The Programme Planning Group (PPG) is tasked to prepare a successor programme to the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020 on the basis of the draft Cohesion policy legislative package for the funding period 2021-2027.

The PPG is responsible for all aspects of programme development and is the main decision-making body during the programming of NPA 2021-2027.

Each current programme partner country is represented except the UK. The following organisations are also participating as observers: representatives from Russia, the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation (NORA), the Arctic Council's Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. In addition, the European Commission is an observer in an advisory capacity.

Report from the Meeting

At their last meeting, on 10th December 2020, the PPG agreed to extend the duration of the programming process in order to allow additional meetings and include the outcomes of the stakeholders consultations scheduled in the first quarter of 2021. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has begun. The SEA is the assessment of the wider environmental, social and economic impacts of a programme, carried out at the beginning of the programming period. More specifically, the work will include: consultations with national environmental agencies, documented in consultation reports; appraisal of programme elements as to their potential impact (positive and negative) on the NPA environment; an environmental report summarising the results of the assessment; suggestions for the implementation, monitoring and control of environmental considerations in the NPA Programme 2021-2027. The next PPG meetings will be on 2nd February 2021 and 15th April 2021.