article 17(3), point (b) of Article 17(9)
 Text field [50 000]
  1.2.1.  Summary of the Main Joint Challenges 
  Demography 
 As mentioned above, the Programme area has a total population of 7,1 million inhabitants 
that is further specified per Region and Regional Unit / Province in the following table. 
 TABLE 1. Population of the Programme Area
 REGION
 REGIONAL UNIT / 
PROVINCE
 POPULATION
 TOTAL POPULATION 
PER REGION
 Western Greece
 Aitoloakarnania
 210.802
 679.796
 Achaia
 309.694
 Ileia
 159.300
 Ionian Islands
 Zakynthos
 40.759
 204.624
 Kerkyra
 104.371
 Kefalonia
 35.801
 Lefkada
 23.693
 Epirus
 Arta
 67.877
 336.856
 Thesprotia
 43.587
 Ioannina
 167.901
 Preveza
 57.491
 Puglia
 Foggia
 606.904
 3.953.305
 Bari
 1.230.205
 Brindisi
 385.235
  Lecce 782.165
 Barletta
-Andria
-Trani 
(BAT)
 384.801
 Taranto
 563.995
  Basilicata
 Matera
 194.853
 194.853
 Interreg VI
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122  REGION
 REGIONAL UNIT / 
PROVINCE
 POPULATION
 TOTAL POPULATION 
PER REGION
 Calabria
 Catanzaro
 349.344
 1.739.395
 Cosenza
 690.503
  Crotone
 168.581
 Reggio Calabria
 530.967
  TOTAL
   7.108.829
 Source: Greece 
- Census 2011, ELSTAT; Italy 
Ð Census 2019, ISTAT
  The Programme area shows a high level of ageing population, as depicted in the following 
chart. 
 CHART 
1. Population by Age Group in the Programme Area
  Source: EUROSTAT 
         Western
Greece
Ionian
Islands
Epirus
Puglia
Basilicata
Calabria
Population - ages 60+ (2019)
188.408
60.753
112.737
1.131.115
166.668
538.816
Population - ages 45-59 (2019)
137.586
45.125
68.548
901.116
129.470
425.185
Population - ages 30-44 (2019)
126.358
40.546
60.031
765.197
105.295
375.327
Population - ages 15-29 (2019)
109.734
27.740
49.348
657.540
90.775
319.901
0500.000
1.000.000
1.500.000
2.000.000
2.500.000
3.000.000
3.500.000
4.000.000
Interreg VI
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122  Moreover, as highlighted by ESPON
2, rural shrinking is widespread and long lasting in the 
macro
-region of South Europe. This is evident in the vast majority of the Italian regions of 
the Programme area (with the exception of the Provinces of Bari and 
Barletta
-Andria
-Trani), 
as well as in t
he Greek Regions of Western Greece (Regional Units of Aitoloakarnania, Ileia, 
Achaia), Epirus (Regional Units of Preveza and Arta) and Ionian Islands (Regional Unit of 
Kerkyra), as depicted in the following chart.
 CHART 2. Demographic Changes in Rural Regi
ons of the Programme Area
  Source: ESPON, ESCAPE 2020
                                               2 ESPON (2020): ÒESCAPE 
- European Shrinking Rural areas: Challenges, actions and perspectives for Territorial 
GovernanceÓ 
- Final Report
 

Interreg Italia-Grecia 2021-2027


Il programma di cooperazione transfrontaliera Grecia-Italia 2021-2027 intende migliorare la qualità della vita dei cittadini sviluppando progetti e azioni pilota per creare nuove politiche, prodotti e servizi.




Obiettivi


Scopo del programma è finanziare progetti congiunti di Italia e Grecia a sostegno di una crescita verde e digitale attraverso le prospettive offerte dalla Blue Economy.


Il programma prevede 4 priorità, articolate su diversi obiettivi specifici:


Priorità 1: Cooperazione rafforzata per un’area Grecia-Italia più competitiva e intelligente




Obiettivo specifico - sviluppare e migliorare le capacità di ricerca e innovazione e l'adozione di tecnologie avanzate


Obiettivo specifico - raccogliere i benefici della digitalizzazione per cittadini, aziende e governi


Obiettivo specifico - rafforzare la crescita e la competitività delle PMI e creare posti di lavoro 





Priorità 2: Cooperazione rafforzata per un’area Grecia-Italia più verde e a basse emissioni di carbonio




Obiettivo specifico - promuovere la resilienza, l'adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici e la prevenzione di catastrofi, tenendo conto degli approcci ecosistemici


Obiettivo specifico - promuovere la transizione verso un'economia circolare ed efficiente sotto il profilo delle risorse


Obiettivo specifico - migliorare la protezione e la conservazione della natura, della biodiversità e delle infrastrutture verdi (comprese le aree urbane) e la riduzione di ogni forma di inquinamento




Priorità 3: Cooperazione rafforzata per un’area Grecia-Italia più sociale e inclusiva




Obiettivo specifico - migliorare la parità di accesso a servizi inclusivi e di qualità per l'istruzione, la formazione e l'apprendimento permanente attraverso lo sviluppo di infrastrutture accessibili (anche attraverso l'istruzione e la formazione a distanza e online)


Obiettivo specifico - garantire la parità di accesso all'assistenza sanitaria e promuovere la resilienza dei sistemi sanitari, comprese le cure primarie


Obiettivo specifico - rafforzare il ruolo della cultura e del turismo sostenibile nello sviluppo economico, nell'inclusione sociale e nell'innovazione sociale




Priorità 4: Governance rafforzata per la cooperazione nell’area Grecia-Italia




Obiettivo specifico - rafforzare la capacità istituzionale delle autorità pubbliche, in particolare quelle incaricate di gestire uno specifico territorio, e tutte le parti interessate


Obiettivo specifico - migliorare la capacità istituzionale delle autorità pubbliche e delle parti interessate per attuare strategie macroregionali e strategie per i bacini marittimi, nonché altre strategie territoriali strategie




Il programma finanzierà interventi in diversi ambiti, tra cui: turismo, Industria 4.0, blue economy, green economy, energia, trasporti, ecc



Beneficiari


Gli interventi previsti nell'ambito delle 4 priorità del programma coinvolgeranno diversi soggetti (target group), tra cui:




imprese, imprenditori, organizzazioni di supporto al business


università, enti di istruzione superiore, ricercatori


soggetti pubblici


policy maker


società civile, cittadini, organizzazioni ambientaliste


ecc




Maggiori dettagli sui beneficiari saranno indicati nei bandi per la presentazione delle proposte progettuali.


Territorio


L’area del programma comprende:


per la Grecia




Regione della Grecia occidentale: Aitoloakarnania, Achaia, Ileia;


Regione delle Isole Ionie: Zante, Kerkyra, Cefalonia, Lefkada;


Regione dell'Epiro: Arta, Thesprotia, Ioannina, Preveza;




per l’Italia




Regione Puglia: Foggia, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT) e Taranto;


Regione Basilicata: Matera;


Regione Calabria: Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone e Reggio Calabria.




Budget


Il programma può contare su un budget di oltre 106 milioni di euro per il periodo 2021-2027.


Interreg Italia-Grecia 2021-2027


Il programma di cooperazione transfrontaliera Grecia-Italia 2021-2027 intende migliorare la qualità della vita dei cittadini sviluppando progetti e azioni pilota per creare nuove politiche, prodotti e servizi.

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