Dresden (dpa/sn) - Saxony and the Czech Republic want to support further cross-border cooperation projects with 142.3 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) by 2027. The cabinet cleared the way for the implementation of the joint program on Tuesday, as Regional Development Minister Thomas Schmidt (CDU) announced after the rules were signed in Dresden. Schmidt assumes that it will come into force in 2022.
People, regional groups, authorities and, for the first time, small and medium-sized companies from both countries can apply for funding of up to 80 percent of the costs for projects from the Saxon Development Bank. Around 64.3 million euros alone are reserved for projects in the areas of education, lifelong learning, culture and tourism and around 40 million euros in the area of climate change and sustainability on both sides of the border.
The European Commission approved the Interreg Saxony-Czech Republic 2021-2027 cooperation program in July. It provides a total of around 152.4 million euros. According to Schmidt, the difference is available for program management. Since 2004, many good projects have emerged as part of Interreg, which promote coexistence and cooperation with the border regions in the Czech Republic and Poland, he said. For example, cities in fire and disaster protection went together and the Montanregion World Heritage application also goes back to this program.
2014-2020, 162 projects in the Saxon-Czech border region with a volume of more than 149 million euros were approved. According to Schmidt, a further 60 million euros are available for the area with Poland by 2027. Saxony has its own program with the neighboring state "according to the established structures. People know each other, trust each other and can find individual solutions."
