Interact convenes the Interreg community at the highest level
13 May 26 3 mins read
On 7 May 2026, Interact brought together senior representatives from 86 Interreg programmes, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU at the Interreg Leaders Forum in Brussels.
Convening the Interreg community at the highest level
Interact organised and facilitated this high-level exchange to create a space where the Interreg community could speak collectively on the future of European territorial cooperation at the right level, with the right interlocutors, at a critical moment in the discussions on the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
This kind of gathering is not a formality. It is a necessity. As discussions on the Post 2027 legal framework advance, ensuring that the voice of 86 Interreg programmes reaches EU institutions directly is central to Interact's role as a support programme for the Interreg community.
Creating the space for strategic dialogue
The Interreg Leaders Forum was organised under the auspices of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU and hosted at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
Interact structured the day around three thematic panels, each addressing a key question for the future of European territorial cooperation:
- How Interreg can position itself within Europe's shifting strategic and financial landscape for 2028–2034
- How it can demonstrate measurable impact within a more performance-driven policy framework
- What new territorial directions, from the Mediterranean Strategy to the EU Strategy for Islands mean for cooperation programmes on the ground
By bringing together these three dimensions in a single day of high-level exchange, Interact enabled the Interreg community to engage with EU institutions on the full breadth of challenges facing cooperation programmes in the next programming period.
Bringing institutional and programme voices together
A central element of the forum was the direct engagement between Interreg programme leaders and senior representatives of EU institutions, a format that Interact worked to make possible.
Interact facilitated exchanges between programme leaders and speakers including :
- Raffaele Fitto - Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms at the European Commission (Video Address)
- Younous Omarjee - Vice-President of the European Parliament
- Hugo Sobral - Deputy Director-General at DG REGIO
- Moray Gilland - Head of Unit at DG REGIO
- Vasco Alves Cordeiro - Chair of the Committee of the Regions' Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy
- Elena Calistru - President of the ECO Section at the EESC
- Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis - President of the Assembly of Corsica
- Penelope Papavassiliou - Permanent Secretary of the Directorate General Growth under the Cyprus EU Presidency.
Throughout the day, one message resonated consistently: cooperation is not optional for Europe: it is fundamental to its success.
Interact's role was to ensure that this message, and the collective experience of 86 programmes behind it, reached the decision-makers shaping the future of European territorial cooperation.
Facilitating a forward-looking reflection on Interreg's future
Beyond the immediate exchanges, the forum provided a moment for the Interreg community to reflect collectively on what comes next.
Interact facilitated discussions on how Interreg can preserve its identity as a laboratory of cooperation flexible, experimental, built on long-term partnerships while adapting to the expectations of a more results-oriented policy framework after 2027.
The afternoon panels brought additional perspectives on the strategic importance of Mediterranean and island territories, with programme leaders contributing concrete cooperation experience to discussions on the emerging EU Strategy for Islands and the Mediterranean Strategy.
By creating the conditions for these exchanges, Interact helped translate the collective expertise of the Interreg community into a structured contribution to the Post 2027 policy debate.
Supporting the Interreg community in EU-level dialogue
The Interreg Leaders Forum reflects Interact's ongoing commitment to facilitating knowledge exchange and shared learning within the Interreg community and to ensuring that the community's voice is clearly and coherently represented at EU level.
By convening this high-level gathering, Interact demonstrated that bringing together programme leaders and EU institutions in the same room is not only possible but it is indispensable for shaping a future for European territorial cooperation that is strategic, impactful and grounded in cooperation realities on the ground.
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