Western Functional Area

The new INTERREG POCTEFA 2021-2027 cooperation programming period introduces as a novelty a higher level of territorialization of the ERDF funds through the Policy Objective 5: “A Europe closer to its citizens” and the functional areas, promoting the integrated and sustainable development of all territories and local initiatives, which will result in new funding opportunities and actions aimed at improving the quality of life of cross-border citizens.

The EGTC Euroregion New-Aquitaine Euskadi Navarre coordinates one of the five operations of strategic importance of POCTEFA for the development and dynamisation of the Western Functional Area: AFOMEF.

Located around the meeting point between the Pyrenees massif and the Bay of Biscay, the Western Functional Area includes the territories of Euskadi, Navarre and the southern part of the New Aquitaine Region as well as the Baretous Valley. A true basin of life and a key area for cross-border mobility which, in addition to maintaining historical and cultural ties, the Basque as a common language and a very diverse natural heritage, presents an intense level of interrelation, as well as common territorial challenges that must be tackled in an innovative and integrated manner.

A global and shared vision that enhances the potential of the western functional territory through the co-development of an Integrated Territorial Strategy whose ultimate aim is to address more effectively the daily problems of the residents in the life basin of the Western Functional Area. The strategy will propose lines of intervention and actions that will be translated into structuring projects in order to address persistent challenges in the field of employment, commuting and communication from a cross-border perspective. The cross-border functional areas will thus become genuine “laboratories” for innovation in the field of territorial cooperation.

Western Functional Area governance