Overseas countries and territories

0,50 billionDevelopment and better connection with the EU of 13 overseas countries/territories and Greenland

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DG / Responsible Agencies:INTPA | EEAS

Potential beneficiaries

Authorities, organizations, businesses and civil society organizations active in the 13 EU Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs): Aruba, Bonaire, Curação, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Greenland, New Caledonia, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna.

Description and objectives

The purpose of the program is to promote the economic and social development of the EU’s 13 overseas countries and territories (OCTs), increase their resilience and competitiveness, reduce their economic and environmental vulnerability, and establish closer relations between each of them and the EU.

The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) are not sovereign countries: they are part of the territory of three EU member states (Denmark, France and the Netherlands), but not of the EU, although they are associated with it. Since they are all islands, located mostly in remote places (however environmentally and naturalistically important), they suffer specific vulnerabilities: in terms of climate (rising seas), environment (fragile ecosystems), economy (low economic diversification, poor competitiveness and infrastructure) and humans (environmental footprint and migration pressures). In addition, the EU has an interest in supporting the economic and social development of the OCTs, as they share the EU’s values and political priorities and are important ambassadors of the EU in their regions.

Most funding supports actions in areas of mutual interest to OCTs and the EU: green, digital and sustainable growth; human development; and cooperation with regional partners.

Types of actions and projects

Due to the special nature of the program, actions and projects are defined in close cooperation with OCT authorities, with a joint programming exercise and in areas of mutual interest, adapted to the specificities of the context. The program relies in many cases on direct management by OCT authorities and direct support to their budgets. For example, in Greenland, EU budget support helps to implement education sector reforms, while in the Caribbean and Pacific, actions focus mainly on the challenges of sustainable energy, marine biodiversity, resilience, and climate change.

Cooperation through under this program takes place through three main types of actions:

• Geographical and bilateral cooperation programs with individual OCTs;
• Regional programs based on shared needs (especially in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean regions);
• Intra-regional cooperation programs between an OCT or group of OCTs and one or more neighboring countries.

The program provides a reserve allocation to help OCTs respond to unforeseen circumstances, emerging challenges (e.g., migration pressures) and new international priorities.

Highlights

The program includes Greenland for the first time and brings together support for OCTs under a single funding source (OCTs other than Greenland previously benefited from the European Development Fund).

The new programming also includes enhanced cooperation with “non-OCT” neighbors, minimum shares to be allocated to climate change (25 percent) and biodiversity (between 7.5 and 10 percent), and greater complementarity with other funding sources (e.g., InvestEU and Global Europe).