Interreg III is the Community initiative by the European Regional Development Fund which encourages co-operation between European Union regions for the period 2000-2006. The objective of the new stage of INTERREG consists of increasing economic and social cohesion within the European Union, promoting cross-border, trans-national and interregional co-operation and the balanced development of the territory. Special attention is being paid to co-operation between ultra-peripheral regions and those located on the outside borders of the Union with the countries wishing to join it.