European Funding

Composition of the budget

The budget is financed by different types of resources :

→ The “GNI” resource, which stands for “gross national income”, is the European Union’s main source of funding, since it contributes between two-thirds and three-quarters of the budget, depending on the year. Each Member State pays a contribution calculated according to its economic weight.

→ Traditional own resources (TOR) account for around 14% of total revenue in 2019. They consist mainly of customs duties levied on imports from third countries.

→ The VAT resource contributes 12% of revenue in 2019. This is a uniform rate, for all Member States, with a harmonised base according to EU rules.

→ The remainder (around 2%) comes from taxes paid by EU staff on their salaries, contributions from third countries to certain EU programmes, fines imposed on companies that infringe competition rules or other laws, and the balance from the previous year.

This budget is voted for a period of 7 years, thus allowing for long-term programming of actions. For the period 2021-2027, the budget amounts to 1074.3 billion Euros.
With the crisis, an additional budget of 750 billion Euros has been negotiated for the European recovery plan.

Use of the budget

→ 6% is dedicated to the functioning of the European Union, i.e. in the European buildings and the salaries of civil servants and elected representatives.
→ 94% of the budget is dedicated to European funds and programmes, to co-finance projects in the territories in relation with European policies..

For example, the 2021-2027 European policy on environmental protection aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990, to increase the use of renewable energy by 27%, and to improve the energy efficiency of buildings by 27%.

To help public authorities achieve these objectives, researchers to find innovative solutions, and associations to raise awareness and promote new uses, the European environmental programme LIFE+ provides grants. To do this, it is necessary to respond to European calls for projects.

European funding

The European Union provides a great deal of aid in the form of subsidies, co-financing projects from 30% to 90% or even 100%.

In general, the body that manages the programme (Managing Authority) regularly publishes calls for projects, which allows the best proposals to be selected, those that best meet the objectives, which will receive a grant.

There are 4 main types of European funding

1- Thematic programmes – EU sectoral policies

The so-called thematic or sectoral programmes are managed directly by the European Union, generally through agencies.

They co-finance European collaborative projects open to the 27 Member States that contribute to European policies such as the environment, research and innovation, culture, education…

Some examples

2- Territorial cooperation programmes – EU Regional Policy

These programmes allow the co-financing of cooperation projects with neighbouring territories. This interregional collaboration helps to correct imbalances between regions. These are the so-called “INTERREG” programmes.

There are several types :

  • Cross-border programmes between the regions of two countries, such as the ALCOTRA and MARITTIMO programme between France and Italy, or POCTEFA between France and Spain. The NEXT MED programme is a recent example of this category, which finances projects between European regions from the northern shore and those from the southern shore of the Mediterranean.
  • Transnational programmes between regions of several countries, such as the ALPINE SPACE programme or the EUROMED programme
  • Pan-European programmes that enable cooperation between regions from different EU countries, with a view to improving the implementation of regional and local policies, such as INTERREG EUROPE, URBACT, ESPON, INTERACT

3- European Structural and Investment Funds – EU Cohesion Policy

The priority objective of the European Union’s cohesion policy is to support the balance and development of territories at regional level. To achieve this, the European Union has set up the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESF) :

The period 2021-2027 is structured around these 5 priorities :

  • a smarter Europe, through innovation, digitalisation, economic transformation and support for small and medium-sized enterprises;
  • a greener, zero-carbon Europe, implementing the Paris Agreement and investing in energy transition, renewable energy and the fight against climate change
  • a more connected Europe, with strategic transport and digital communication networks
  • a more social Europe, which will give concrete expression to the European set of social rights and support quality jobs, education, skills, social inclusion and equal access to health care;
  • a Europe closer to its citizens, which will support locally-driven development strategies and sustainable urban development across the EU.

Several funds are available to co-finance non-collaborative projects, managed largely by the Regional Councils to which the Commission has delegated the role of Managing Authority, and partly by the State.

Below are the different funds with links to the website of the Region Sud Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur :

The Cohesion Fund is reserved for Member States whose Gross National Income (GNI) is less than 90% of the Community average in order to reduce social and economic disparities and promote sustainable development.

4- Development Aid – External Policy

Development cooperation aims to promote the economic and social development of assisted countries, develop democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

It is through the European Development Fund that the European Union co-finances projects in countries outside its borders.

There is also aid in the form of loans or guarantees, which are managed by the European Investment Bank with the European Investment Fund.

→ Full list of European funding programmes
→ More information on European funding (FR)

How to get european funding ?

To find the right funding for your project, several tools and actors can help you :

South Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region’s tool

The South Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region offers a tool for project leaders who want to find the programmes that can finance their project

Read more (FR)

Enterprise Europe Network

If you have a company, contact an Enterprise Europe Network contact person near you: Contact for the South Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region

Read more (FR)

Citizen & Education

If you are a citizen, or you represent a school and you want to benefit from the ERASMUS+ programme, contact the regional office near you, in the South Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region.

Contact

And for everyone else, you can write to us, and present your project, we will find the right person to guide you, that’s our mission !

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