The EU is famous for all the financial aid it gives, but do you know how exactly it works - who can get money, how and for what kind of things? Find out here!

EU funding for your project?

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/12019334/v007-0027-en.srt

What do they have in common,  this SME, this NGO, this young person,

They are all eligible for EU funding, which is  available in a number of very different fields:

The financial aid packages  vary from one area to the next.

The subsidies supplement other funding –  the EU will not fund 100% of a project.

Their objective is not to create profit  for the beneficiary

but to help them strike a financial balance.

And, subsidies cannot  be granted retroactively

for activities that have  already been finished.

More than three quarters of the EU budget  is managed jointly

with national and regional authorities via  five large structural and investment funds.

These are in line with the EU’s  Europe 2020 strategy for growth:

the European Agricultural Fund  for Rural Development;

the European Maritime  and Fisheries Fund;

whose aim is the economic convergence  of regions within the EU.

The European Parliament debates  and votes on all these budgets.

The national and regional authorities  in charge of managing the funds

can be called on to advise  on maximising their use.

The EU itself manages other funds directly.

Grants from these go directly  to specific projects or organisations

This includes areas such as agriculture,  youth or the economy.

To benefit from these grants, applicants  have to answer 'calls for proposals'.

And finally, there is also micro-financing.

Self-employed people and businesses  with fewer than 10 employees

can benefit from microcredit – that is,  loans of up to 25,000 euros.