Participating regions

Eligible area within European Union

Finland	NUTS II NUTS III	Itä-Suomi, Pohjois-Suomi Keski-Suomi
Ireland	NUTS IV	Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Sligo
Northern Ireland	NUTS III	East of Northern Ireland, North of Northern Ireland, West and South of Northern Ireland
Sweden	NUTS II	Mellersta Norrland, Övre Norrland
Scotland	NUTS II NUTS III NUTS IV	Highlands & Islands Dumfries & Galloway North East Moray

Eligible area outside European Union

Faroe Islands	Entire territory
Iceland	Entire territory
Greenland	Entire territory
Norway	Finnmark, Hordaland, Møre og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trøndelag, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Svalbard, Sør-Trøndelag, Troms

In practice, this means that all projects must deal with issues that are specific to the rurality and peripherality of the programme area and that address the particular challenges and opportunities found in the programme area. Projects that focus exclusively on issues of an urban nature will not be supported.

Further information on the specific characteristics of the programme area can be found in Chapter 4 of the Operational Programme.

Criteria
The geographical flexibility criteria can be used in two different ways:

• Up to 10% of ERDF, Norwegian or Icelandic funds may be used to finance expenditure incurred by partners located in adjacent regions of Russia and Canada. The adjacent regions of Russia encompass Murmansk, Karelia and Arkhangelsk, and the adjacent regions of Canada primarily include Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Any such costs incurred must be kept separate and paid through the Lead Partner’s accounting system. They should also be certified by the Lead Partner’s national controller, due to European financial control requirements.
• Up to 20% of ERDF may be used to finance expenditure incurred by partners located outside the programme area but inside the European Union, and up to 20% of Norwegian funds may be used to finance expenditure incurred by Norwegian partners located outside the eligible programme area in Norway.

Note that the geographical flexibility rules should only be applied as an exception and should benefit the programme area. The use of the rules should be duly justified in the application form.

Circumstances which would permit the use of geographical flexibility include if:

• The specific expertise of a certain partner from outside the eligible area is deemed crucial for the project and the expertise cannot be found in the programme area.
• The external cooperation adds value to the project and the benefit accrues within the programme area.
• The project would not be able to fulfil its objectives without participation of the external partner.
• The addition of the partner enhances the results of the project in a clear and easily justified way.
• Inclusion of the external partner facilitates a particularly strategic cooperation, as defined by the Programme Monitoring Committee.

Faroese and Greenlandic Partners
The Programme Monitoring Committee has the possibility to allocate ERDF/Norwegian/Icelandic funds to co-finance partners from the Faroe Islands and Greenland. No special justification is required in the application form, as these partners are located within the eligible programme area.