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(1) Article 176 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is intended to help to redress the main regional imbalances in the Union. Under that Article and the second and third paragraphs of Article 174 TFEU, the ERDF is to contribute to reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and to reducing the backwardness of the least favoured regions, among which particular attention is to be paid to rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps such as the northernmost regions with very low population density and island, cross-border and mountain regions.

(2) Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out provisions common to the ERDF, the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out specific provisions concerning the type of activities which can be supported by the ERDF, and defines the goals for those activities. Those Regulations are not fully adapted to the specific needs of the European territorial cooperation goal, where at least two Member States or one Member State and a third country cooperate. It is therefore necessary to lay down provisions specific to the European territorial cooperation goal concerning scope, geographical coverage, financial resources, thematic concentration and investment priorities, programming, monitoring and evaluation, technical assistance, eligibility, management, control and designation, participation of third countries, and financial management.

(3) In order to increase the added value of the Union's cohesion policy, specific provisions should be aimed at achieving considerable simplification for all those involved: beneficiaries, programme authorities, authorities in participating Member States, at local, regional or national level, as appropriate, and third countries, as well as the Commission.

(4) In order to support the harmonious development of the Union's territory at different levels, the ERDF should support cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation under the European territorial cooperation goal.

(5) Cross-border cooperation should aim to tackle common challenges identified jointly in the border regions, such as: poor accessibility, especially in relation to information and communication technologies (ICT) connectivity and transport infrastructure, declining local industries, an inappropriate business environment, lack of networks among local and regional administrations, low levels of research and innovation and take-up of ICT, environmental pollution, risk prevention, negative attitudes towards neighbouring country citizens and aim to exploit the untapped growth potential in border areas (development of cross-border research and innovation facilities and clusters, cross-border labour market integration, cooperation among education providers, including universities or between health centres), while enhancing the cooperation process for the purpose of the overall harmonious development of the Union.

(6) Transnational cooperation should aim to strengthen cooperation by means of actions conducive to integrated territorial development linked to the Union's cohesion policy priorities, and should also include maritime cross-border cooperation not covered by cross-border cooperation programmes.

(7) Interregional cooperation should aim to reinforce the effectiveness of cohesion policy by encouraging exchange of experience between regions on thematic objectives and urban development, including urban-rural linkages, to improve implementation of territorial cooperation programmes and actions as well as promoting analysis of development trends in the area of territorial cohesion through studies, data collection and other measures. The exchange of experience on thematic objectives should enhance design and implementation, principally of operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal, but also, where appropriate, of programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal, including the fostering of mutually beneficial cooperation between innovative research-intensive clusters and exchanges between researchers and research institutions in both developed and less developed regions, taking into consideration the experience of 'Regions of Knowledge' and 'Research potential in Convergence and Outermost regions' under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research.

(8) Objective criteria for designating eligible regions and areas should be fixed. To this end, the identification of eligible regions and areas at Union level should be based on the common system of classification of the regions established by Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

(9) Cross-border cooperation should support regions located on land or maritime borders. Based on experience from previous programming periods, the Commission should define the list of cross-border areas that are to receive support under cross-border cooperation programmes in a simpler way, by cooperation programme. In drawing up that list, the Commission should take into account adjustments needed to ensure coherence, in particular with regard to land and maritime borders, and continuity of programme areas established for the 2007-2013 programming period. Such adjustments could involve reducing or enlarging existing programme areas or the number of cross-border cooperation programmes, while allowing for the possibility of geographical overlap.

(10) The Commission should define transnational cooperation areas having regard to actions needed to promote integrated territorial development. In defining those areas, the Commission should take into account the experience obtained in previous programmes and, where appropriate, macro-regional and sea-basin strategies.

(11) To ensure that all regions in the Union can benefit from the exchange of experience and good practices, interregional cooperation programmes should cover the whole Union.

(12) It is necessary to continue supporting or, as appropriate, to establish cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation with the Union's neighbouring third countries, as such coopearation is an important regional development policy tool and should benefit the regions of the Member States which border third countries. To that effect, the ERDF should contribute to the cross-border and sea-basin programmes established under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) pursuant to a future Union legislative act concerning the European Neighbourhood Instrument for the period 2014–2020 (the 'ENI legislative act') and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) pursuant to a future Union legislative act concerning the Pre-Accession Assistance for the period 2014-2020 (the 'IPA II legislative act').

(13) Apart from interventions on external borders supported by external policy instruments of the Union covering border regions inside and outside the Union, it should be possible for cooperation programmes supported by the ERDF to cover regions both inside and, in certain cases, outside the Union, where the regions outside the Union are not covered by external policy instruments either because they are not defined as a beneficiary country or because such external cooperation programmes cannot be set up. It is necessary, however, to ensure that the support from the ERDF for operations implemented in the territory of third countries should serve primarily for the benefit of the regions of the Union. Within those constraints, the Commission should, when drawing up the lists of cross-border and transnational programme areas, cover regions in third countries as well.