Welcome to Art of Cooperation

ArtCo is more than just a series of conferences—it is a dynamic knowledge-sharing platform dedicated to fostering cooperation across Europe. Organized by the Széchenyi Programme Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary, ArtCo 2024 was held during the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This special edition, held on 13–15 November 2024, was organized in close partnership with the European Committee of the Regions, the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives, the Association of European Border Regions, and the Hungarian Development Promotion Office.

The event brought together policymakers, Interreg practitioners, and experts to explore the future of Interreg. ArtCo serves as a unique platform to exchange ideas, share best practices, and address the challenges shaping the post-2027 programming period, reaffirming cooperation as the foundation of solidarity and cohesion across borders.

 

If you are interested in what happened at the 2024 ArtCo conference, explore the agenda points to find detailed summaries of each workshop and session. Additionally, do not miss the photo and video gallery for highlights from the event.

Agenda 2024

 The Art of Cooperation conference took place from 13 to 15 November 2024 as a three-day official partner event of the Hungarian EU Presidency.

The Art of Cooperation conference began on 13 November 2024 with the István Pálfi Award Ceremony, celebrating outstanding contributions to cross-border cooperation, alongside the EGTC Award Ceremony of the Committee of the Regions. The second day featured opening keynote speeches and panel discussions, followed by three parallel afternoon events: Interreg workshops, CESCI sessions on addressing legal obstacles, and MFOI’s program, which explored topics such as regional development, directly managed EU funds, cohesion, and competitiveness, aligned with Hungary’s EU Presidency priorities. The day concluded with the launch of the European Cross-Border Platform, the kick-off of the b-solutions 3.0 project, and the presentation of the Interreg 35 Declaration. On the final day, participants had the opportunity to join a study visit to the border area of Esztergom (HU) and Štúrovo (SK).

Declaration on the future of Interreg

Széchenyi Programme Office together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and several Interreg Programmes have launched the INTERREG 35 Declaration, highlighting the importance and future existence of Interreg in promoting European values through cross-border, transnational, and interregional cooperation.

The Declaration will be presented at the ArtCo Conference on 14 November 2024, in Budapest. You are kindly asked to provide your written position by endorsing the declaration online, contributing to shaping the future of Interreg beyond 2027.

 

Organisers

Event gallery ArtCo 2024

Contact

 

 

If you have any questions to the organisers, please contact the ArtCo Team by filling in the form.

EGTC Award Ceremony

The EGTC Award was established by the Committee of the Regions and has been handed out since 2012 in every second year based on a call for applications to a grouping which performs at high standards. The goal of the award is to popularise best practices and to motivate the cross-border actors to apply the EGTC tool and to initiate similar interventions.

István Pálfi Award Ceremony

The Hungarian government established the István Pálfi Award in 2011 to acknowledge the efforts and work of personalities committed to cross-border cooperation and mutual trust building between European nations. In recent years many influential European and Hungarian policy-makers and experts have been awarded, like Ms Danuta Hübner (former Commissioner for Regional Development), Mr Jan Olbrycht (MEP drafting the EGTC Regulation), Mr Michel Delebarre (former French minister of state and president of the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière), etc.

Keynote speakers

  • Tibor NAVRACSICS – Minister, Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development
  • Áron SZAKÁCS – Managing Director, Széchenyi Programme Office Nonprofit LLC
  • Karl-Heinz LAMBERTZ – Member of the Group of high-level specialists on the future of Cohesion Policy and former President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR)/ Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)
  • Karsten Uno PETERSEN – Rapporteur, Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget, European Committee of the Regions
  • Video Message: Themis CHRISTOPHIDOU – Director-General, European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO)

Plenary roundtable discussion: Quo Vadis Interreg?

A discussion about the past, present and future of Interreg, with the involvement of experienced speakers, who have been active in the field for several decades. The discussion shall include considerations about the beginnings of the Interreg, including the expectations which were formulated at that time. The participants shall review the development of the Interreg Programmes over different periods, highlighting positive and negative trends which led to Interreg as we know it today. Finally, the panel discussion would reflect on the future, on what is desirable and what is realistic to happen with the Interreg on mid and long term: How do we see Interreg in 10/20/30 years?

Moderator: Martin GUILLERMO-RAMÍREZ – Secretary General, Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)

Speakers:

  • Slawomir TOKARSKI – Director, European Commission, DG REGIO
  • Péter KISS-PARCIU – Deputy State Secretary, Head of MA, Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  • Imre CSALAGOVITS – Head of MA, Interreg Danube Region
  • Sanda ŠIMIĆ STAMBOLIĆ – Assistant Minister of European Integration, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of European Integration
  • Iulia HERTZOG – Head of MA for Interreg Black Sea, Interreg Romania-Bulgaria, Interreg NEXT Romania-Ukraine Programmes
  • Susanne SCHERRER – former Head of MA/JS, Interreg Baltic Sea Programme
  • Bernadett PETRI – Ministerial Commissioner, Managing Director, Hungarian Development Promotion Office

Interreg identity

Interreg is widely considered as the main driver of cooperation in the EU, bringing a solid contribution to building the European identity. Interreg was a promoter of historical reconciliations and there are claims that the EU cohesion policy would not have been as successful as it is, without the contribution of the Interreg programmes.

Nevertheless, there are a number of centrally managed programmes which are supporting European cooperation in various thematic fields, as innovation (HORIZON), environment (LIFE), education and training (ERASMUS+), or culture (Creative Europe). Cooperation in most of these topics is also eligible for funding under Interreg Programmes.

We propose a discussion about the specific difference which individualizes the European territorial cooperation programmes, in comparison with other programmes and initiatives which promote international cooperation. What is the identity of Interreg and why is Interreg important and needed in the EU context?

Moderator: Sebastian BONIS – Managing Director, Optimeast Europe Srl

Speakers:

  • Nikoletta HORVÁTH – Deputy Head of MA, Interreg Hungary-Slovakia, Interreg IPA Hungary-Serbia and Interreg NEXT Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Programmes, Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  • Gérard THOMAS – Attaché, Division des affaires internationales et coopération territoriale européenne (Luxembourg)
  • Jozef MICHÁLEK – Programme Manager, European Commission, DG REGIO
  • Merike NIITEPÕLD – Head of Managing Authority, Central Baltic Programme 2021-2027

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Interreg and EU enlargement

Interreg Programmes were bringing an important contribution to the accession process of the Central and Eastern European countries throughout the past three decades. Together with other pre-accession instruments, the territorial cooperation programmes were instrumental for the capacity building in different fields for a large variety of stakeholders from the partner and candidate countries. Interreg facilitated the transfer of knowledge and the development of national level procedures and institutional frameworks.

We propose a discussion about the role of Interreg in the enlargement process of the candidate countries and, based on the past experiences, about how it can contribute more efficiently to the accession efforts. Moreover, we would investigate how Interreg can reinforce and deepen the dialogue and cooperation with the partner countries.

Moderator: Edmunds SNIKERIS – Senior Expert, Tesim

Speakers:

  • Sanda ŠIMIĆ STAMBOLIĆ – Assistant Minister of European Integration, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of European Integration, National Authority
  • Marko PERIĆ – Head of MA (Interreg Hungary-Croatia, Interreg IPA Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro Programmes)
  • Mirjana VIDANOVIĆ – Communication Officer, Interreg Danube Region
  • Christian Gsodam – advisor, European Union External Action Service (EEAS)

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Management of legal obstacles in the European Union: good practices

The session aims to present existing good practices and models of cross-border management of persisting legal and administrative obstacles. The speakers will present the Benelux and the Nordic models, the most recent achievements of Germany, and the project “#ACCESS – Promotion of legal accessibility across the Slovak-Hungarian border” implemented by CESCI and CESCI Carpathia and co-financed by the Slovakia-Hungary Interreg VI-A programme. Moderator: Melinda Istenes-Benczi PhD, International Relations Coordinator of CESCI
  • Sandra Forsén, Senior Adviser of the Freedom of Movement Council of the Nordic Council of Ministers
  • Martin Unfried, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Transnational and Euregional Cross border Cooperation and Mobility / ITEM at the Maastricht University
  • Sebastien Gröning-von Thüna, Head of Section of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany
  • Katalin Fekete, Senior Legal Adviser, CESCI
 

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Cohesion and Competitiveness: Reflecting on Hungary's EU Presidency (MFOI)

On July 1, 2024, Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Among the seven key priorities, two pillars stand out as vital for discussion: strengthening cohesion and enhancing competitiveness. This workshop will dive into these critical themes, especially in light of the “competitiveness pact,” which was debated by the European Political Community on November 8.

The panelists, representing a wide range of sectors, will provide insights into what Europe’s competitiveness priorities mean from their own perspectives and in the context of the internal market. The panel will emphasize cohesion, a key policy area for the Hungarian presidency, exploring how it intersects with competitiveness and the internal market.

Discussions will center on the current state and future outlook of cohesion policy, the challenges for the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and opportunities presented by directly managed EU programs to strengthen cohesion. The conversation will also focus on regional disparities, their potential to drive competitiveness, and the prospects for convergence across Europe.
Additionally, panelists will examine how cohesion funds and directly managed EU programs can complement each other, rather than compete, in fostering enhanced competitiveness across the EU.

Moderator: Viktória Lilla Pató, Leading Expert, Hungarian Development Promotion Office, Research Fellow, Europe Strategy Research Institute

Panelists:

  • Ms Bernadett Petri, Ministerial Commissioner, Ministry for Public Administration and Regional Development, Managing Director, Hungarian Development Promotion Office, Head of Europe Strategy Research Institute
  • Ms Astrid Bartels, Head of Unit, SME Access to finance, DG GROW, European Commission
  • Mr Pál Zachar, Mayor, Šahy (Ipolyság)

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Interreg: Thematic focus or territoriality?

Thematic concentration of the Interreg Programmes was a recurring principle in the previous programming periods. The Programmes were invited to select from a number of thematic policy and specific objectives defined by the ERDF Regulation, complemented by an Interreg-specific objective. We will discuss about the practical experiences with the thematic concentration in the previous two programming periods?

Furthermore, as their name suggests, Interreg Programmes are oriented towards territorial cooperation. Their foremost objective is to stimulate and encourage cooperation within certain territory, along specific thematic lines. Within this context, we would investigate if the thematic concentration along the ERDF policy objectives is justified, or if a territorial approach would better support the impact of Interreg resources.

Moderator: Marko RUOKANGAS – Senior Expert, Interact

Speakers:

  • Silvester HOLOP – Deputy Head of JS, Interreg Hungary-Slovakia Programme
  • Ivan CURZOLO – Senior Expert, NA, Presidency of the Council of Ministers Italy
  • Simona ENE – Head of JS, Interreg Danube Region
  • Roland ARBTER – National Coordinator, Danube Regional Strategy (Austria)

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Why Interreg? Interreg achievements

Interreg projects are vehicles of innovation throughout Europe, they contribute to develop and implement innovative solutions for various socio-economic problems and deliver models of best-practice to be replicated at wider scale. But, in most of the cases, these results do not gain sufficient recognition and visibility. The general public and decision-makers do not associate Interreg with these achievements, which ultimately has a negative impact on the perception of Interreg Programmes.

Steps have been taken in order to raise visibility, but these are mainly related to general communication (such as the unified Interreg logo), and much more is to be done in order to raise awareness in the general public and decision-makers about the utility and added value of Interreg. What could be done in this sense? How can we better argue that, despite its relatively modest financial amplitude, Interreg is bringing a substantial contribution to the EU cohesion?

Moderator: Márton SZŰCS Dr. – Head of JS, Interreg VI-A Hungary-Croatia Programme

Speakers:

  • Luca FERRARESE – Head of Joint Secretariat, Interreg VI-B Central Europe
  • Aleš MRKELA – Head of MA, Interreg Slovenia-Hungary, Slovenia-Austria and Slovenia-Croatia Programmes
  • Viktor TUNIĆ – Head of Joint Secretariat, Interreg IPA CBC Hungary-Serbia Programme

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Towards a new European mechanism (CESCI)

The session aims to give an overview of the efforts made by the European Commission and the EU presidencies to eliminate the legal and administrative obstacles, including the Cross-Border Review project and the Communication “Boosting Growth and Cohesion in EU Border Regions”, the Border Focal Point, the b-solutions initiative, the Interreg Specific Objective 1, and the proposal on a mechanism facilitating cross-border solutions, etc. The speakers will also reflect on the future perspectives of the FCBS proposal.

Moderator: Katalin Fekete, Senior Legal Adviser of CESCI

  • Caitriona Mullan, Senior Expert of the AEBR
  • Jean Peyrony, Director General of the Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière
  • Rafał Baliński, head of department, Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy of Poland
  • Sławomir Tokarski, Director of the DG REGIO of the European Commission

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

EU Funding of the Regions (MFOI)

This panel focuses on how international developments, particularly innovative projects funded through directly managed EU resources, contribute to the formation and evolution of local identities. Panelists will explore the impact of EU-backed investments on local communities, examining how these initiatives foster economic growth and innovation while preserving and enhancing local talents and values. The discussion will highlight successful projects that have integrated European trends with local identity, emphasizing the role of directly managed EU funding in driving regional development. Special attention will be given to how these international investments can both strengthen competitiveness and support talent retention in rural areas, ensuring that European and local dynamics work in harmony for sustainable growth.

Moderator: Ms Anna Isola, Senior Advisor, Head of Representation Veszprém, Hungarian Development Promotion Office

Panelists:

  • Mr Bence Cseke, Project Manager, Hungarian Development Promotion Office
  • Mr Luke Incorvaja, Innovation Officer, European Institute of Innovation and Technology
  • Mr Szabolcs Erdős, Founder, Együtt Európáért Alapítvány

Please share any views, questions, or specific topics you would like to address during the workshop. Your thoughts will help us ensure a meaningful and engaging discussion.

Kick-off the European Cross-Border Platform & Kick-off b-solutions 3.0

Launching of the European Cross-Border Platform
To underline the needs of the border regions and their citizens, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) launched the European Cross-Border Platform, the successor of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Platform, which aims to gather all actors in cross-border cooperation from border cities and regions to EGTCs and Euro-regions.

The newly established Platform aims to create a new place for cross-border stakeholders to meet and discuss border communities’ unique circumstances and needs, allowing them to engage with the EU institutions through the European Committee of the Regions. The Platform will advocate for new approaches and policy solutions for cross-border regions, contributing to their social and economic growth while building a common European cross-border future for border regions.

The official kick-off of the Platform takes place in Budapest, during the Art of Cooperation conference.

Launching of the b-solutions 3.0 project
B-solutions is an initiative of the European Commission which aims to unfold and eliminate cross-border legal and administrative obstacles. The calls are published and the project is managed by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR). In the first two generations of the initiative, more than 150 obstacles have been identified and some of them have already been solved. The third generation will be officially launched during the Art of Cooperation conference. For more information, please, visit 
https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/.

Study visit to the Ister-Granum EGTC (Esztergom and Štúrovo)

The Ister-Granum EGTC was established in May 2008 as the second grouping of the European Union with more than 80 members situated around the iconic Mária Valéria Bridge rebuilt with EU support in 2001 (before the accession of Hungary and Slovakia to the Union). The study visit aims to give an overview of the activities, projects, and achievements of the grouping so far and to taste local food whose producers are grouped in a labelled cross-border local product network.

The buses collecting the participants will depart from different districts of Budapest between 8.00 and 9.00 am, and they are expected to be back in Budapest between 4.00 and 5.00 pm on 15 November. One of the buses will serve directly to the airport.

All attendants of the Art of Cooperation conference who registered to the study visit will be informed about further details in due time. Should you need assistance or clarification, please send an email to the organisers: cesci@cesci-net.eu.