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Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 3
How does EU funding work?.................................................................................................. 3
The UK and EU funding ......................................................................................................... 4
STRUCTURAL FUNDS ............................................................................................................. 5
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)............................................................ 6
Example: Sustainable Routes, Thames Valley .................................................................. 7
Example: Retrofit South East, Petersfield .......................................................................... 7
INTERREG ............................................................................................................................. 7
Example: IMPRESS Health 2 in Kent and beyond ............................................................ 8
Example: Improvements to St Marys Parish Church, Ashford ......................................... 8
Example: The POSSE project, Reading ............................................................................ 8
URBACT ................................................................................................................................. 9
European Social Fund (ESF) ................................................................................................. 9
Example: Oxford City Council welfare reform programme ................................................ 9
Example: Job Deal Hampshire......................................................................................... 10
Your local LEP...................................................................................................................... 10
European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)............................................ 13
Example: EAFRD projects funded through the West Kent Leader programme .............. 15
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) ................................................................. 15
Example: the Hastings FLAG ........................................................................................... 16
OTHER EU GRANT-FUNDED PROGRAMMES .................................................................... 16
Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) .......................................................................... 16
Creative Europe ................................................................................................................... 16
Example: the Stick Man, Orange Eye Ltd ........................................................................ 17
Horizon 2020 ........................................................................................................................ 17
Example: Oxfutures .......................................................................................................... 18
Connecting Europe .............................................................................................................. 18
Example: ........................................................................................................................... 19
Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme ...................................................................... 19
Example: Tackling child-to-parent violence, Brighton ...................................................... 19
The Asylum and Migration Fund.............................................................................................. 19
Europe for Citizens .................................................................................................................. 20
LIFE - Programme for the Environment and Climate Action ............................................... 20
Example: LIFE projects, the New Forest.......................................................................... 21
COSME ................................................................................................................................ 21
INTRODUCTION
Although we only pay a penny in the pound of our taxes to the EU, a huge variety of
projects in the South East have been funded by the EU over the years. In fact there
are almost undoubtedly projects funded by the EU operating on your doorstep,
wherever you live in the South East, from Milton Keynes to Dover via the New Forest!
This booklet offers a quick guide to the main EU funding streams and examples of
how they have been used in the South East. It is not exhaustive however, and links to
additional sources of information are provided where appropriate. These should be
cross-checked with information within this guide. The details provided here are up to
date as far as possible at the time of going to press but it is advisable to check on the
relevant programme websites to make sure nothing has changed in the interim. If you
have any comments on this guide, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at
contact@AnnelieseDoddsmep.uk.
The guide covers, first, the different formats of EU funding, then considers different
categories of EU funding. Grant funding is examined first, covering European
Structural and Investment Funds, then the most significant other forms of European
project funding. An exhaustive list of EU grant funding opportunities can be found here;
this is not provided within this guide. After discussing grant funding, the guide then
covers the Erasmus+ programme, and non-grant funding such as that from the
European Investment bank.
How does EU funding work?
At the end of 2013, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union
came to an agreement on the budget for the EU for the next 7 years (2014-2020)
multiannual financial framework. A huge part of this new budget plan - 960 billion
euros- is used for EU funding instruments, programmes and initiatives; and a fair
chunk of this is allocated to projects in the South East.
There are fairly strict rules about what the EU can and cannot fund. First of all, grants from
the EU cannot be used to produce a profit for any organisation or company, and they cannot
be used to fund activity that has already happened. Most of the time, EU funding needs to be
matched by funding from other sources, such as local authorities or local government. The
use of the funding must be transparent- so funded projects will need to report fairly regularly
on what they are doing with the money. The choice of what is funded by the EU is impartial,
and according to criteria that are publicly available. Finally, EU funding is non-accumulative;
that means, that if you get an EU grant one year you should not assume that makes it more
likely you will receive funding again the next year.
2
For details of how EU research funding is supporting projects in the South East, please see
my report on The EU, Science, Innovation and Jobs in the South East of England, which
can be downloaded here.
4
It should however be mentioned here that the current UK government has decided not
to opt in to certain funds available at EU level. While the UK government has argued
that it would rather not participate in particular programmes for a variety of reasons,
this has prevented access for local actors to certain funding streams.
For example, the UK government chose not to take up funds from the 3.5billion euro
Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, which could help with the running of
foodbanks for example, and in provision of services for the homeless. It also decided
not to make a claim on the Solidarity Fund following the last bout of flooding in the UK
over the winter of 2013-14. The Solidarity Fund supports countries and regions
affected by major natural disasters, and since 2002 helped in the aftermath of over 50
disasters by funding infrastructure repair, providing temporary accommodation and
securing prevention of further impact from freak weather conditions or other problems.
Following the floods of summer 2007, the then Labour Government obtained funding
through the solidarity fund which helped reimburse public authorities in Oxfordshire as
well as the other two British flooding epicentres, Yorkshire and Humberside and
Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. The UK has also opted out of the Justice and
Internal Security EU funding streams.
The UK also, now, suffers from a lack of regional bodies which can offer expertise on
EU funding. While the previous Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were not
perfect, they did accrue experience in delivering EU funding. In some regions, the EU
advisory element of RDAs has been retained, so for example, the East of England has
an EU Office. In the South East, some bodies have created their own centres of EU
expertise, such as the Kent and Medway NHS Europe Centre, which aggregates
expertise on health and research funding across the county of Kent.
STRUCTURAL FUNDS
Structural funds form the most significant EU funding stream, and are probably what
most people think of when they hear the term EU funding. They are the core policy
tool for what the EU calls its cohesion policy- the overall term for its policies focusing
on creating sustainable economic growth and improving citizens quality of life. One
stream of structural funds, so-called cohesion funds, are not available to the UK
because they are focused on the poorest countries in the EU. However, the UK does
qualify for the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF), the European
Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EARDF)
and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
In order to identify what these funds should focus on, the European Commission
negotiates with national governments and, where available, regional authorities, to
draw up what are known as Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes.
Once the latter have been approved, bids are opened for organisations to deliver
projects.
The UK is in a rather strange position when it comes to accessing these funds, since,
following the UK governments decision to abolish Regional Development Agencies, it
lacks any kind of regional decision-making structure. Initially, Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEPs) were tasked with developing ideas and practical plans for projects
5
LEP Allocation
Buckinghamshire Thames Valley
Coast to Capital
Enterprise M3
Oxfordshire LEP
Solent
South East
Thames Valley Berkshire
Finally, the so-called Interreg IVc programme involves co-operation across all of
the 28 members of the EU and Norway as well.
The Channel Programme will be launched later this year, whilst the Two Seas
programme was launched in November of last year. Whereas Upper Normandy was
previously the managing authority for the Channel Programme, this responsibility
has transferred to Norfolk County Council. The managing authority for the Two Seas,
Interreg IVb and Interreg IVc programmes is the Region Nord Pas-de-Calais.
Example: IMPRESS Health 2 in Kent and beyond
The IMPRESS Health 2 project is a cross-channel research project to find out why
some people are being diagnosed comparatively late with HIV, and how earlier
testing could be promoted. In 2012, over half of the people diagnosed with HIV in
Kent and Medway had received a late diagnosis. This is bad for their health, and
also means that they are unable to take steps to stop passing on the virus to others.
The analysis being carried out within the project should help to reduce the numbers
of late diagnoses in the future. The IMPRESS Health 2 project receives 967,880 of
funding from the INTERREG IVa France (Channel) England programme. As well as
the local authority, charities and health care organisations in Kent and Medway, it
also involves partners in Picardie, France. The lead partner for the project in the UK
is Kent and Medway NHS Trusts Health and Europe Centre.
10
Name
Address
Tel. no.
Areas covered
South
East LEP
03330 138
761
http://www.southeastlep.com/
contact
01865
261433
info@oxfordshirelep.com
01494
568951
info@buckstvlep.co.uk
Buckinghamshire
02392 688
924
info@solentlep.org.uk
Hampshire
Oxfordshi
re LEP
Buckingh
amshire
Thames
Valley
LEP
Solent
LEP
11
Coast to
Capital
LEP
Arun House
Hurst Road
Horsham
RH12 2DN
01403
333840
See
www.coast2capital.org.uk/con
tactus#sthash.AIGiHEoA.dpbs
Enterpris
e M3 LEP
01962
846755
info@enterprisem3.org.uk
0118 945
0200
info@thamesvalleyberkshire.
co.uk
Berkshire
Thames
Valley
Berkshire
LEP
12
3,835,682
Enterprise M3
4,430,352
3,547,355
Oxfordshire LEP
3,488,507
2,793,225
Solent
2,912,578
2,332,083
South East
18,069,267
14,467,947
1,405,133
1,125,081
13
Sterling
Accountable Body
Website
Aylesbury Vale
and Rural Milton
Keynes (Clay
Vales)
http://www.leaderprogramme.org.uk/aylesbury-vale-miltonkeynes#.VOUI7vmsXuo
Chilterns
Fieldfare
Winchester City
Council
http://www.leaderprogramme.org.uk/chilterns#.VOUI__msX
uo
http://www.fieldfareleader.org.uk/localaction-group/
Isle of Wight
http://www.naturalenterprise.co.uk/upload
s/content_documents/778/Isle_of_Wight_
LDS_2015_-_2020.pdf
http://www.kentruralnetwork.org.uk/leader
Loddon and
Eversley
Hampshire County
Council
http://www.ruralfunding.co.uk/
New Forest
http://www.newforestleader.org.uk/
South
Oxfordshire
Southern Oxfordshire
District Council
Not available
http://www.surreyhillsleader.org/
http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/default.asp
x?page=8191
14
Horsham, Lewes
and Mid-Sussex
http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/default.asp
x?page=8191
Weald and
Rother Rural
Partnership
http://www.warrpartnership.org.uk/
West Kent
Sevenoaks District
Council
http://www.westkentleader.org.uk/
East Kent
Action with
Communities in Rural
Kent
http://www.ruralkent.org.uk/ourwork/EastK
entLeader.htm
Example: EAFRD projects funded through the West Kent Leader programme
During the last LEADER programme period, which finished at the end of 2013, West
Kent LEADER awarded over 1.25million in grants to over 60 projects. These covered
a diverse range of activities in the West Kent area. Grants were used, for example, for:
the purchase of a log splitter for firewood production; the conversion of a barn for
business units; diversification of a farm into cheese making including conversion of
farm building, purchase of a woodchip boiler and hire of equipment; the purchase of a
forest trailer and crane; the promotion of locally-sourced breakfast menus; and the
provision of trees, seating, street lighting, bollards and litter bins to improve a village
centre.
Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 (H2020) covers a wide variety of programmes including the following:
the Framework Programme for Research & Technological Development (FP), the
Competitiveness & Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the European
Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Please see my booklet on the South East
and research funding for elements of Horizon 2020 falling under the Framework
Programme.
Horizon 2020 as a whole is focused on a number of core aims, which include: the
growing need for sustainable healthcare; improved security and privacy; a lower
carbon economy; and intelligent transport. Funding through Horizon 2020 is provided
through calls for proposals and calls for tenders.
In order to rationalise European funding projects, Horizon 2020 now covers
previously discrete programmes such as the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) fund. As
with IEE, Horizon 2020 includes an Energy Efficiency Call which focuses on tackling
non-technological (i.e. economic, administrative and skill-related) barriers to the
spread of efficient use of energy and greater use of new and renewable energy
sources.
17
Horizon 2020 also includes the Active and Assisted Living programme. This focuses
on bringing organisations across Europe together to develop ICT measures to help
with active and healthy ageing. Innovate UK (formerly known as the Technology
Strategy Board) is the UK contact point for this funding stream. Examples of
involvement of UK companies and organisations in the previous version of the
programme can be found here.
Horizon 2020 is also the EU funder for Eurostars, a joint funding stream from both the
EU and those countries involved in the Eureka network (South Korea, Turkey and
Israel as well as most EU countries). The responsible organisation for the programme
in the UK is, as with AAL above, Innovate UK. Eurostars funding is open to SMEs who
devote at least 10% of their turnover to research and development activity (what is
described as R and D performing SMEs). The maximum grant is 360,000 per UK
participant, with funds being provided for projects that involve other partners within the
EU/Eureka network. The UK has a strong success rate in applications for Eurostars,
comprising 16% of successful project participants.
Funding for Horizon 2020 is provided on the basis of calls to tender and for projects.
Details of current funding opportunities can be found here. A dedicated website for
Horizon 2020 applicants from the UK is available here.
Example: Oxfutures
This programme involves co-funding from the Intelligent Energy Europe fund (now
incorporated within Horizon 2020), alongside funding from Oxford City Council and
Oxfordshire County Council, in order to deliver 20million of investment into local
energy projects. The first programme of its kind, it is designed to offer a new
approach to financing community energy projects. Oxford City Council will receive a
return of 5% on its contribution to the fund, which overall is intended to lead to the
installation of 7.6 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. This includes 1
megawatt of solar panels on over 20 schools in Oxfordshire, 1 megawatt of
renewables for local businesses and potentially up to 5 megawatts of community
schemes. The project will work on an innovative share basis. A social enterprise,
the Oxford Low Carbon Hub, provides the initial construction funding, but once
renewable infrastructures are built a community share offer is launched. Funds
received upon sale of the shares then enable the Hub to pay back the loan from
Oxford City Council and then provide more project funding.
Connecting Europe
Connecting Europe is a new programme of funding for 2014-2020. The Connecting
Europe Facility covers both transport and digital connections, and includes co-funding
for so-called TEN-T networks. It will invest 31.7 billion to upgrade Europe's transport
infrastructure, build missing links and remove bottlenecks. By focusing on transport
modes that are less polluting, the Connecting Europe Facility will push our transport
18
system to become more sustainable. It will also give consumers more choice about
how they want to travel. In addition, the Digital element of the programme has a budget
of 1.14 billion euros. Out of this, 170 million euros are earmarked for Broadband
activities, while 970 million euros are dedicated to Digital Service Infrastructures (DSIs)
delivering networked cross-border services for citizens, businesses and public
administrations. These projects are to contribute to improving economic
competitiveness, promoting the interconnection and interoperability of national,
regional and local networks, and promoting access to such networks, thus supporting
the development of a Digital Single Market.
Example: TEN-T funding in the South East
Numerous projects have been funded affecting the South East over the last twenty
years by predecessors to the Connecting Europe Facility. Examples include 5 million
euros in 2011 for the line from Southampton Port to the West Coast Main Line which
was on top of 1 million euro for this purpose in 2003, 27 million euros for Channel
Tunnel Rail Link Works in 2006 following 25 million euros for this purpose in 2004 and
20 million in 2003, and 1 million euro for Reading Station in 2004.
Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme
The new Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme integrates the previous EU
programmes Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Daphne III, and the sections
Antidiscrimination and Diversity and Gender Equality of the PROGRESS
programme. The programmes main objective is enhancing the awareness of EU law
and of the rights, values and principles underpinning the Union. Funds from this
programme can be used for a variety of activities including analysis, training, mutual
learning and cooperation, and support for key organisations e.g. in networking but also
in their implementation of actions with European added value.
Applicants need to consider annual work plans produced by the Commission for this
programme, which detail what will be funded, how much will be allocated, and an
indication of the timetable. The allocation of funds is organised by the Commission by
a call for application for action grants or operating grants.
Example: Tackling child-to-parent violence, Brighton
The Responding to Child-to-Parent Violence (RCPV) project is coordinated by two
Brighton-based organisations, and funded partly by the Daphne programme (now part
of the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme). The two lead organisations are
the University of Brighton and Brighton and Hove Council, with the project also
involving social workers, NGOs and academics from a variety of other EU countries.
The project involves work to identify the scale of child-to-parent violence, to understand
the experiences of some of the children and parents involved, and to develop
interventions to prevent this largely hidden type of violence.
The Asylum and Migration Fund
This brings together many pre-existing EU funds such as the European Refugee
Fund, the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the
European Return Fund. Unusually the EU provides a greater contribution than usual
19
than 1.6billion in the last five years to UK universities and colleges, and its largest ever
loan to a higher education institution was in the South East, with a 200 million loan
for Oxford University having just been announced (September 2015).
Example: University of Kent, Canterbury
The University of Kent, Canterbury is receiving 75 million from the European
Investment Bank, which will be repayable over 25 years. The funding will help with
the development of the universitys Templeman Library on its Canterbury campus,
and support improvements to research and teaching facilities at its Medway campus.
The funding will also be used to provide a new space for the universitys schools of
business and of mathematics, and enable the expansion of other schools. A key part
of the project is the reduction of the universitys energy costs linked to the
development, with this anticipated to amount to a 19% reduction over time. In
addition to benefiting the university and its students, the funding is also to be used to
provide new facilities for the Kent Law Clinic, which is the universitys pro-bono legal
advice service.
In addition to EIB general call funding, specific programmes within the EIB are
earmarked for different areas of investment. These include the JESSICA and ELENA
programmes. The JESSICA programme (Joint European Support for Sustainable
Investment in City Areas) is an EU initiative with the objective to assist all regions to
establish strategies for sustainable urban development and realise urban
development projects through the set-up of (revolving) financial instruments. The
ELENA programme (European Local Energy Assistance) is a technical assistance
facility supporting the preparation and implementation of cities and regions
sustainable energy projects. It aims to increase the capacity of local authorities by
providing advisory services and financial aid for measures such as feasibility and
market studies or energy audits, promoting cross-sectoral approaches and
encouraging the exchange of best practice among actors.
Juncker investment package
The Juncker investment package is a flagship programme for the new European
Commission, and an official recognition that mere structural change within economies
has not delivered economic growth. The investment package overall is intended to
stretch to 315 billion euros, with a ratio of 16 to 1 private to public funding. The exact
impact of the project on existing EU funding is difficult to call at this stage. The draft
proposal for the package has some of the funding for the package coming both from
the EIB and from Horizon 2020 and Connecting Europe Facility funds.
National governments were required to submit a list of projects which could be funded
by the Juncker investment package. The list for the UK did not, it appears, include any
projects explicitly within the South East, although some areas of potential investment
mentioned in the government list could have covered this region (e.g. upgrading all
railway stations to make them accessible for disabled people). The package will
provide an Advisory Hub for potential project applicants to gain advice about how to
access the funds, although the precise details of how this will work have not yet been
set out.
24
CONCLUSION
Despite being in aggregate terms one of the less disadvantaged areas of the EU, the
South East of England has benefitted substantially from EU funds over the years. This
report has shown how EU funding has paid for everything from street lighting in a small
village to major civil engineering projects in the transport sector, not to mention
significant investment in local peoples skills in a range of areas. Crucially, much of
these EU funds have been controlled, not by central government in London, but by
community groups, local councils, local businesses and educational institutions, from
Milton Keynes to Dover and almost everywhere else in between.
25