The 2nd Interreg NPA Monitoring Committee meeting took place in Luleå, Sweden, on 22nd March 2023.The meeting was chaired by the Swedish delegation and all participating countries were represented on the day. A summary of the MC decisions is provided below.

Permanent observers appointed to the MC

In line with Article 8 of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027 (CPR) the MC agreed to grant a permanent observer role to the following institutions/organisations:

• One representative from Scottish Government
• One representative from Northern Ireland Executive
• One representative from the Government of Canada
• One representative from the Nordic Youth Council (one-year rotatory)
• One representative from the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation

The chair of the MC can also invite others to attend the meetings such as observers and guests. Each participating country may have one observer at the meetings.

Project decisions

The Monitoring Committee decided on the projects submitted with the second call for proposals. The MC approved the following 5 Main projects and the first small-scale project in Priority 3: NPA0300095 MERSE, NPA0300102 N-LiTe, NPA0300105 SUB, NPA0300090 COPOWER, NPA0300093 DACCHE, NPA0300096 ARCTIC STEM COMMUNITIES.

Upcoming Calls for project proposals

The MC agreed on the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the 3rd Call for projects to be published on 17th April and on the ToRs for the Preparatory Project Call to be launched on 23rd August. In addition, the committee agreed on the opening of a 4th Call for projects in October 2023.

Future of Arctic Cooperation

The MC agreed to continue a close collaboration with the Interreg Aurora programme under the "Interreg Arctic Cooperation" initiative. The programmes will jointly organise events, facilitate project synergies and clustering, potentially opening a first clustering call in 2024, and continue exchange of expertise at programme management level.

Programme management matters

On the agenda of this meeting were also several updates concerning programme implementation in the area of programme evaluation, communication, project development support and Arctic Cooperation. The MC took note of the updates and agreed with the work plan proposed.

The Monitoring Committee will reconvene on 27th September 2023 in Copenhagen, chaired by the Swedish delegation.