On 20 September 2007, the European Commission approved a transnational cooperation programme between Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Slovenia (with participation from Liechtenstein and Switzerland) for the period 2007-13. The Alpine Space Programme falls within the framework laid out for the European Territorial Cooperation Objective and has a total budget of around €130 million. Community investment through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) amounts to some €98 million, which represents approximately 1.1% of the total EU investment earmarked for the European Territorial Cooperation Objective under the Cohesion Policy for 2007-13.

Objective

The Programme aims to increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the cooperation area by developing joint actions in fields where transnational cooperation is more effective and is also required for sustainable solutions.

The expected impact of investment:

A series of indicators, applicable to each of the Programme priorities, has been developed by the countries taking part and will allow progress to be evaluated over the course of the Programme’s implementation. Concrete results will be measured in terms of enterprise creation, employment rates, pollution levels, environment awareness levels, public investment generated, and so on. More than 150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Research and Technological Development (R&TD) centres, 30 environmental authorities and NGOs, and 10 transport authorities/mobility operators are expected to be involved in and benefit from the project activities. The Programme will also see more than 25 quality-oriented projects carried out.

The Operational Programme is structured along the following priorities:

• Priority 1: Competitiveness and Attractiveness of the Alpine Space which will receive 42,333,776 euros [approximately 32.6% of total funding].
• Priority 2: Accessibility and Connectivity which will receive 36,286,096 euros [approximately 27.9% of total funding].
• Priority 3: Environment and Risk Prevention which will receive 42,333,776 euros [approximately 32.6% of total funding]
• Priority 4: Technical Assistance which will receive 9,026,982 euros [approximately 6.9% of total funding].

What is the European Territorial Cooperation?

The European Territorial Co-operation objective will strengthen cross-border co-operation through joint local and regional initiatives, trans-national co-operation aiming at integrated territorial development, and interregional co-operation and exchange of experience. The population living in cross-border areas amounts to 181.7 million (37.5 % of the total EU population), whereas all EU regions and citizens are covered by one of the existing 13 transnational co-operation areas. EUR 8.7 billion (2.5 % of the total) available for this objective is split as follows: EUR 6.44 billion for cross-border, EUR 1.83 billion for transnational and EUR 445 million for inter-regional co-operation.