With the new funding objective – the so-called Objective 2 (2000 – 2006) – the EU is supporting the economic development of rural and industrial areas with finance from the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD).
With the community initiative INTERREG III A (2000 - 2006) the EU is promoting cross-border cooperation between neighbouring regions with finance from the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD).
The community initiative INTERREG III B supports – on the basis of wide-area amalgamations of European regions – cooperation between national, regional and local institutions to promote a high degree of spatial integration within Europe.