20.03.2019, Acuario Poema del Mar, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)

The Monitoring Committee of the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme approved, in the framework of the second call for projects, 27 European territorial cooperation projects with a total investment of 62.2 million euros, out of which 46.7 million are funded by the European Union through ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is hosting on the 20 March, at Acuario Poema del Mar, a Ceremony for the signature of the contracts of these 27 projects, now responsible for identifying and implementing solutions to address common regional challenges to improve the regional competitiveness and the quality of life of the European citizens. This ceremony is chaired by the Spanish Presidency of the Programme Monitoring Committee, represented by Mª del Carmen Hernández Martín and the President of the Northern Region of Portugal and President of the Atlantic Area Programme Managing Authority, Fernando Freire de Sousa also having the participation of the Minister of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Knowledge of the Government of the Canary Islands, Pedro Ortega Rodríguez; the President of the Island Council of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales Mendes; and the Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Augusto Hidalgo Macario.  You can see here the agenda of the ceremony.

Project leaders are public bodies and institutions from 36 Atlantic regions of the 5 Member States (France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom). On this occasion, it is important to highlight the participation of 44 private companies as beneficiaries and project partners, as well as institutions from other countries, such as Belgium, Finland and Switzerland.

The approved projects will improve regional development competitiveness on several fields: 8 projects in innovation and competitiveness, 6 projects to foster resource efficiency, 6 projects to strength the territory´s resilience and 7 projects aiming at enhancing biodiversity and natural and cultural assets.

The programme already supports 45 projects, representing around 66% of the ERDF´s budget for the programme. At the moment, 100% of the available budget of the Programme has been committed.