Ukraine: Commission proposes flexibilities allowing to continue European Neighbourhood cross border and Interreg transnational cooperation programmes

The Commission will 100% co-finance the cross-border programmes with Ukraine and Moldova to help implementing the cooperation projects disrupted by the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, cross border cooperation programmes between Member States, Ukraine and Moldova have faced serious disruptions. With its proposal, the Commission introduces more flexible conditions to implement these EU-funded programmes which are crucial to support local schools, hospitals, social care and institutions (e.g., SOS rescue project on PL-UA border). Moreover, projects with Ukraine and Moldova addressing migratory challenges would also be retroactively eligible from 24 February 2022, the day of the Russian invasion. Finally, cross-border cooperation projects with Russia and Belarus that were disrupted following the suspension, can now only be implemented on the EU Member States’ side. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “The brutal and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought many cross-border projects to an abrupt halt and severely challenged the implementation of the programmes. Yet, those programmes are crucial for providing support to EU neighbouring regions, as well as to the Ukrainian and Moldovan population. With this proposal, we introduce new flexibilities, which will allow many of these projects to continue despite the challenging circumstances. This will benefit Ukrainians and Moldovans – and their EU partners as well.” The proposal concerns thirteen cross-border and two transnational cooperation programmes between nine Member States, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on the one hand, and Russia and Belarus on the other.