Portugal takes the lead

On 1 January 2021, Portugal took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Germany. It is the fourth time this westernmost European country is in charge of the Council. One of the main priorities of the six-month presidency is to promote Europe's recovery, cohesion and values.

The Portuguese presidency took over the relay in the COVID-19 pandemic recovery work with the Recovery and Resilience Facility. It is also ready to start the implementation of the new Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) and the Next Generation EU instrument.

Let’s have a look at how project partners from Portugal work with others in Interreg Europe.

All Portuguese regions are involved

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Portuguese partners represent all 7 regions, including the islands, in our cooperation projects. They bring to these regions new ideas from other corners of Europe and also share with others the good practices tried and tested in Portugal.

68 of the 258 running Interreg Europe projects have partner organisations from Portugal. 9 of them have a Portuguese organisation leading the partnership.

Portuguese partners are improving policies in all topics

The 68 projects work on all topics supported by the programme. The highest interest of Portuguese partners is in research and innovation topics (24 projects). They lead 9 projects in the other topics.

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Thanks to interregional cooperation and policy learning, 15 policy changes and improvements have already taken place in Portugal. 11 changes are linked to the Structural Funds programmes. Almost MEUR 32 of funding for implementation of the changes come from the Structural Funds.

Click on the project acronym and find out about selected projects and some of the policy changes. Check how:

• RESET seeks more sustainable approaches to production in the textile and clothing sector - this poster presents a result in Norte region;
• HoCare strives to unlock the potential to deliver innovative solutions to home care - read about the action plan implementation in Madeira;
• INTRA works on improving the support for internationalisation of SMEs - find out about the first steps towards setting up a science and technology park in Algarve;
• CISMOB looks for innovative ways to reduce the carbon footprint in mobility - learn more about the pilot action on real-time information for public transport in Centro region;
• RAMSAT tries to revitalise remote and mountainous areas through sustainable tourism - read about the European Commission and the project photo;
• INTHERWASTE aims for a better waste management in heritage cities - have a closer look at the
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  action plan for Porto
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Good practices from Portuguese regions

Anyone can tap into the source of inspiration from Portugal, which is available in our good practice database. The Policy Learning Platform experts have validated 89 good practices from Portugal so far. See a few latest examples:

• Energy efficiency campaign with charging station prize is an awareness raising and training campaign organised by the Azorean government to support transition to electric mobility on the islands 
• Industry 4.0 Vouchers to promote SMEs digital transformation is a voucher scheme for SMEs to fund consultancy services helping them to adopt technologies and processes associated with digitalisation and so-called Industry 4.0
• Ageing@Coimbra presents a system of organisation of universities, regional authorities, business companies and civil society into a quadruple helix-based approach to active and healthy ageing

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

Discover more about Portugal's participation in Interreg Europe

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

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