
The REGIOSTARS Awards are a yearly competition, organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. It aims at identifying good practices in regional development and highlighting innovative, EU-funded projects, which could be attractive and inspiring to other regions and project managers.


Since 2008, the European Commission hands out annual REGIOSTARS awards to EU-funded projects which demonstrate excellence and new approaches in regional development. With the goal of inspiring other regions and project managers across Europe, participating projects are in the spotlight of communication activities at European level.


The REGIOSTARS are awarded to projects in five thematic categories:




Category 1 – SMART GROWTH: Industrial transition for a smart Europe


Category 2 – SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: Circular economy for a green Europe


Category 3 - INCLUSIVE GROWTH: Skills & education for a digital Europe


Category 4 – URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Citizens engagement for cohesive European cities


Category 5 – TOPIC OF THE YEAR 2020: Youth empowerment for cooperation across borders - 30 years of Interreg




In 2020, the REGIOSTARS focus on five areas that are crucial for the future of EU regional policy: industrial transition for a smart Europe, circular economy for a green Europe, skills & education for a digital Europe, citizens engagement for cohesive European cities and youth empowerment for cooperation across borders - 30 years of Interreg (the topic of the year).


An independent jury of high-level academics will assess the submitted project applications and crown the winners. In addition, the public will decide on its own winner through a public on-line vote and award the Public choice award to one of the projects.


Which types of EU co-funded projects are eligible?


All projects which received funding from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (including Interreg), Cohesion Fund (CF), European Social Fund (ESF), the Interreg IPA-CBC or Interreg ENI-CBC programmes (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, European Neighbourhood Instrument). In terms of funding periods, projects from both the 2007-2013 and the 2014-2020 period are eligible. In addition, projects and initiatives that combine ERDF or CF with the other ESI funds (ESF or EMFF or EAFRD) with directly managed EU funds (e.g. Horizon 2020, LIFE, COSME, CEF, EaSI, etc.) or with EFSI are welcome. Eligibility criteria are presented in the second section of this Guide (‘Eligibility and Award Criteria’)


All eligible applications will be assessed by the REGIOSTARS jury against the following award criteria:




Innovative character of the project in the selected award category;


Good results and impact of the project in relation to its initial objectives and impacts;


Financial sustainability of the project;


Transferability and possibility to replicate the project in other regions.




The winners in the five categories will receive their well-deserved price at the festive REGIOSTARS ceremony, to take place in Brussels in October 2019.


The winner of the five categories will also get a paid media partnership worth EUR 5.000.


The on-line application platform is open until 9 May 2020.


Applications must be in one of the official EU languages


The maximum number of applications per operational or cooperation programme is 5.


EU: RegioStars Awards 2020

The REGIOSTARS Awards are a yearly competition, organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. It aims at identifying good practices in regional development and highlighting innovative, EU-funded projects, which could be attractive and inspiring to other regions and project managers.

European Commission

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