That gap – frequent member, rare leader – is the whole story of how Latvia engages with the EU’s interregional innovation instrument. Across 70 funded projects, Latvia appears in 11, through 18 participations by 15 organisations.

Only four of those roles are coordinator roles, and the leadership clusters in the smaller capacity-building projects, not the large investment ones.

The footprint is also unmistakably green: hydrogen, circular economy and sustainable industry account for 8 of the 11.

The harder question isn’t access. It’s leadership.

First of three briefs mapping Latvia’s place in I3: who takes part, who leads, and what the data won’t tell you.