The CENTRAL EUROPE National Contact Point at the IOER

The "National Contact Point" was established in 2002 at the Leibniz Institute for Ecological Spatial Development (IÖR) in Dresden. The current CENTRAL EUROPE programme for the funding period 2021-2017 which was originally initiated as a Community Initiative INTERREG III B CADSES, continues the transnational cooperation of the Central European countries within the framework of European Territorial Cooperation as part of the European Union’s cohesion policy.

The main objective of the implementation of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE programme, and of the funded projects, is to address contexts and problems across national borders. Therefore, the regions need common processing and solutions. In the same way, the existing potential of the regions can be better exploited and strengthened in the long term by working together between public and private institutions. This is even more important as the programme area of CENTRAL EUROPE covers large parts of the former Iron Curtain and includes regions that are still characterised by significant socio-economies differences. The priorities and specific goals of the programme for 2021-2027 builds the ground of the current funding strategy, which aims to help reduce these disparities. The focus is on the development of the following four priorities: a more intelligent (priority 1), more environmental friendly (priority 2) Central Europe with stronger connections (priority 3) and with better governance (priority 4).

As head of the CENTRAL EUROPE National Contact Point, Dr. Bernd Diehl has been very familiar with the programme, the responsible institutions at national and international level, and, with the stakeholders in Germany for over 20 years. Potential applicants as well as current and future project partners are offered comprehensive support the whole process, that means at the complex initial phase of project development, over the implementation of approved projects to the project finalizing. 

The network of the CENTRAL EUROPE programme helps to find fitting project partners. Current news about the development of the programme, important documents about the implementation of projects and other information as well as contact dates of the responsible ministries and institutions in Germany can be found at the website of the National Contact Point CENTRAL EUROPE at IOER (in German).