UK - FLAG Cooperation in the UK --ARCHIVED as of 31 January 2020--

--ARCHIVED as of 31 January 2020--
Cooperation is organised differently in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales - at Regional level in Scotland and England, while Wales and Northern Ireland leave cooperation up to the FLAGs to organise. The programme authorities are keen that cooperation projects come from the bottom up so, along with the fact that there is little experience in FLAG cooperation in the UK, they foresee that any cooperation projects are likely to emerge later in the programming period.

In Scotland, the priority is for inter-territorial cooperation, with Northern Ireland favoring projects within the UK or Republic of Ireland but is open to projects from any MS as long as the case is made.

In terms of themes, no specific areas have been pre-identified and FLAGs will be open to propose projects that they consider most relevant to enhancing their local development strategies.

At present, only Scotland has identified a cooperation budget (€100,000 for its 8 FLAGs), which will be held centrally by the Intermediate Body.  England foresees a very limited budget for cooperation, which will also be managed centrally. Cooperation budgets in Wales and Northern Ireland are incorporated into FLAG budgets but there is no stipulated percentage or amount ‘ring fenced’ for cooperation.

The UK Operational Programme has a target of 14 cooperation projects, indicating that not all FLAGs will be involved in cooperation projects.

Number of FLAGs in the UK: 19