Greece and Bulgaria, two neighboring countries with a rich past, since the end of the 1990s have entered an era of closer co-operation, due to the INTERREG Programme “Greece-Bulgaria”.The main idea behind “INTERREG” is that countries have issues which can be better solved if they work together with their neighbors than if each one remains confined within its borders. In every case what happens on the one side of the border affects the other side as well. The need for joint actions is gradually becoming the normal than the exception.
- The Cooperation Programme “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020” was approved by the European Commission on 09/09/2015 by Decision C(2015)6283.
- The total budget (ERDF and national contribution) for the European Territorial Programme “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020” is 130.262.835,00 €. The total financing consists of 110.723.409,75 € (85%) ERDF funding and 19.539.425,25 € (15%) national contribution.
- The eligible area of the Programme consists of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Prefectures of Evros, Kavala, Xanthi, Rodopi and Drama) and the Region of Central Macedonia (Prefectures of Thessaloniki and Serres) in Greece and the South-Central Planning Region and South-West Planning Region (Districts of Blagoevgrad, Smolyan, Kardjali and Haskovo) in Bulgaria.
The priority axes are:
PA 1: A Competitive and Entrepreneurship Promoting Cross-Border Area
PA 2: A Sustainable and climate adaptable Cross-Border area
PA 3: A better interconnected Cross-Border Area
PA 4: A socially inclusive Cross-Border area
PA 5: Technical Assistance
The project AGRIFEED is funded under the 5th Call for Proposals «Grant scheme for supporting SMEs to grow and expand beyond local markets» targeting Programme Priority Axis 1: “A Competitive and Innovative Cross-Border Area” which aims to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs in the Greece-Bulgaria border area (Thematic Objective 03) and contributes to Programme Specific Objective 02 “To improve SME capacity to expand beyond local markets”.