RegioStars 2025: call for applications

News

13 February 2025

By Joint secretariat

The call is open for RegioStars 2025 nominations! Every year, the European Commission gives recognition to innovative and inspiring regional development projects. Is this your year to shine in the RegioStars awards?

The 2025 awards cover five categories:

A competitive and smart Europe
A green Europe
A connected Europe
A social and inclusive Europe
A Europe closer to the citizens

To be eligible, the project must be closed and fully implemented. It should also demonstrate results or impact at the regional level.

Pre-selection of Interreg Europe projects

If you see RegioStars' potential in your Interreg Europe project, act now and express your interest to participate.

We can support the nomination of up to 5 Interreg Europe projects. A project that was submitted in previous editions is eligible to be re-submitted this year. Our managing authority will make the final decision on the project(s) to be submitted for the RegioStars 2025.

The path towards RegioStars goes through a series of steps:

Interreg Europe projects express interest in RegioStars nomination by 4 April 2025
The joint secretariat and the managing authority review the applications and select projects to enter in the competition (early April)
The selected project(s) continue to work on their applications and receive a support letter from the managing authority (end of April)
The lead partner(s) of the selected project(s) submit the final application through the RegioStars platform by 20 May 2025

Note: the steps above apply only to Interreg Europe projects. If your project is funded through another programme or other type of funding, please contact the respective secretariat or managing authority for further details.

The journey ahead

The winners of the RegioStars awards will be selected by an independent jury. The public will also be able to vote for their favourite between 2 September and 15 October 2025.

After eligibility screening and the initial assessment, the finalists will be announced on 16 July. The finalists will be invited to an online training on how to pitch their project. The training will take place in mid-September.

The finalists will then be in the spotlight during the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels in October. They will pitch their project to the jury on 14 October, and the official RegioStars award ceremony will take place the day after on 15 October 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.

In addition to the award, the winners of each category will receive a local communication campaign managed in cooperation with DG Regio starting from 1 December 2025.