Call for peripheral and lagging areas
We selected 25 new projects for funding.
New projects will kick off in early 2026
On 22 September 2025, our programme monitoring committee agreed to co-finance 25 new transnational cooperation projects with a budget of around 15 million EUR from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Through this call, we support small-scale projects that will bring fresh solutions to peripheral and lagging areas of central Europe, helping them to become more attractive and resilient places to live and work. The approved projects will test innovative approaches to strengthen local connections, build on regional strengths, promote green mobility and advance territorial development.
With this latest selection, Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE is now funding a total of 125 transnational projects.
Find out which proposals were selected in the video and the table below. More information about their planned activities and results will become available on the project gateway in early 2026.
Call timeline: From launch to project start
Launch of call
15 October 2024
Closure of call
10 December 2024
Selection of proposals
September 2025
Project start
Early 2026
List of selected projects
Project acronyms sorted along priorities in alphabetical order (September 2025)
Cooperating for a smarter central Europe
ECLECTIC
GLOW
INSPIR-CE
LEADER
Pannon Future Forest
RESILIENCE
RURALX DEMO CENTRES
Smart HEAL
TWINUP
Cooperating for a greener central Europe
BIZ Mobility
PATH-CE
SIMOPURE
Cooperating for a better connected central Europe
CO-MOVE
FERRYTALES
MUTABLE
RAISE-CE
SHARE
Improving governance for cooperation in central Europe
BLUETWIN-CE
Brand4Talents
Bridge2East
COOPACTION
ENRICH-US
GOFAiR
SI-CARE
SOSPHERE
Revisit the selection process
Formal checks
After closing the call, we immediately checked the submitted project proposals against formal and administrative requirements, such as:
- Submission by the deadline
- Minimum partnership requirements
- Lead applicant requirements
- Language requirements (application filled out in English)
- Completeness and compliance of submitted documents
Project proposals that failed to meet the formal and administrative requirements were considered non-eligible. Lead partners were informed about the outcomes of these checks.
Desk assessment
After the formal compliance check, we fully assessed all remaining applications. Quality assessment in the third call was organised in two phases. A desk assessment of all eligible applications was followed by online hearings of proposals shortlisted based on quality. In the first phase, we assessed the applications against the full set of strategic and operational criteria. Each proposal was assessed by two experts. We also performed a State aid assessment.
Online hearings
Following the desk assessment, online hearings took place with shortlisted applicants. Hearings offered the opportunity to further explain their proposals as well as to answer questions resulting from the desk assessment. Lead applicants submitted a “pitch deck” based on the PowerPoint template, included in the application package.
Desk assessment
The funding decision was then taken by the monitoring committee based on the full assessment results. Selected project proposal might still have to address a number of conditions and recommendations in the weeks after the selection to further improve its quality before entering the contracting phase. Projects are expected to start with their implementation in early 2026 after contracting is concluded.
Key call documents
(for reference)
Application package
The legal framework of our third call was provided in the application package, which also includes its Terms of Reference.
Programme manual
General requirements and rules for applicants (and beneficiaries) can be found in our online programme manual.