Dorset County Council. Dorset and European Funding

Transcription

1 Dorset County Council Dorset and European Funding JANUARY 2014 Enabling communities in Dorset to thrive, now and for the future

2 INDEX INTRODUCTION - 2 DORSET AND EUROPEAN FUNDING - 3 CONTENTS - 4 Section A A Brief Introduction - 6 Section B The Programmes Guide - 14 Section C A Subject Guide

3 INTRODUCTION This paper looks at programmes which can support the work of Dorset County Council and partners carrying out related work. EU funding programmes for are now being finalised and this paper is designed to help people to start thinking about future opportunities. The Finance package is on: Sector specific budget allocations are on: _Part_II_en.pdf and More on each area on: and There is a great deal of continuity from existing programmes. There continue to be a number of programmes which are mainly to support local activities,,ie which do not need partners in other countries, eg 1. For the 2014 to 2020 funding period, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), will be brought together into LEP led EU Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme (SIF). 2. Remainder of the rural Development Programme and LEADER 3. European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 4. LIFE 5. Innovative financial instruments 6. Some parts of Connecting Europe etc Most other programmes require partners in other EU countries. Presentation on Cohesion Policy on: 2

4 DORSET and EUROPEAN FUNDING The general website for EU funding is with beneficiaries listed on Dorset is eligible for a wide range of European funding. The following pages set out the main ones which are likely to be of interest to the County Council and the partnerships in which the County Council is involved. Businesses looking for funding should look at - and/or: and A summary of the calls for proposals are circulated in the funding newsletter of the External Funding Service, of Dorset County Council. See also for the Local Government Association funding tracker you will need to register for this. Individual calls for proposals will be circulated by the Principal Europe and External Policy Officer, Policy Division, Environmental Services, Dorset County Council. These individual circulations will be through e:mail lists based on particular topics. Anyone wishing to be included on a list for a particular topic should e:mail a.minto@dorsetcc.gov.uk this service is free to everyone living in Dorset. 3

5 CONTENTS Section A A Brief Introduction Page 6 1. The major funding programmes Common Agricultural Policy Energy EU Structural and Investment Funds Horizon 2020 Research and Development IVA Manche IVA 2 Seas IVB Atlantic Arc INTEREG IVB North West IVC LEADER Rural Development Programme List of Programmes for Part 1 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 2. Other large funding programmes of interest to the County Council Connecting Europe Creative Europe ERASMUS+ LIFE Maritime and Fisheries Fund List of Programmes for Part 2 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 3. Smaller funding programmes of interest to the County Council Civil Protection COSME Consumer List of Programmes for Part 3 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 4. Other programmes of interest to the County Council working with other bodies in the County and related to the Corporate Strategy and Sustainable Community Strategy Employment and Social Innovation European Globalisation Adjustment Fund European Investment Bank Health Innovative Financial Instruments Justice Rights and citizenship Town Twinning List of programmes for Part 4 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 4

6 5. Links outside the EU Section B The Programmes Guide Page 13 UK AND JOINT UK/EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY LEADER MARITIME AND FISHERIES RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURAL AND INVESTMENT FUND MAINLY EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES CITIZENSHIP see TOWN TWINNING CIVIL PROTECTION COMPETITIVENESS AND SMEs COSME CONNECTING EUROPE - Infrastructure CONSUMER CREATIVE EUROPE Culture, Media etc EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INNOVATION Parts of Progress, EURES, and Microfinance and Social Enterprises ENERGY ERASMUS+ - Lifelong learning, Higher Education, Youth EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK HEALTH HORIZON research INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS JUSTICE LIFE environment and climate change RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP Citizenship, Daphne and parts of Progress TOWN TWINNING Section C A Subject Guide Page 45 Children Civil Protection Climate change Communications Community Planning Consumer Protection Culture Disabled People Economy Education Energy Emergency Planning Employment Environment Equal Opportunities Flooding Health Information Society Information Technology Legal Older People Planning Social Issues Tourism Training Transport Twinning Waste 5

7 Section A A Brief Introduction 1. The major funding programmes Common Agricultural Policy Energy EU Structural and Investment Funds Horizon 2020 Research and Development IVA Manche IVA 2 Seas IVB Atlantic Arc INTEREG IVB North West IVC LEADER Rural Development ProgrammeList of Programmes for Part 1 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 2. Other large funding programmes of interest to the County Council Connecting Europe Creative Europe ERASMUS+ LIFE Maritime and Fisheries Fund List of Programmes for Part 2 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 3. Smaller funding programmes of interest to the County Council Civil Protection COSME Consumer List of Programmes for Part 3 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 4. Other programmes of interest to the County Council working with other bodies in the County and related to the Corporate Strategy and Sustainable Community Strategy Employment and Social Innovation European Globalisation Adjustment Fund European Investment Bank Health Innovative Financial Instruments Justice Rights and citizenship Town Twinning List of programmes for Part 4 to be found in Section B The Programmes Guide 5. Links outside the EU 6

8 1. THE MAJOR FUNDING PROGRAMMES THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY Dorset receives its main source of European funding from the Common Agricultural Policy which is the largest source of funding available from Europe. Income coming into Dorset in the past has varied from 20 million to 27 million a year. Most of this goes direct to farmers Pillar 1. The rest funds rural development Pillar 2. Pillar 2 has been developed in England as the Rural Development Programme for England which funds Growth mainly through the EU Structural and Investment Funds Environment through the environmental land management scheme Productivity productivity in he farming forestry and land based sectors Pillar 2 of the CAP also includes the new LEADER programme which will support community led local development CAP does not require European partners. ENERGY There are opportunities for funding energy through the EU Structural and Investment Funds (no partners required) and through Horizon 2020 (partners required). EU STRUCTURAL AND INVESTMENT FUNDS The next largest source of funding is through the EU Structural and Investment Funds which takes in: European Social Fund: This funds training for work. The European Regional Development Fund which funds innovation and enterprise and supports deprived areas. The Growth Fund of the Common Agricultural Policy Rural Development programme. HORIZON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT This is the EU s third largest fund. It covers research and development over a wide range of topics including environment, transport and socio-economic regeneration. Projects have to be done in partnership with other European countries. In addition, they have to be very large up to several million pounds. This funds territorial co-operation, ie work with other countries under 3 main headings, A. cross border, B. transregional and C. transnational. is part of the European Structural funds. It requires partners in other countries. LEADER LEADER, which will support community led local development, is part of Pillar 2 of the CAP, see above. RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR ENGLAND This is Pillar 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy, see above. 7

9 PROGRAMMES FOR PART 1 IN THE PROGRAMMES GUIDE Common Agricultural Policy Energy EU Structural and Investment Funds Horizon 2020 Research and Development IVA Manche IVA 2 Seas IVB Atlantic Arc INTEREG IVB North West IVC LEADER Rural Development Programme 8

10 2. OTHER LARGE FUNDING PROGRAMMES OF INTEREST TO THE COUNTY COUNCIL CONNECTING EUROPE This supports completion of EU networks in transport, energy and digital infrastructure (broadband). CREATIVE EUROPE This is the main EU programme for culture. It includes the former Culture and Media programmes. It requires partners in other countries ERASMUS+ ERASMUS+ covers education and training and youth and sport. It requires partners in other countries. LIFE Life is the main source of funds for environmental projects. Life includes Environment and Climate Change. The programme funds local projects, ie not requiring partners in other countries. MARITIME AND FISHERIES The Maritime and Fisheries Fund supports coastal communities and the local fishing industry. Most of it does not require partners in other countries. PROGRAMMES FOR PART 2 IN THE PROGRAMMES GUIDE Connecting Europe Creative Europe ERASMUS+ LIFE Maritime and Fisheries Fund 9

11 CIVIL PROTECTION 3. SMALLER FUNDING PROGRAMMES OF INTEREST TO THE COUNTY COUNCIL This will fund emergency planning projects and dealing with disasters. It requires partners in other countries. COMPETITIVENESS AND SMEs COSME This provides support for small businesses. It requires partners in other countries. CONSUMER This support consumer protection projects. It generally requires partners in other countries. PROGRAMMES FOR PART 3 IN THE PROGRAMMES GUIDE Civil Protection COSME Consumer 10

12 4. OTHER PROGRAMMES OF INTEREST TO DCC WORKING WITH OTHER BODIES IN THE COUNTY RELATED TO THE CORPORATE STRATEGY CITIZENSHIP see TOWN TWINNING EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INNOVATION EaSI integrates and extends the coverage of three existing programmes: Progress (Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity), EURES (European Employment Services) and the European Progress Microfinance Facility, EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND This will deal with industrial restructuring, redundancies etc. EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK As a rule, the Bank lends up to 50% of the investment costs of a project. HEALTH This supports innovation in health, fostering better and safer healthcare, promoting good health and preventing diseases, and protecting citizens from cross-border health threats. Projects generally have to be transnational. INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS This includes, loans, project bonds and other financial mechanisms to support projects. JUSTICE This supports training and co-operation on issues related to justice. RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP This is the successor to Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Daphne III, and the Sections "Antidiscrimination and Diversity" and "Gender Equality" of the Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity. TOWN TWINNING Funding is available, under the Citizenship programme, for links between towns. 11

13 PROGRAMMES FOR PART 4 IN THE PROGRAMMES GUIDE Employment and Social Innovation European Globalisation Adjustment Fund European Investment Bank Health Innovative Financial Instruments Justice Rights and citizenship Town Twinning 12

14 5. LINKS OUTSIDE THE EU Funding for projects with countries outside the EU can be found on

15 Section B The Programmes Guide UK AND JOINT UK/EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY LEADER MARITIME AND FISHERIES RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURAL AND INVESTMENT FUND MAINLY EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES CITIZENSHIP see TOWN TWINNING CIVIL PROTECTION COMPETITIVENESS AND SMEs COSME CONNECTING EUROPE - Infrastructure CONSUMER PROTECTION CREATIVE EUROPE Culture, Media etc EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INNOVATION Parts of Progress, EURES, and Microfinance and Social Enterprises ENERGY ERASMUS+ - Lifelong learning, Higher Education, Youth EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK HEALTH HORIZON research INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS JUSTICE LIFE environment and climate change RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP Citizenship, Daphne and parts of Progress TOWN TWINNING 14

16 UK and JOINT UK/EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY Summary: The June 2013 reform is focused on three priorities: viable food production sustainable management of natural resources balanced development of rural areas throughout the EU. The CAP will be spent on: Income support for farmers and assistance for complying with sustainable agricultural practices: farmers receive direct payments, provided they live up to strict standards relating to food safety, environmental protection and animal health and welfare. These payments are fully financed by the EU, and account for 70% of the CAP budget. Under the June 2013 reform, 30% of direct payments will be linked to European farmers' compliance with sustainable agricultural practices which are beneficial to soil quality, biodiversity and the environment generally, such as crop diversification, the maintenance of permanent grassland or the preservation of ecological areas on farms. Market-support measures: these come into play, for example, when adverse weather conditions destabilise markets. Such payments account for less than 10% of the CAP budget. Rural development measures: these are intended to help farmers modernise their farms and become more competitive, while protecting the environment, contributing to the diversification of farming and non-farming activities and the vitality of rural communities. These payments are part-financed by the member countries, generally extend over a number of years, and account for some 20% of the CAP's budget. Partners in other countries required: No. Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Varies Website(s): The programme has been agreed and will be formally adopted with a view to starting in January See: /agreement/index_en.htm Summary on: More information on: Future CAP in the UK: 15

17 Contacts: Current programme: Rural Payments Agency: Other information: Consultation on : See also: LEADER Rural Development Programme 16

18 LEADER Summary: The LEADER programme for rural development will continue for although there will be an intermediate arrangement for See latest Government update link below. LEADER groups can be allocated additional funding from the EU Structural and Investment Fund (SIF) see (EU) Structural and Investment Fund) though LEADER does not form part of the SIF. Partners in other countries required: No. Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: 50% or more depending on project. Website(s): Information on: Latest Government update on: b14018-cap-reform-rdpe-status-report pdf Contacts: Current Dorset LEADER Programmes: Chalk and Cheese: Sowing Seeds: Other information: Consultation on : See also: Rural Development Programme Structural and Investment Fund 17

19 MARITIME AND FISHERIES Summary: Proposals on: The new fund will: help fishermen in the transition to sustainable fishing support coastal communities in diversifying their economies finance projects that create new jobs and improve quality of life along European coasts make it easier to access financing. The new Fund will be used to co-finance projects, along with national funding. Each country will be allocated a share of the total Fund budget, based on the size of its fishing industry. Each country will then draw up an operational programme, saying how it intends to spend the money. Once the Commission approves this programme, it is up to the national authorities to decide which projects will be funded. The national authorities and the Commission will be jointly responsible for the implementation of the programme. Partners in other countries required: Not generally may be transnational opportunities Calls for proposals: Applications open under Fish Fund until 30 June 2014 Rate of funding: Website(s): Summary of UK programme on: Government action on the fishing sector including work on EMFF is on: Contacts: The programme (currently fisheries only) is run by the Marine Maritime Organisation: Other information: 18

20 RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Summary: At EU level, the proposals are summarised on: In England, there will be three main areas for support: Growth: Delivering rural economic growth this will be mainly through the EU Structural and Investment Fund. Funds will notionally be allocated to LEP areas. This funding will be for: building knowledge and skills in rural areas funding new and developing micro, small and medium sized rural businesses funding small scale renewable and broadband investments in rural areas support for tourism activities in rural areas. Environment: Restoring, preserving and enhancing our natural environment - a new environmental land management scheme will would bring together a number of existing schemes into one scheme, building on and enhancing the current Environmental Stewardship (ES), the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) and the Catchment Sensitive Farming scheme. Support would also include options for investment in the historic environment, educational access, genetic conservation and would promote landscape scale change. Climate change adaptation and mitigation would remain an overarching objective. The single new scheme would have two main types of agreements. One, more site specific, would be aimed at the improvement or maintenance of the most important designated sites (such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)). The other, more area based, at targeted improvements in the wider countryside, including more landscape scale coordination in line with the Natural Environment White Paper vision. In practice the first agreements under the new scheme would not start until 1 January Productivity: Increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of our farming, forestry and land-based sectors. This will include schemes for supporting innovative practice, knowledge transfer and cooperation; improving business performance and practice within the farming and forestry sectors; and supporting improved environmental performance, resilience and efficiency. The Government is considering whether to continue with grant schemes similar to those already in use or to adapt these to support some of these areas listed in this paragraph. Specific funds could be targeted to high priority areas or sectors. The Government could also link training and sharing of best practice with investments in capital projects. These will be supported by: Innovation: Promoting knowledge transfer, cooperation and sharing of best practice Advice and skills: Promoting growth, productivity and improving environmental performance The LEADER approach can be used to deliver the Rural Development Programme and LEADER programmes can also benefit from funds from the other EU SIF Funds. The full programme will start in There will be an intermediate programme in place for Subject to agreement with the European Commission, this will include: new Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agri-environment agreements costing about 19

21 26m per year. That includes offering Higher Level Stewardship agreements to those with eligible expiring old style classic agreements and new agreements for Sites of Special Scientific Interest, other high priority cases and to meet Water Framework objectives including those related to Natura 2000 sites; uplands and organic Entry Level Stewardship. DEFRA also plan to offer Entry Level Stewardship for land coming out of classic schemes in 2014 that does not qualify for HLS. This will cost about 4m per year. This will ensure a smooth transition for areas that have been under environmental management for a long time; Catchment sensitive farming capital projects and advice of up to 14m, including for Water Framework Directive-related action on Natura 2000 sites; Up to 0.5m to fund essential one-off capital investments for forestry grants; and Making available up to 1m to potentially continue some existing strategic projects. DEFRA will make available up to 3m of RDP funding in 2014 to help maintain Leader local delivery capacity and expertise from the current programme. They will also in 2014/15 provide continued support through the Campaign for the Farmed Environment. This is already proving, through partnership and voluntary action, that the sector is fully willing and able to take responsibility for the farmed environment. DEFRA do not plan to offer the Energy Crops Scheme in Ministers do not wish to incentivise through the Rural Development Programme the growth of energy crops and would like to see a greater use of waste in bioenergy (particularly in anaerobic digestion). Partners in other countries required: No, though LEADER may include transnational opportunities. Calls for proposals: Guidance documents will be issued in late 2013 and There will be a single application process operated by all relevant bodies Rate of funding: According to programme A process for making application to the SIF will be in place once the programme is agreed LEADER programmes are being developed It is likely that Environment programmes will be operated through national processes Productivity programmes may operate through calls. Website(s): Information on: Latest Government update on: b14018-cap-reform-rdpe-status-report pdf Contacts: As well as national DEFRA team, the programme is operated by: 20

22 Forestry Commission: Natural England: Other information: Consultation on : See also: Structural and Investment Fund for parts available under the SIF LEADER 21

23 STRUCTURAL AND INVESTMENT FUND Summary: For the 2014 to 2020 funding period, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), have been brought together into an EU Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme (SIF). The top priorities of this Programme are innovation, support for SMEs, low carbon, skills, employment and social inclusion. The government has allocated 6 billion of the Growth Programme Funds by LEP areas. The Dorset LEP allocation is: 47.3Meuro. How the allocations were calculated is on: Each LEP was asked to set out how it intends to use the Growth Programme Funds in a European Union (EU) Structural and Investment Funds (SIF) strategy. In developing its strategy, the LEPs have worked with and reflect the interests of a broad range of economic, social and environmental partners, including businesses, civil society, rural partners and further and higher education institutions. First drafts of the SIFs were produced by 7 October Final proposals are to be agreed with government in early The Guidance is supplemented by additional information on key elements of the delivery model and the revised framework of European Growth Programme priorities which reflect discussions between government and the European Commission. They also include opt-in prospectuses to help LEPs indicate whether they wish to opt in to particular service offers. Governance: Local Enterprise Partnerships will not act as Managing Authorities or Intermediate Bodies. The administration of the Funds will be the responsibility of the Managing Authority Departments operating through the Local European Structural and Investment Funds Teams. 22

24 The liability for the Funds in England will remain ultimately with the projects and Managing Authorities, who will consequently retain responsibility for final approval of projects. Local Enterprise Partnerships should ensure that appropriate and proportionate local governance is in place to oversee the ongoing strategic development and delivery of their European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy once it has been agreed. The specific responsibilities of Local Enterprise Partnerships will be to: Agree with the MAs local project commissioning and bidding processes potentially using agreed standard process/ procurement routes; Establish appropriate local partnership arrangements to ensure broad support for and commitment to projects/ programmes that deliver the European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy; and Put in place management information processes agreed with the Local European Structural and Investment Funds Team. Partners in other countries required: No. Calls for proposals: A process for making application to the SIF will be in place once the programme is agreed Rate of funding: 50% possibly more for significant projects. Website(s): Guidance on: Contacts: Information on Dorset LEP work on developing the SIF: Other information: The programme includes a number of potential opt-ins to Government programmes. Some parts of ESF to 2015 appear to have been allocated already - _Published_September_2012.pdf The Government has produced a report on the effectiveness of ESF and how it might contribute to future economic growth: At the same time as developing the SIFs, the Government has asked LEPs to develop multiyear Strategic Economic Plans and will negotiate a Growth Deal with every LEP. The Government anticipates that a LEP s Strategic Economic Plan and its European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy will be designed and function as an integrated package. Both should use the same evidence and rationale but, while the overarching Strategic Economic Plan should cover the full range of the Local Enterprise Partnership s priorities for intervention, the European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy should be focused on those interventions for which European Structural and Investment Funds will be used. 23

25 The European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy and Growth Deal processes will initially run to different timescales, because, in theory, European Structural and Investment Funds will be available to spend from mid-2014, whereas Growth Deals will be implemented from April However, Government will seek to align the two processes as far as possible. 24

26 EU MANAGED PROGRAMMES CIVIL PROTECTION Summary: This covers: European Emergency Response Centre Support for training and exercises, the exchange of experts and cooperation projects testing new approaches to reduce the risk of disasters. Facilitation of co-ordinated action such as the voluntary pooling of resources, training and supporting the cost of transport to deliver assets to places of emergencies Partners in other countries required: Depends on which part of the programme is used. Calls for proposals: There will be calls (probably annual) through the website Rate of funding: Website(s): Proposals on: Presentation on: See: Contacts: UK contact for current programme: Other information: 25

27 COMPETITIVENESS AND SMEs COSME Summary: This supports: Access to finance for SMEs through dedicated financial instruments The financial instruments target companies in different phases of their lifecycle: creation, expansion and business transfer. An Equity Facility for Growth will provide venture capital to enterprises, in particular in their growth phase. A Loan Guarantee Facility will cover loans up to EUR and will be available for all types of SMEs. They will be managed by the European Investment Fund in cooperation with financial institutions in the different Member States. Enterprise Europe Network: a network of business service centres The Enterprise Europe Network is a one-stop shop for the business needs of SMEs in the EU and beyond. Entrepreneurship Support will be given to encourage trans-national networks, to exchange good practices and identify scope for expanding business activities. A broad range of specific actions will be organised every year in the EU to support SMEs or specific target groups, such as young or women entrepreneurs. Established initiatives such as the SME week and the Network of Woman Entrepreneurs will be continued. Mobility exchanges for entrepreneurs will be maintained and expanded. Improving framework conditions for the competitiveness of enterprises and policy development Analytical work will be undertaken to facilitate evidence-based policymaking by national and regional policy-makers. A number of conferences and other public events will be organised to assemble and disseminate sectoral knowledge, inform policy-makers, and make policy suggestions to increase the coherence and cooperation between EU Member States policies to foster entrepreneurship. Internationalisation of SMEs The COSME programme will provide SMEs with support to facilitate business expansion in the EU Single Market and in markets outside the EU. International business cooperation will be fostered, in particular, to reduce the differences in regulatory and business environments, between the EU and its main trading partners. Free of charge services will be continued, such as those offered by the IPR Helpdesk for China, which helps managing the intellectual property rights and related issues in that country. Partners in other countries required: Depends on which part of the programme is used. Calls for proposals: On: Rate of funding: Depends on which part of the programme is used. 26

28 Website(s): See: Contacts: UK financial intermediaries: European Enterprise Network in South West England: Other information: Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs: 27

29 CONNECTING EUROPE Summary: This promotes the completion of the "transport core network", the "energy priority corridors" and the digital infrastructure that the EU needs for its future sustainable competitiveness. This funds key EU priority projects as under trans-european networks. A preliminary list is on page 38 onwards of this document: ; Areas covered: Energy: Transport: Broadband: : HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en The area most relevant to Dorset is broadband where the funding takes the form of both equity and debt instruments and grants. It will complement private investment and public money at local, regional and national level and EU structural or cohesion funds. Partners in other countries required: No Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): Presentation on: vents/3rd%20ws%20utilities/presentations/martin%20ubelhor%20-%20ec.pdf Brochure on: See: d=0&language=en&guilanguage=en Contacts: Other information: 28

30 CONSUMER PROTECTION Summary: This programme aims to build on the previous programme by focussing action on empowerment of the consumer through safety, information and education, rights and redress and enforcement actions. Actions focus on: Monitoring and enforcing safety through EU-wide systems such as RAPEX, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products Information and education initiatives to make consumers, particularly young consumers, aware of their rights. This includes also the continuing development of the evidence base for better policy making at both EU and national level on consumer issues, with, for example, the Consumer Markets Scoreboard which maps out the markets that fail consumers in Europe; Delivering legislation aimed at enhancing consumer rights, for example the Consumer Credit Directive which ensures that consumers across Europe enjoy a common set of core rights, including the right to receive clear and comparable information before committing themselves financially; and Redress, where good preparatory work has been done, particularly, on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Enforcement action through "Sweeps" operations, which are co-ordinated by the European Commission and carried out simultaneously by national consumer enforcement authorities to see where consumer rights are being compromised or denied; Partners in other countries required: For some parts Calls for proposals: Calls on the website Rate of funding: Website(s): Summary on: Presentation on: See: Contacts: Other information: 29

31 CREATIVE EUROPE Summary: Creative Europe brings together the current Culture, MEDIA and MEDIA Mundus programmes. This is a framework programme made up of three strands: An Cross-sectoral Strand for all cultural and creative sectors; A Culture Strand for the cultural and creative sectors; A MEDIA Strand for the audiovisual sector. The Culture and MEDIA Strands are the successors to the existing Culture and MEDIA/MEDIA Mundus programmes. The new Cross-sectoral Strand has two parts. 1. The first establishes a Facility to improve the access of cultural and creative SMEs and organisations to finance by providing credit risk protection to financial intermediaries building portfolios of loans; it also supports capacity/expertise building to correctly analyse the relevant risks. 2. The second part of this Strand includes measures for the support of: transnational policy cooperation and exchanges of experience between policy-makers and operators; new approaches to audience-building and business models; cultural and media literacy; and data collection including membership of the European Audiovisual Observatory. Funding will also be provided for the network of Creative Europe Desks (former Cultural Contact Points and MEDIA Desks). The measures under this second section are mostly covered by the current Culture and MEDIA programmes, but, given the cross-cutting elements, there are benefits both in terms of knowledge transfer and administrative efficiency to be gained from a joint, transversal approach Partners in other countries required: Yes mainly Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): Presentation on: 6nov-ce.ppt#265,21 Contacts: UK contact for the current programmes: Culture: Media: Karel Bartak, DG Culture : Karel.Bartak@ec.europa.eu Other information: EUCLID (who were formerly the UK contact point for the EU's Culture programme) are holding various briefing sessions on the new EU Culture programme. See: 30

32 EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INNOVATION Summary: This is an integrated programme for employment, social policy and inclusion including promoting intra-eu labour mobility and improving access to employment opportunities and supporting entrepreneurship and self-employment. This has three parts: The Progress axis will support activities with a strong Europe-wide dimension such as comparable analysis, mutual learning and exchanges of practices in the field of employment, social protection and working practices - The EURES axis - supports activities carried out by the EURES network, i.e. the specialist services designated by the EEA Member States and the Swiss Confederation, together with other interested parties, to develop information exchanges and dissemination and other forms of cooperation to promote workers geographical mobility- The Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis - facilitates access to finance for entrepreneurs, especially those furthest from the labour market, and social enterprises - Partners in other countries required: For Progress mainly Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): Brochure on: Contacts: Other information: 31

33 ENERGY Summary: The Commission has identified four energy funding priorities: energy infrastructure, through the creation of the Connecting Europe Facility - ; - see Connecting Europe developing and deploying energy technology, within the "Horizon" 2020 framework for research, innovation and technological innovation - promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources see successor to Intelligent Energy below; enhancing nuclear safety and decommissioning. Allocations will be made for low-carbon investments in the European Regional Development Fund, (see Structural and Investment Framework) The successor to Intelligent Energy is Energy challenge on secure, clean and efficient energy for research, development and deployment of Horizon 2020, including for market uptake of energy innovations. This includes: a) Policy implementation support, focusing on technical support for specific activities to promote efficient development and implementation of policies and legislation at EU, national and local level, on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources; b) Capacity-building, addressing public acceptance, knowledge transfer and skills improvement; and c) Financing to mobilise investments and make energy efficiency and distributed renewable energy projects bankable, via provision of project development assistance, business and investments capacity building and dialogue with project promoters, policy makers and investors/financiers. Specific attention will be given to the retail financial institutions and market-based financing mechanisms. These activities would complement other Horizon 2020 activities as above. Partners in other countries required: Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): See: UK website for Horizon 2020: UK support for current programme: Contacts: Other information: 32

34 ERASMUS+ Summary: This is the Commission s main education programme. This brings together the different parts of the Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig, Comenius, etc), the international aspects of Higher Education, including Erasmus Mundus, and Youth in Action and supports: Learning opportunities for individuals, both within the EU and beyond, including: study and training, traineeships, teaching and professional development and nonformal youth activities such as volunteering. Institutional cooperation between educational institutions, youth organisations, businesses, local and regional authorities and NGOs, to encourage the development and implementation of innovative practices in education, training and youth activities, and to promote employability, creativity and entrepreneurship. Support for policy reform in Member States and cooperation with non-eu countries, with a focus on strengthening the evidence-base for policy making and exchange of good practices. There are two completely new elements in Erasmus +: A loan guarantee scheme to help Master's degree students to finance their studies abroad and to acquire the skills needed for knowledge intensive jobs. The creation of 400 'knowledge alliances' and 'sector skills alliances'. Knowledge alliances are large-scale partnerships between higher education institutions and businesses to promote creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship by offering new learning opportunities and qualifications. Sector skills alliances are partnerships between education and training providers and businesses to promote employability by forming new sector-specific curricula and innovative forms of vocational teaching and training. Actions are a mix of opportunities run by National Agencies and the European Commission. The programme combines the following funding programmes: the Lifelong Learning Programme (Comenius, Leonardo, Erasmus, Grundtvig and Transversal Programmes), Youth in Action, Jean Monnet, Tempus and Erasmus Mundus. Click on blue type for: Education and training Youth Sport Partners in other countries required: Yes. Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): European Commission website: 33

35 Presentation on: Factsheets on: and sheet_0.pdf Best summary of the programme is: Contacts: The UK National Agency for Erasmus+ is a consortium led by the British Council with Ecorys UK as a key partner. UK website for ERASMUS+ is: Contacts for the different parts of the programme on: Other information: Briefing sessions are taking place for UK organisations involved in adult and vocational education and webinars will be run for all schools, higher education and youth audiences, as well as adult and vocational bodies, in the New Year. Details of these webinars will be published on in December. INFO FROM BRIEFING SESSIONS IS ON: Calls about other parts of the programme and other info on:

36 EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION FUND Summary: The EGF provides one-off, time-limited individual support geared to helping workers who have suffered redundancy as a result of globalisation. Funding is provided to member states for: workers made redundant as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation, demonstrated, in particular, by a substantial increase in imports into the Union, a rapid decline of the Union market share in a given sector or a delocalisation of activities to non-member countries, where these redundancies have a significant adverse impact on the local, regional or national economy; workers made redundant as a result of a serious disruption of the local, regional or national economy caused by an unexpected crisis, provided that a direct and demonstrable link can be established between the redundancies and that crisis; workers changing or adjusting their previous agricultural activities during a period starting upon initialling of the trade agreement by the Union containing trade liberalisation measures for the relevant agricultural sector and ending three years after the full implementation of these measures and provided that these trade measures lead to a substantial increase in Union imports of an agricultural product or products accompanied by a significant decrease in prices of such products at the Union or, where relevant, the national or regional level. Partners in other countries required: Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): Proposals on: s/regulation/egf/egf_proposal_en.pdf Presentation: Current and future programme on: Contacts: Other information: 35

37 EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK Summary: The EIB has two main financing facilities: Individual loans: provided to viable and sound projects and programmes costing more than EUR 25 million which are in line with EIB lending objectives - Intermediated loans: credit lines to banks and financial institutions to help them to provide finance to small and medium-sized enterprises with eligible investment programmes or projects costing less than EUR 25 million. Microfinance has also been provided by the EIB in some countries - Partners in other countries required: Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: As a rule, the Bank lends up to 50% of the investment costs of a project. Website(s): These and other EIB products are on: Contacts: UK financial intermediaries: Other information: 36

38 HEALTH Summary: The programme builds on the previous Health Programmes to support and deliver action aimed at encouraging the uptake of innovation in health, fostering better and safer healthcare, promoting good health and preventing diseases, and protecting citizens from cross-border health threats. Examples on which further action will be built: Co-operation on Health technology assessment (HTA), an EU-wide voluntary network of Member States' HTA agencies to share information on the effectiveness of health technologies such as medicines, medical devices, and preventive measures, to support national decision-making on technology; Co-operation on rare diseases at European level to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment for patients with rare diseases across the EU, including the EU portal for rare disease ( the world reference database on rare diseases; Cancer prevention and control, through EU-wide screening guidelines to improve early detection so that the disease can be diagnosed at an early stage and lives can be saved; and through exchange of knowledge and best practice on cancer prevention, research and care. Partners in other countries required: Yes generally Calls for proposals: Rate of funding: Website(s): Summary on: d=0&language=en&guilanguage=en ; See: Contacts: UK contact: For further information on this coming programme, please contact: michael.wood@nhsconfed.org TION_EU_FUNDING/Pages/EU_Health_Programme.aspx EU Executive Agency for Health and Consumers: Other information: 37