Awards for high-quality health projects that encourage other Member States and regions to follow suit.

Every year, the European Commission presents the REGIOSTARS Awards to EU-funded projects which demonstrate excellence and new approaches in regional development. In order to inspire other regions and project managers across Europe, the participating projects are in the spotlight of communication activities at European level.

The REGIOSTARS are awarded to projects in five categories: digital transformation, sustainability, inclusive growth, urban development and a topic of the year. This year’s special topic is ‘Modernising health services’ which can inspire other Member States and regions.

High-level academics assess the submitted project applications and select the winners.  In addition, the public has the chance to decide on its own winner via public online voting. Further details on the award categories can be found in the Guide for Applicants.

The online submission platform is open for applications until 9 May 2019. Submissions will be judged by an independent jury and the winners will be announced at the REGIOSTARS awards ceremony in Brussels in October 2019.

Cohesion policy in the health sector

Cohesion policy funding supports projects with the following objectives:

• improved access to healthcare and combating health inequalities;
  
• reform of health systems;
  
• development of eHealth and digital solutions;
  
• research and innovation;
  
• health education;
  
• workplace safety and health.
  

In the 2014-2020 programme, €8 billion in health cohesion funding is being invested in healthcare, including €4 billion in EU co-funding. 44.5 million people in the EU are expected to benefit from improvements in health services over the 2014-2020 period.