PPG meeting no 8 was held in Brussels on the 13th of December 2006. It is anticipated to be the last PPG before submission of the Operational Programme document to the Commission.

Following amendments after the PPG 8 the OP will go out to interdepartmental consultation within the ministries of the participating countries. The OP will then be submitted to the European Commission in early February 2007.

The four priorities and the joint transnational strategy have been approved by the Member States and Norway. They provide a framework for strengthened transnational co-operation in order to secure that the new programme contributes to the Lisbon and Gothenburg Agendas and the Territorial Agenda.

It was also reported that the Ex-Ante and SEA evaluation report is positive, and that the work on the indicator system is showing good progress.