The Interreg VI-B South West Europe territorial cooperation programme (Interreg programme Sudoe) is a transnational cooperation programme between France, Portugal, Spain and the Principality of Andorra. The programme sits under strand B - 'Transnational cooperation' - of the European Union's Interreg programme and aims to respond to the main challenges of the South-West European area, namely:

• Sudoe is a peripheral territory: The Sudoe area is located on the southern outskirts of the European Union. It is therefore more exposed to the effects of climate change.
• Sudoe is an eminently interior zone: The Sudoe zone is located between two maritime basins, the Mediterranean and Atlantic, which have dedicated programmes acting on maritime issues. The Interreg VI-B Sudoe programme preferentially targets interior territories, particularly rural ones. Coastal issues will be addressed in seeking complementarities and synergies between inland areas and the coastline.
• Demographic challenges (depopulation of rural areas, concentration in coastal areas and in the (few) large cities of the interior (territorial, social and economic) and ageing (critical in the rural world)) are some of the characteristics inherent to Sudoe. The conjunction of issues linked to a rural environment, depopulation and ageing have an impact on the challenges of territorial revitalisation, social and economic of interior areas.
• Relations between towns and the countryside and the development of rural areas on the basis of their endogenous resources.
• The natural capital of Sudoe is its main strength, and constitutes a development basis and quality of life in rural and urban areas. Biodiversity, ecosystems, native species, the presence of migratory animals (particularly in wetlands), the quality and extent of its forest zone (zone of biodiversity and capture of greenhouse gases (GHG), the richness of indoor microclimates, the areas protected areas and connectivity of the Natura2000 network, etc) represent the main strengths and sustainability of the Sudoe area.

These characteristics of the identity of South-West Europe lead to two main orientations strategies that structure the program:

• Orientation strategy 1: Preserve natural capital and strengthen adaptation to climate change in the Sudoe area.
• Orientation strategy 2: Strengthen social cohesion and balance territorial and demographic of Sudoe by innovation and endogenous development.

In response to these challenges, the Sudoe programme has the following four priorities and nine specific objectives:

• Priority 1: Preserving the natural capital and strengthening adaptation to climate change in SUDOE:
  • SO 2.4 Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account eco-system based approaches (€18.2 million).
  • SO 2.5 Promoting access to water and sustainable water management (€15 million).
  • SO 2.7 Enhancing protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity and green infrastructure, including urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution (€15 million).
• Priority 2: Promoting social cohesion and territorial and demographic balance in the SUDOE through innovation and transformation of productive sectors:
• SO 1.1 Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies (€19.3 million).
• SO 1.4 Developing skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship (€7.5 million).
• SO 4.1 Enhancing the effectiveness and inclusiveness of labour markets and access to quality employment through developing social infrastructure and promoting social economy (€5.3 million).
• SO 4.5 Ensuring equal access to health care and fostering resilience of health systems, including primary care, and promoting the transition from institutional to family-based and community-based care (€12.9 million).
• SO 4.6 Enhancing the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation (€8.6 million).
• ISO 6.6 Other actions to support better governance of cooperation (€5.3 million).
• Priority 3: Promoting social cohesion and territorial and demographic balance in the SUDOE through social innovation, heritage enhancement and services:
• Priority 4: Strengthen the impact of SUDOE on the territories:

All cooperation projects must be implemented through a partnership composed of beneficiaries belonging to at least three Member States participating in the programme. The partnership must be as representative as possible in the sectors and territories concerned.

Partnerships will be composed of:

• A leader, who assumes direction of the project and acts in representation of other beneficiaries.
• Participating beneficiaries, who receive co-financing for the implementation of the activities planned as part of the project.
• Andorran partners who participate in the planned activities but do not receive ERDF assistance.
• A fourth level of members can participate in the project, namely the associated partners, but they cannot receive ERDF aid.

The beneficiaries can be public bodies, private, non-profit entities or private for-profit entities and/or businesses.

Individual organisations may only participate in one application as leader and two applications as beneficiary, with a maximum of three proposals per entity.

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