In addition to the aforementioned institutions which offer a residency, another participating organisation in this programme is the Euroregion Pyrenees-Mediterranean (EPM). Established on 29 October 2004, it is a political cooperation project between Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi- Pyrénées with the goal of creating a sustainable development cluster in the northwest of the Mediterranean, based on innovation and on territorial, social and economic integration. In 2009, the Euroregion adopted the legal form of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGCT – European Regulation nº 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council, 5 July 2006), an EU instrument designed to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. EGTCs were established to help implement EU co-financed projects but also actions initiated by regional or local authorities, with or without EU funding. With more than 13 million inhabitants and 14% of the GDP of the two countries put together, the EPM is emerging as an area of European projects that develops its activities in the fields of higher education, research, innovation, economic development, employment, environment and culture.
