With France in charge

Since 1 January 2022, France has been in charge of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. For the upcoming six months, they set a number of priorities for the Presidency:

• continue working on a more inclusive, sovereign and democratic Europe, following the sovereignty agenda set in 2017
• negotiate and/ or adopt European laws important for digital transition, ecological transition and social issues
• help prepare the Europe of tomorrow with investments, protection of democratic values, the youth, culture, and health support
• seek to meet citizens' expectations and needs through the Conference on the Future of Europe

The Presidency's motto is Recovery, Strength and a Sense of Belonging.

Have a look at how project partners from France work together with others in Interreg Europe.

France involved

France is one of the founding members of the European Union. With its population of over 67 million, it is also one of its largest members. This is reflected in the involvement in the interregional cooperation projects:

• 98 project partners bring to France new ideas from other corners of Europe and share with others good practices originating in France.
• 78 of the 258 running Interreg Europe projects have French partner organisations
• 19 projects have a French lead partner.

French partners improve policies

The cooperation interest of French partners reaches across all four programme topics.

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Thanks to interregional cooperation and policy learning, 27 policy changes and improvements have already taken place in France. 13 changes are linked to the Structural Funds programmes. The French project partners mobilised over MEUR 18.7 of funding for implementation of the changes. MEUR 11.7 come from the Structural Funds.

Click on the project acronym and find out about a few selected projects and some of the policy changes or testing inspiring good practices from other European regions.

• Beyond EDP strove to improve the effectiveness of the regional innovation smart specialisation strategies (RIS3) through the management of the entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) - thanks to the project, Centre-Val de Loire has a new governance of their RIS3 priorities;
• iEER worked on boosting innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in regions for young entrepreneurs - find out about the Aula Emprende pilot in support of young entrepreneurs in Lille and Hauts-de-France region;
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  SET-UP looked for new ways of smart energy transition to upgrade regional performance - have a look at the action plan preparing 
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  support for energy storage and conversion and for collective self-consumption projects
   and one of the results presented in the programme publication.
• BIOREGIO worked on regional circular economy models and best available technologies for biological streams - learn about the progress in the implementation of a bio-based circular economy in the Pays de la Loire Region

Good practices from France

Inspiring good practices from France are manifold and available for all in our good practice database. The Policy Learning Platform experts have validated 115 good practices from France so far. See a few recent examples:

• Animation of the EDP to strengthen the ecosystem of environmental management was developed in the Centre Val de Loire region for one of their RIS3 priorities. 
• EDITORIAL Writing and Development program is a new selective funding programme created by Pictanovo and the Hauts-de France Region, supporting the production of audio-visual works
• Photovoltaic and thermal power plant of the Préau des Colibris in Voiron is a citizen's collective approach to introducing renewable energy in their participative housing project
• ORPLAST - Financial policy to support the use of recycled plastics is a financial incentive policy launched to support and increase the use of recycled resins by plastic producers, and regulate the market of recycled resins (cost, supply, demand).

Whether you are looking for ideas or new solutions in the field of research and innovation, SME competitiveness, low-carbon economy, or the environment and resource efficiency, there are plenty from France in our database.

Discover more about French participation in Interreg Europe

• Explore France's country page with an overview of the country’s involvement in the programme
• Browse through all projects with French partners and learn about further examples of fruitful interregional cooperation
• Get inspired by good practices from France

Cover image © France Diplomatie - MEAE