FAQ

According to the eligibility rules of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Austria programme, all expenditures must be clearly attributable to the approved project. On invoices and payment confirmations, a clear project reference is to be stated (ITAT project code and/or programme name, project acronym or project title). Electronic documents are equivalent to original documents, provided they comply with the respective national legal requirements.

For Italian project partners, the following applies additionally: If applicable, the CUP (Codice Unico di Progetto) must be stated in accordance with national regulations (Article 11 of Law No. 3 of January 16, 2003 – amended by Decree-Law No. 76 of July 16, 2020, converted into Law No. 120/2020). If the CUP is missing on an electronic invoice (issue date after May 31, 2023), it can be retroactively integrated according to the specifications of the Revenue Agency (Provision of December 10, 2025, Prot. N. 563301/2025) for invoices in connection with public subsidies for economic activities via the web service in the “Fatture e Corrispettivi” portal. After integration, the CUP requirement is considered fulfilled.

If eligible expenditures were incurred before the assignment of the CUP, there is no obligation to state the CUP on the invoice (DL 13/2023); however, in this case, the clear attribution to the project must still be ensured by the accounting documents.

The obligation to install a permanent board or plaque, clearly visible to the public, arises when the project includes a physical investment or the acquisition of equipment AND the total costs of the entire Interreg project exceed 100,000 EUR. It is the responsibility of the beneficiary (i.e., the project partner making the investment or acquiring the equipment) to fulfill this requirement.

The boards or plaques must be installed at the project site as soon as the physical implementation of the project or the acquisition of equipment begins. They must be clearly visible to the public and made of durable material to ensure the longest possible lifespan.

(If the project does not fall into the above category, the requirements for “Posters and electronic displays” must be observed. See section 3.3, Linee guida di comunicazione)

Example: An Interreg project with a total budget of 250,000 EUR for the upgrading of a bicycle path includes the purchase of e-charging stations along the path. Since the total costs of the project exceed 100,000 EUR and it involves the procurement of equipment (charging stations), the project partner incurring the expenses for the charging stations is obligated to install the permanent sign. This sign should ideally be placed near the charging stations or in a publicly easily accessible location along the path. It should be made of weather-resistant material, such as metal or high-quality plastic. The installation must take place as soon as the installation of the charging stations begins.

Standard unit costs are simplified cost options (SCOs). They are based on approximate amounts and were developed using a methodology that considers the specificities of the entire program area (ITAT). The accounting of personnel costs is exclusively possible through standard unit costs, and assignment to the respective hourly rate category is made according to the predominant activity within the project. In any case, the beneficiary must ensure compliance with national labor law regulations. These standard unit costs should approximate the actual personnel costs.
It is possible to claim a maximum of 1,720 hours per person per year. When preparing the financial plan, it must be taken into account that sick leave, vacation days, and parental leave are not eligible. Any lump sums provided/reimbursed within the Interreg IT-AT 21-27 program are calculated based on the eligible personnel amount. The only exception is the 4% lump sum for office and administration costs, which is calculated based on direct costs if no personnel costs are incurred. See Point 3 of the FFR.

Technical consumables, such as laboratory materials (pipettes, etc.), fall under the cost category “Equipment costs,” even if they are not entered into inventory.
However, if they are office supplies, the expenses fall under the category “Office and administration costs.”

Unpaid voluntary work is considered an eligible in-kind contribution, provided that the beneficiary’s statute or founding act confirms its nonprofit status and the need for accounting/reporting is sufficiently justified. The value of unpaid voluntary work is set at €15.00 per hour. These in-kind contributions can only be accounted for up to the amount of the beneficiary’s own funds. See FFR, Point 4.3.

The amounts indicated in the reference cost table are net amounts, i.e., excluding value-added tax (VAT).

However, VAT can be taken into account in the preparation of the draft budget and in the plausibility check of the costs if the project partner is not entitled to deduct input VAT. In such cases, VAT represents an actual cost factor and may be included in the calculation.

The lack of entitlement to deduct input VAT must be substantiated with appropriate documentation.

Priority 4 supports regional development at the local level within the CLLD approach by investing in cross-border development strategies led by the local population. This aims to enhance integration and local responsibility in the immediate border area.
For Priority 4, there is only one call during the 2021-2027 program period. This call closed on 30/09/2022. As part of this call, the Managing Authority invited the submission of development strategies to promote regional development at the local level. The following area strategies were approved:

• Dolomiti Live: East Tyrol, Pustertal, Belluno
• HEurOpen: Hermagor, Gemonese, Canal del Ferro e Val Canale, Carnia
• Terra Raetica: Landeck, Imst, Vinschgau, Engiadina Bassa
• Wipptal: Northern and Southern Wipptal

These four CLLD areas will implement small and medium-sized projects to promote regional development through direct involvement of the local population until the end of the program period. Ideas for such small and medium-sized projects can be submitted within the framework of calls published by the respective CLLD areas.

A project idea from a CLLD area may cover a larger geographical scope, including actors and impacts from cooperation in functional areas outside the CLLD territory. Projects involving partners or actors from functional areas can thus be CLLD small or medium-sized projects.
For medium-sized projects with partners from functional areas, at least one partner must usually be based in the functional area.
To classify small projects as “projects with partners from functional areas,” either the location of the actor and/or an impact or activities in the functional area must be present. Since small projects have only one beneficiary (LAG), the entire project budget of the LAG is allocated to the approved “strategy fund” for projects in functional areas.
Projects must be cross-border in nature.

In general, the “personnel” cost category refers to costs for employees of public and private beneficiaries who are integrated into their organizational structure and assigned to implement project activities as stated in the project application (see FFR Chapter 3.1). The eligibility rules do not specify individual contract types; contracts are reviewed when assigning a person to a performance group, at the latest, during the first cost report submission. The essential defining element of an employment contract is the criterion of subordination, meaning the employee is subject to the employer’s instructions or control regarding time, place, and manner of work execution. Certain specific employment contracts, such as research grants and temporary agency work contracts (“contratti di somministrazione”), are considered personnel costs. However, commissions related to employment agencies (external services) are not eligible for funding.

Travel costs are reserved for internal personnel, meaning either personnel of the actor or the beneficiary. If no personnel costs are reported, no travel expenses can be claimed.
Travel and accommodation costs of external experts and service providers fall under the costs for external expertise and services.

Agreements between public administrations are eligible, provided they meet legal requirements (Article 12 of EU Directive No. 2014/24; Article 15 of Law No. 241/90 and Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 36/2023/Public Procurement Law). The agreement must be in writing and specifically related to the INTERREG project. When preparing the project budget, costs must be fully assigned to the category “Consulting and external services.” For accounting purposes, all specific rules of the program’s eligibility regulations must be observed, including provisions on expenditure categories and simplified options applicable to the agreement’s costs. If real costs are used for reimbursement, the public administration with which the agreement was made must provide a documented cost breakdown to the beneficiary public administration, detailing the nature of the incurred costs in accordance with the various expenditure categories and accounting methods (standard costs, lump sums) of the cooperation program. The beneficiary public administration records the total expenses under the “external services” category and submits the mentioned cost breakdown along with the payment/reimbursement document to the partner public administration. If these costs fall under the lump sum for residual costs, i.e., when the presence of the beneficiary’s internal personnel is required, the beneficiary must, in any case, submit a list of expenses of the public administration with which the agreement was made, detailing the nature of incurred costs according to the different expenditure categories of the cooperation program.

The classification of actual persons per performance group (LG) occurs at the beginning of the project (after signing the Interreg contract) by registering individuals in coheMON, no later than during the first accounting submission. The classification remains unchanged throughout the project duration. See Eligibility Rules, Point 3.1.1.

In addition to simplified cost options (SCOs), there are so-called actual costs, which can only be reimbursed under specific conditions: i.e., if they do not fall under the lump sum for remaining costs of 40% or 25% and if these actual costs belong to the cost categories “external services,” “equipment costs,” and “infrastructure investments and/or construction works.” In general, these are costs that are directly related to a specific activity/unit, provided that the connection to this specific activity/unit can be demonstrated.

For projects that include infrastructure measures or productive investments, the ownership must remain unchanged for 5 years after the final payment to the beneficiary, if the change involves a relocation of production activities, or if the change in ownership provides an unjustified advantage to another entity, or if significant changes undermine the achievement of the original objectives (see Article 65(1) of Regulation 1060/2021).
Even if, from the beneficiary’s perspective, no ownership relationship exists, but merely availability of the infrastructure, such as in the case of an investment in a property provided by the state to a municipality by concession, the costs for infrastructure measures are eligible for funding. If during the 5 years after the final payment, the ownership changes (e.g., transfer of property ownership to the municipality), it must be ensured that no unjustified advantage is granted to another entity.
Additionally, the general principle of direct project relevance must be observed. This means that only in the case of investments that themselves represent the project purpose or “project output” is the entire amount of expenses eligible for funding. Otherwise, only a proportionate recognition based on the project usage period is possible.

Costs are eligible from the submission of the project application until the project end. Therefore, costs incurred before signing the Interreg funding agreement but after submitting the project application are eligible, provided the project is approved.
The project end date is individually determined in the Interreg funding agreement signed between the managing authority and the lead partner.
For CLLD small projects, the eligibility start date is defined by the beneficiary (LAG/BZG) in the system upon project application submission and should generally not precede this date. The eligibility of CLLD medium-sized projects begins upon the correct entry of the respective project into the monitoring system.
Information for approved projects from the 1st call: The project end date must be set individually but cannot exceed 31/01/2026. Project duration may be extended for justified reasons, subject to approval by the managing authority (see call document, Point 8).

During the 2021-27 program period, activities in small-scale projects may be state aid relevant.
According to Article 20(a) of Regulation (EU) 651/2014 in its current version, state aid for enterprises in Interreg projects is compliant up to a maximum of €22,000. If a partner’s state aid-relevant funding exceeds €22,000, Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 may apply. This regulation allows state aid for beneficiaries whose activities in Interreg projects fall under state aid rules, with a funding rate of up to 80% of eligible costs.
Beneficiaries of individual small project funds (BZG, LAG) must upload the state aid assessment in the system after the project selection committee’s meeting to allow the managing authority to enter any state aid into the national aid register.

State aid relevance exists if all conditions defined in Article 107(1) TFEU are met: “Unless otherwise provided in the Treaties, any aid granted by a Member State or through state resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favoring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods shall be incompatible with the internal market insofar as it affects trade between Member States.”
According to the European Court of Justice, an undertaking is any entity engaged in an economic activity that competes with other market participants in offering goods or services, regardless of legal status or profit intention. This definition includes private and public enterprises as well as non-profit organizations, provided they perform economic activities related to the production and marketing of goods and services.
If funding is state aid relevant, it can only be granted under a specific aid scheme (de minimis, GBER – General Block Exemption Regulation, or an authorization/exemption regime of the respective managing authority). This decision can only be made during project evaluation based on additional documents submitted by each project partner and the project application.
The assessment of state aid relevance also depends on project activities. If an entity carries out both economic and non-economic activities, only the economic activities qualify as an undertaking.
Preliminary guidance on state aid aspects may be provided during project consultation. To obtain this, the regionally responsible coordination office must receive completed supplementary documents and the technical data sheet.
For further information: Guidelines on State Aid_2023.pdf (interreg.net), especially Chapter VII.

Joint procurement is not explicitly mentioned in the eligibility rules and is generally not foreseen for projects under Priorities 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Associated partners support the project or the partnership externally by providing their expertise and access to relevant data and information. They also help disseminate project results among target groups.
Associated partners finance their activities independently. Their activities cannot be funded with public funds allocated to a project partner. The only exception is travel costs, which may be covered from the project partners’ budget within the framework of the travel cost lump sum.
Associated partners may also be located outside the program area. However, their activities must benefit the program area.