Transnational co-operation is not an ‘added extra’ in EQUAL. Working with other countries is crucial to the Initiative’s success. It helps Development Partnerships (DPs) to look beyond national boundaries for inspiration and to learn from experience in other European countries rather than ‘reinventing the wheel’. Not only can DPs learn from different ways of doing things, but transnational co-operation can also provide a source of encouragement when trying out something for the first time.

All Development Partnerships must have at least one partner from another EU Member State and, in most cases, this will be another EQUAL-funded partnership. DPs may also co-operate with counterparts outside the European Union, for example, in candidate countries under the PHARE Programme.