Cross-border cooperation within the TACIS programme
The European Commission has recently adopted a communication on cross-border cooperation within the framework of the TACIS programme. The Commission wishes to develop cross-border cooperation in areas of Russia which border directly onto the EU (Finland) as well as in the Baltic Sea region. The TACIS cross-border cooperation programme follows the model adopted for the PHARE cross-border cooperation programme, launched in 1994, for the Central and Eastern European countries. These programmes have the overall objective of improving cross-border relations, contributing to stability in these regions. The programme will fund projects contributing to the following objectives: - Improving efficiency and effectiveness of border controls and transit, with priority for: . Facilitating local transit across borders; . The border-crossings linking the EC, CEECs and NIS, on the pan-European transport corridors; - Assisting border regions in overcoming development problems which stem from being on the periphery of their national economies; - Addressing local trans-frontier environmental problems, either where action is needed on both sides of the border, or where investment is needed to clear up a problem in the NIS whose effects are also felt on the other side of the border. The TACIS cross-border programme will ensure maximum synergy with other Community programmes, in particular the PHARE cross-border programme, and the INTERREG Community Initiative, part of the Structural Funds. Existing regional frameworks will be used as much as possible to implement projects, and local and regional authorities will be involved where possible in implementing the programme. A "small project facility" will be established to enable regional authorities and local communities to work together in appropriately sized projects.
Kraje
Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia