EU REGIO Interreg

🏡 Where you live shouldn't define your opportunities.

Around 130 million Europeans still live in less developed regions, where access to jobs, services and infrastructure can be more limited.

Through Interreg, regions work together to share knowledge, tackle common challenges and develop practical solutions that create tangible benefits for local communities.

Looking beyond 2027, Interreg can build on these successes by helping more regions unlock their potential through stronger territorial cooperation.

👉 See how we are building a stronger Europe, region by region: https://interreg.eu/whats-next-for-interreg-the-commission-s-perspective

🚴 The European Commission has published its 2026 Cycling Counts study, the first EU-wide baseline for cycling data.

For , the findings are telling.

Just 9 national cycling datasets were usable EU-wide. Crash victims treated across the border often go uncounted. And compliance with cross-border bike-sharing data rules remains low.

For Interreg projects and cross-border cooperation programmes, this report offers concrete indicators to build around when planning joint cycling infrastructure.

📎 Read more on Futurium: https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/cross-border-cycling-data-key-findings-european-commissions-2026-cycling-counts-study

📬 The July BFPN Newsletter is out!

This edition rounds up the latest cross-border developments across Europe, from labour mobility and youth rail ticket recognition to sustainable fisheries cooperation, plus a look back at Breakfast Debate #30 on cross-border cooperation in the world.

We also spotlight the call for applications for the 2026-2027 Cross-Border Ambassadors, open to young people (18-30) from EU border regions until 31 August.

🔗 Read the full newsletter on Futurium and stay connected with : https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/july-bfpn-newsletter-out

⏳ One month to go! Applications for the programme close on 31 August 2026.

If you're 18–30, live in an EU Member State or EFTA country, and have a strong connection to a border region, this is your chance to share your story and work directly with the European Commission on cross-border cooperation.

Apply by sending us a motivational letter and a short video on a cross-border issue and how to resolve it.

📅 Deadline: 31 August 2026
🔗 Application and more info: https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/applications-open-join-cross-border-ambassadors-2026-2027-mandate-0

📩 Have any questions? email us at [email protected]

🚑 When every second counts, a border shouldn’t be a barrier.

Thanks to years of Interreg-supported cooperation, France and Spain have signed a landmark agreement allowing ambulances to cross the border for all emergency calls in the Pyrenees. The closest ambulance can now respond, regardless of which side of the border it's on.

Combined with joint training and direct communication between emergency services, this means faster, more coordinated care for border communities.

This is what European territorial cooperation looks like in practice.
Explore Interreg impact 👉 https://interreg.eu/whats-next-for-interreg-the-commission-s-perspective

🌍 Become a Cross-Border Ambassador!

We are looking for 10 young people to join the 4th edition of the Cross-Border Ambassadors programme! Are you between 18 and 30 and connected to a European border region? Whether you grew up there, studied there, or simply care about cross-border cooperation, this is your chance to bring your voice into EU-level discussions.

Over a six-month mandate (1 October 2026 – 31 March 2027), Ambassadors will meet monthly with DG REGIO, create original content, and receive an official Certificate of Completion signed by the European Commission. 🏅

📅 Deadline: 31 August 2026
🔗 Apply now: https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/call-applications-cross-border-ambassadors-2026-2027-mandate

📩 Questions? [email protected]

🌊 How can young people help protect one of Europe's most international rivers?

Maddie Kinard, Communications Officer at the ICPDR, shares how through the "Let's Go Sampling Together" initiative, students and teachers from 10 countries collected samples at 39 locations, feeding directly into the Joint Danube Survey: the world's most comprehensive surface-water monitoring effort.

A powerful example of citizen science building shared responsibility across countries and generations.

Watch the full conversation on Futurium 👉 https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/multimedia/conversation-maddie-kinard-youth-engagement-and-citizen-science-danube-river

🗓️ Our 30th Beyond Borders Breakfast Debate on Community-Led Local Development and Cross-Border Cooperation is now behind us!

Missed it? Catch up with the debate infographics and more on the Border Focal Point Network

https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/news/missed-30th-beyond-borders-breakfast-debate-heres-what-you-need-know

🚑 A cross-border obstacle nearly a decade in the making: how one legal gap in emergency healthcare is finally closing.

In 2016, Jean-Louis Valls, Director of the Pyrenees Working Community, watched two ambulances sit side by side at the Cerdanya Cross-Border Hospital: one Catalan, one French. The doctor on board couldn't intervene, blocked by medical registration rules.

Through b-solutions, the European Commission initiative tackling cross-border legal obstacles, his team spent years building the legal framework with health institutions and medical councils on both sides of the border.

On 6 November 2025, the first of five conventions was signed between ARS Occitanie and CatSalut.

A landmark moment for cooperation, with four more agreements still to come across the full 650 km border.

Watch the full conversation on Futurium 👉 https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/border-focal-point-network/multimedia/conversation-jean-louis-valls-removing-cross-border-obstacles-emergency-healthcare