The Experience Exchange Programme, launched in 1989, favoured preliminary contact between cities and regions within the Union, expanded by the RECITE programme. The destruction of the Berlin wall in 1991 favoured growing interest of Union cities and regions for inter-regional co-operation with Eastern Europe. The commission thus supported launching of two pilot actions: "OUVERTURE" (1990) and "ECOS" (1991). Community financing reached 43 millions Euros from 1990-1996. Nearly 350 networks were financed in this context, making it possible for 1,300 cities and regions within the Union to work with PECO counterparts (Countries of Central and Eastern Europe).

The programme progressively developed towards innovative concepts such as "public/private partnerships", "inter and intra-regional networks", "endurable development", multi-actor participation, "development of the information society and access to all of its means", etc. programme made it possible for involved organisations to co-operate in common actions, sources of knowledge improvement to benefit local development.

Results from the 1989-1996 period have made it possible to pursue a co-operative culture while more specifically contributing to the following:
- sharing of common experiences between European actors with different horizons
- strengthening economic and social cohesion by means of municipal and regional participation in the co-operative networks' most disadvantaged areas.

Finally, company actions are a major European integration factor, particularly in the most disadvantaged and/or outlying regions.

Moreover, this experience has served to define the implementation framework for new programming of a unified ECOS-OUVERTURE II (1996-1999) endowed with 30 million Euros

Since 1994, the PHARE Commission's funding contributes financially to the programme, making it possible for Central and Eastern European partners to have access to financing for these Exchanges.

ECOS-OUVERTURE II PROGRAMME (1996-2000) DEVELOPING EXTERNAL INTER-REGIONAL COOPERATION

A component of innovative regional development actions (art. 10 of the FEDER), external inter-regional co-operation became reality when the ECOS-OUVERTURE programme supplied a formal framework - structure, procedures, and internal rules - to develop projects involving the public actor at a decentralised level.

ECOS-OUVERTURE is currently one of the only actions to encourage decentralised co-operation between local Union actors and Central and Eastern European countries (PECO). It supplies a context to prepare aspiring cities and regions to succeed in their integration into the growing European Union. Shared work is a European driving force for integration, which plays a role in decreasing tension. By offering development perspectives to these countries through co-operation and allocated means, the Union participates in maintaining stability in these regions.

Pilot projects (such as the AVEC network - Alliance of European Cultural Cities) contribute to the emergence of regional economical development methods allowing local actors to fully carry out their responsibilities within the context of a wide partnership. External inter-regional co-operation makes it possible to compare ideas, methods, and practices by means of jointly led work. Thus, each actor can examine work methods and learn from partners in other regions in order to enrich his or her own methods of action. Exchange and co-operation make it possible to solve respective problems better and faster.