Project Application

Now, after three cut-off moments, the budgets are reduced. Here is the current situation:

Budget amounts listed above may change. The Monitoring Commitee can move funds from one priority to another, depending on the number and quality of applications received. 

• The cut-off in April is the last chance to submit your project idea (Step 1).
• Priority 1 (Smarter): There is only limited budget left for Step 1 applications, if the projects currently in the pipeline will be approved.
• Priority 2 (Greener, low-carbon): Currently, there is no budget available. Budget requests already exceed what is available.
• Priority 3 (Social): Some budget is still available for new project ideas. There is a possibility that some of this budget will be shifted to another priority.

• Priority 1 (Smarter): If you passed Step 1, note that the competition is strong. The first-come, first-served rule applies.
• Priority 2 (Greener): If you passed Step 1, know that there is currently no budget in this priority. There is a possibility that extra funds will be assigned to this topic. If extra money is assigned, expect high competition.
• Priority 3 (Social): If your Step 1 application passed, you can continue with the process. Be aware that some of the budget that will not be claimed may be moved to other priorities. The first-come, first-served rule applies.

• Higher Funding: Projects can now get up to 60% of costs covered by EU funds (10% more than before!). The other 40% must be provided by project partners (co-financing or own contributions).
• Language Choice: Step 1 applications can be submitted in Dutch, French, and  German, OR only in English. This change is based on feedback: some found English inconvenient, others prefer it. Now, you can choose.
• Flexible Deadlines: You can submit your project idea any time between 1 July 2025 and 1 July 2026. There are five review dates (cut-off moments), so you do not have to wait long for feedback. If you pass Step 1, you can quickly move to Step 2.

At each cut-off, the programme reviews all ideas and gives feedback. For more details, see the Subsidy Regulation.

We are in the midst of the fourth industrial transition. Industry 4.0 poses significant challenges for the region, but at the same time, it also offers fantastic opportunities for economic excellence.

Are you working on cutting-edge technologies and services, or projects focused on improving people's skills and talents?

Since the Paris Climate Agreement and the Green Deal, Europe is increasingly making the transition to a green society and economy, creating jobs and social benefits and protecting essential resources.
We are open to ideas to boost renewable energy, mitigate risks due to climate change, accelerate the adoption of circular concepts, and promote a 'greener' labour market and training.

Research shows that, on average, residents of our region are less healthy than in other European regions. To address current and future health issues and jointly develop innovative health solutions, cross-border cooperation is essential.
We seek projects that stimulate the application of health innovations, strengthen the labour market and education for the healthcare sector and improve accessibility to cross-border health services.

The beautiful landscapes and strong cultural heritage attract many tourists and day-trippers to our region. In addition, residents also enjoy the quality of life offered by the area. Tourism is strategically important for the economy and also has the ability to address socio-economic problems.

Therefore, we are open to innovative ideas that contribute to a high-quality and diverse tourism offer.

The border region offers tremendous opportunities in terms of quality of life for its residents. But the borders are also barriers.

We want to make the region more attractive and functional through cross-border cooperation and the removal of barriers. The ultimate goal is to make life better and easier in the programme area.

Answer these questions and find out if your project idea fits into the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme.

• Do you have a cross-border idea?
• Does the project contribute to at least one of the five grand societal challenges defined by the programme?
• Does the project address a cross-border need or challenge?
• Does your project bring tangible change or does it provide a solution? 
• Does the project involve at least two partners from two different Member States within the programme area or at least one cross-border organisation (e.g. a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC))?
• Could you secure your own financial contribution and pre-finance project activities?
• Is one of your partners ready to take over the role of Lead Partner? It is highly recommended that the LP has prior experience in an Interreg programme.

If you answered “yes” to these questions, the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme could be for you! Even if you are uncertain, we recommend that you contact the Regional Antenna in your area. They are here for you and can help you with the development of your project ideas.

You are strongly advised to make use of all available support from the programme to make sure you maximise your chances of being successful with your application for a project idea or full project proposal.

Does your project have the right characteristics?

Need-driven: You identified a need. You also established that this need is shared in the programme area. You consulted your stakeholders and target groups, and decided on the best course of action.

Requires cross-border cooperation: You've made sure that your project requires cooperation by ensuring that all partners contribute meaningfully to the project, and that your project fulfils Interreg's cross-border cooperation criterion

Relevant: You've carefully read the relevant programme documents and found the relevant programme-specific objective that you want to contribute to. You've also made sure that you're building on a strong foundation by taking other similar projects into account.

Result-oriented: You have a rough agreement within your partnership on what you will achieve (change), and for whom (target groups). You've made sure to make your expected achievements meaningful (measurable, durable and impactful). Please see the Guidance document for output and result indicators.

Application procedure and system

Interreg Meuse-Rhine uses a two-step system for selecting projects. Step 1 is intended to check the potential and the fit of a project idea in the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme. 

If your project received a positive decision from MA/JS, you can proceed to step 2. This second step encompasses preparing a full-fledged application form, which will be assessed in detail for its appropriateness in the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme.

Applications need to be submitted via the Joint Electronic Monitoring System (JEMS).  

For each section of the application form (both for step 1 and step 2), there are several sub-questions that help you when filling in. However, there are some general principles you need to be aware of:

• The application document which is available to guide you in the application process is only to be understood as supporting document. The only legally valid application must be submitted via the JEMS. The application document is an excerpt from JEMS and for this reason follows the same structure. You can use it as a starting point and to work together with your project partners.
• The application needs to be translated in all three national languages of the programme area (German, Dutch, French) and in English. Be aware that the number of characters may differ when translating from one language to another, but that for each language it has to stay within the maximum amount of characters.
• Following the Project Intervention Logic, a project is divided into several work packages. A work package is a combination of interlinked activities that has a fixed duration and a certain budget. Activities are actions you will realise in your project to generate outputs. Deliverables are concrete outputs of activities to make them measurable.
• In the first step of your project application, you will have to indicate a first rough budget estimation for each work package and in total. At this point it is not needed to have a detailed budget breakdown per partner. This indicative budget can change in step 2 to a certain extent. It may appear that your partnership or work plan slightly changes in step 2, so your budget will change as well.
• In comparison to previous programme periods, there are no longer separate work packages for Management and Communication costs. However, you are asked to include these activities and their costs in each of your work package and indicate the percentage of overall Management and Communication in the Project Summary section.
• We highly recommend getting in touch with your Regional Antenna regularly during the application process. They will guide you through the process and help you with challenges you may encounter, in order to arrive at an application of high quality.

Before you submit your application form you should remember these important things:

• Double-check all parts of the application form
  • The assessment criteria are used to assess project applications. These criteria will give you an indication of what the programme values and is looking for. Use this to assess your own project, to find any weak points that you can still change before submitting your application.
  • Use the pre-submission check in JEMS to see if all mandatory fields have been filled in.
• Add Annexes. Please include the following:
  • Self-declaration legal status and not in difficulty (obligatory for step 2)
  • Partnership agreement (obligatory for step 2)
  • Co-financing declaration: is co-financing in place (obligatory for step 2)
  • any other relevant / project specific annexes
• Signatures
  • Make sure all partners are aware of which documents need to be signed so that they can deliver these to the authorised person to sign in good time before the deadline.
• Do not wait until the last minute to submit the application
  • It is not possible to submit the application after the deadline. If the deadline is at 12.00 o’clock, you will not be able to submit it one minute past noon. To make sure there are no problems caused by electronic system overload, you should not wait until the last minutes before the deadline. Submitting the application the day before is a better option.