The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) (; Ulster-Scots: ''Tha By-Ordnar CE Dargs Convenerie'') is a cross-border body in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

which co-ordinates projects funded by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and implemented in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and adjacent regions: the Border region of the Republic of Ireland, and Western

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The SEUPB is one of six cross-border bodies established after the 1998

Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

, given statutory force by Section V of both the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999 in the UK and Republic respectively. SEUPB receives and disburses funds under two EU programs:

Interreg Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union (EU), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The first Interreg started in 1989. Interreg IV covered the period 2007–2013. I ...

IVA (€256 m) and Peace III (€333 m). It may also compete for Interreg IVB and IVC funds. It reports to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

and the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

Peace III

The EU Programme for Peace & Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland, known as Peace III, aims to "reinforce progress towards a peaceful and stable society and promote

reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Books * Reconciliation (Under the North Star), ''Reconciliation'' (''Under the North Star''), the third volume of the ''Under the ...

". The previous programmes were Peace I (1995–1999) and Peace II (2000–2004).

PEACE PLUS

In July 2022, a new €1.1 billion / £1 billion "PEACE PLUS" programme was announced, to be administered by SEUPB, jointly funded by the UK and the EU, and with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government providing matching funding. PEACE PLUS expires in 2027.

Impact of Brexit

As part of the

Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

, the European Union, Ireland and United Kingdom had committed to continue the funding of the Special EU Programmes Body until at least 2023. In 2022, they announced joint EU-UK funding of the programme would extend until at least 2027.

References

External links

seupb.eu
Official website British–Irish Agreement implementation bodies Organisations based in Belfast United Kingdom and the European Union Ireland and the European Union {{EU-stub