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How Interreg works for an Irish partner

Interreg is not one programme, and this page is not PEACE PLUS. Ireland’s €293m share under Article 9(3) covers the cross-border strand — PEACE PLUS, €235m, which has its own entry with its own bodies — and three transnational programmes: North West Europe €32.77m, Northern Periphery and Arctic €13.15m, and Atlantic Area €13m. Ireland also takes part in the interregional programmes — Interreg Europe, URBACT and ESPON — which are financed from a central EU envelope and never appear in a national share. Two things an Irish partner must plan for: outside PEACE PLUS you find 25–40% (not PEACE PLUS); PEACE PLUS can fund 100%, and your expenditure must be verified by a first-level controller before it can be claimed.

ERDF — European Territorial CooperationReg. (EU) 2021/1059 (Interreg) · CPR Reg. (EU) 2021/1060€293m is Ireland’s share for cross-border and transnational cooperation · the interregional programmes are funded centrally and not allocated to Member States
One programme, too many disconnected records. Delivery notes, partner decisions, expenditure, results and reporting evidence often sit in different places.

How the money reaches an organisation

Every level here can be asked for its own process map. That is the point of yours.

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European Commission — DG REGIO
Approves each Interreg programme separately under Reg. (EU) 2021/1059 and accepts its accounts. Article 9 splits the money by strand: cross-border, transnational, interregional and outermost.
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A different Managing Authority for every programme
PEACE PLUS: the Special EU Programmes Body. North West Europe: the Hauts-de-France region in Lille. Northern Periphery and Arctic: the Västerbotten County Administrative Board in Sweden. Atlantic Area: the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission in Portugal. You apply abroad, but a Regional Assembly is your Irish contact point.
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Joint Secretariat of your programme
Runs the call, advises applicants, assesses the applications and services the monitoring committee that decides. Every programme has one, and it is your day-to-day contact.
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First-level control — who verifies your spending
This differs by programme and is the thing Irish partners most often get wrong. For the transnational and interregional programmes a Regional Assembly is Ireland’s controller and invoices you. For PEACE PLUS the Lead Partner buys the Controller off SEUPB’s framework, except in Investment Areas 1.2 and 6.2, where Pobal verifies.
👉 Your organisation sits at this level
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Lead Partner and project partners
One organisation leads the partnership and is answerable to the programme for all of it; each partner is answerable for its own spending. Your costs are only claimable once your controller has verified them.
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The communities and sectors the project is for
The people on both sides of a border or across several countries who use what the partnership produces. In Interreg language the partners are the beneficiaries; these are who the work is for.
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Audit Chain
Built upward from your own records, and the bodies differ by programme. Your invoices and proof of payment → your first-level controller verifies the expenditure (Reg. (EU) 2021/1059 Art. 46) → the Lead Partner consolidates and claims → the programme’s Managing Authority and Joint Secretariat approve, and its accounting function draws up the accounts and claims from the Commission → the programme’s Audit Authority, assisted by a Group of Auditors with one member per participating country, gives the annual audit opinion → the European Commission accepts the accounts. For PEACE PLUS specifically, the Audit Authority sits in the Department of Public Expenditure in Ireland, outside the Special EU Programmes Body, and the Group of Auditors includes the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. Alongside, not above: the European Court of Auditors and OLAF.

Process maps under this programme

Where this came from

Human reviewed2026-09-21Automatically checked2026-10-12Current source statusAutomatic baseline required

Read against the source on 2026-09-21. This is the human-reviewed version.

What that check changed: Reviewed and updated on 21 September 2026; 18 sources are listed below. The €293m is Ireland’s share of the cross-border and transnational strands under Article 9(3); the interregional programmes — Interreg Europe, URBACT and ESPON — are financed centrally, outside national shares. The three transnational programmes carry their own Managing Authorities, in France, Sweden and Portugal. The Audit Authority sits in the Department of Public Expenditure in Ireland, the Group of Auditors is supported from the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland, and SEUPB is the Accounting Function. Two things an Irish partner needs: outside PEACE PLUS you find 25–40% yourself, and spending is verified by a first-level controller — a national controller for the transnational and interregional programmes, one the Lead Partner procures for PEACE PLUS, and Pobal for Investment Areas 1.2 and 6.2.