The European Commission, under the INTERREG Europe programme, has approved two regional cooperation projects submitted by the Azorean Government, representing an overall European funding to the Region exceeding 340 thousand Euros.
 
"Islands of Innovation - Innovation Policy for Sustainable European Islands" is a project that involves, in addition to the Azores, the island territories of the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Greece, and the outermost regions of Madeira and Guadeloupe. It stems from the work developed by the Regional Government in the expansion and diversification of the external cooperation networks of the Azores and their funding by European funds.
 
In this context, the Presidency of the Government, through the Cabinet of the Regional Under Secretary for External Relations, is part of the "Islands of Innovation" consortium that has submitted a project, now approved by the European Commission. It is intended to develop innovative and sustainable policies for European islands.
 
For the Azores, this project represents an investment of 180 thousand Euros, co-funded at 85% by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
 
In turn, the "GROW OR" project, also approved by the INTERREG Europe programme, aims to foster business development and the strengthening of skills for business creation in Outermost Regions. The Region will be funded in the amount of 165 thousand Euros.
 
The Vice-Presidency of the Government is part of the "GROW OR" project, through the Regional Directorate for Employment and Vocational Training. This initiative is the result of the cooperation developed under the Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions, namely within the ORs Employment Network; the latter was established in Brussels in 2014 at the third Forum on Outermost Europe.
 
INTERREG Europe 2014-2020 is a cooperation programme financed by the European Union that is open to all European regions, being directly managed by the European Commission. It provides financial to the best projects without pre-defined envelopes for Regions or States. During the second application period, 66 projects were approved out of a total of 211 applications submitted by 28 Member States.