European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs) are institutional bodies established to plan and manage cross-border and transnational activities. They are based on Regulation 1082/2006 (subsequently updated by Regulation 1302/2013), which allows public bodies from different Member States to jointly form a new entity with legal personality; 2026 marks the twentieth anniversary of their establishment. These are the first cooperation structures with legal personality to have been established under European Union law. In Italy, the legislation implementing the 2006 European Regulation was adopted in 2009. EGTCs are governed by a Convention concluded unanimously by the members and by a Statute approved subsequently, and aim to facilitate and promote territorial cooperation, with the ultimate aim of strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion within the European Union.
The origins of cross-border institutions date back to the second half of the 1950s, when sub-national authorities across European borders felt the need to establish structured forms of cooperation in order to tackle common problems or to seize shared opportunities for development and for improving the quality of life for border communities. These initiatives were taken up and supported primarily within the Council of Europe, partly as a means of fostering peace following the Second World War. This led to the creation of the first ‘Euroregions’ (the first is traditionally identified as having been established on the border between Germany and the Netherlands by three municipal associations in 1958), followed by the emergence of ‘Working Communities’, generally focused on economic development and covering a wider area. At the same time, in 1972, the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) was established – the first collegial body representing the interests of border regions.
With the first reform of the Structural Funds (in 1989) and the establishment of a genuine European regional policy, cross-border cooperation was allocated specific funding through the creation of the Interreg programmes.
Since the 1990s, thanks in part to the resources made available under cohesion policies, attempts to institutionalise cross-border and territorial relations have multiplied; it is in this context that the adoption of the EGTC Regulation must be understood; since 2006, this Regulation has sought to provide a ‘ready-to-use’ tool for the establishment of cross-border, transnational and interregional bodies at sub-national level.
EGTCs have grown in importance and become increasingly widespread in recent years, partly due to the ever-greater strategic focus on European territorial cooperation, which has been one of the priority macro-objectives of cohesion policy since 2007. Furthermore, whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has, on the one hand, highlighted the fragility of integration processes at sub-national level, with local and regional border actors finding themselves caught off guard by national border closures often adopted unilaterally and suddenly by Member States; on the other hand, it has also strengthened a coordinated movement of European border regions, which are strongly calling for recognition of their specific status and a greater expansion of cross-border public services. The issue of cross-border cooperation and the instruments dedicated to it is now highly topical and relevant.
As of August 2025 (the latest available update), 91 groups operating within and across the European Union were listed in the official EGTC register (managed by the Committee of the Regions); of these, fourteen include Italian participants. Furthermore, other EGTCs involving Italian entities are currently being established, with processes at various stages of development.
The experiences of EGTCs inevitably share certain common features, given that they are based on the same legal framework. At the same time, however, they also exhibit numerous differences, which can be identified and analysed from various perspectives. These include the specific characteristics of the territories in which they are located, the year of establishment and thus their longevity, the objectives they choose to pursue, the governance models they adopt, the main sources of funding and their projects, the level of integration achieved and experience gained, the level of political and technical involvement, their shared membership of certain Member States, and the possible participation of non-EU territories.
Until now, there has been no in-depth, systematic study of the experiences of EGTCs in Italy that could, on the one hand, help us understand what has been achieved so far through this instrument and what the future prospects are; and, on the other hand, enable the Groups themselves to get to know one another by learning through an exchange of experiences and best practices.
The project “European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation in Italy: Current Status and Policy Recommendations” aims to fill this gap. Funded as part of the ITALIAE2 Project, the project stems from an agreement between the Department of Regional Affairs and Autonomies (DARA) of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which is responsible for processing applications for authorisation to establish EGTCs and for maintaining the National Register of EGTCs (pursuant to Article 46 of Law No. 88 of 7 July 2009) , and the Institute for Studies on Regional, Federal and Autonomous Systems of the National Research Council (CNR ISSIRFA). To carry out the planned activities, CNR ISSIRFA has chosen to collaborate with two centres of recognised prestige with specific expertise in the field of territorial cooperation: the FULL – Future Urban Legacy Lab at the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Institute for Comparative Federal Studies at EURAC Research.
The activities carried out during the project period (July 2024 – December 2025) can be divided into three categories:
Research activities: the project aimed to examine the EGTC instrument and its practical implementation in Italy, including through a direct survey of the experiences of Italian public bodies in this area;
Support activities: the project provided a platform for existing EGTCs and those in the process of being established to connect with one another and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by this instrument. Specific support activities were also carried out for a number of EGTCs currently being set up;
Regulatory support activities: the project provided a forum for discussing the European and national regulatory frameworks and proposing that the latter be brought into line with the changes introduced by Regulation 1302/2013.
This volume covers all these activities and is structured as follows.
Chapter 1 presents a review of the main existing literature on EGTCs at national and international level. In addition to providing an overview of the state of the art in publications that have examined the EGTC experience over the last 20 years, the review served as the starting point for identifying the outstanding issues subsequently addressed in the analysis of EGTCs in Italy. Chapter 2 outlines the current regulatory framework, at European and national level, governing EGTCs and discusses prospects for reform. It also presents aspects of national legislation in certain European countries, particularly those hosting EGTCs with Italian participants. Chapter 3 presents, through a comprehensive set of maps, an overview of EGTCs with Italian participants, described and categorised on the basis of the various elements that characterise them (e.g. Italian/foreign law; year of establishment; type of territorial cooperation; type of participating actors; resources mobilised). The chapter also includes a description of each EGTC and the types of activities carried out. Chapter 4 reports on the research activities carried out. Following a brief methodological introduction, the survey results are presented, organised around four main themes: internal organisation (bodies and decision-making processes; any internal regulations; frequency of meetings, staff management, etc.); funding and resources (sources of funding, with a particular focus on Interreg programmes, and use of resources); external organisation (institutional relations at various levels; relations with the local area; visibility and communication); administrative issues (related to the implementation of activities and the cross-border nature of the bodies). Chapter 5 discusses the potential and challenges of EGTCs in Italy, based on the findings of the analysis. It examines the added value of the EGTC instrument, including in light of the different types and approaches identified, as well as the main limitations and issues arising from its application and any future prospects and potential for improvement. Furthermore, based on the study’s findings, the chapter identifies several key elements to be taken into account when establishing an EGTC. Chapter 6 discusses the operational activities carried out as part of the project, including a series of online seminars (held between May and June 2025) and support activities for training initiatives; the possibility of replicating the adopted model is also discussed. Finally, Chapter 7 sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations for DARA and for the optimal use of the EGTC instrument in the Italian context.
The report is accompanied by two appendices: a checklist setting out the steps required to carry out the preliminary assessment of EGTCs; and an extensive bibliography on European territorial cooperation and EGTCs. The research and support work – and therefore this volume – presents the results of an initial attempt to systematise and share the knowledge accumulated by EGTCs with Italian participants, almost 20 years after the adoption of Regulation 1082/2006. The findings of the research paint a picture of a dynamic and evolving instrument, which has so far enabled very significant results to be achieved and, at the same time, appears not yet to have fully realised its potential. From this perspective, the volume also offers a series of ideas for further study and activities, in which research and support can bolster the effectiveness and usefulness of European territorial cooperation initiatives.
