Funding Opportunities

How does CENTRAL EUROPE work?

CENTRAL EUROPE invites national, regional and local actors from the public and private sector to propose projects and apply for programme funds. Following these calls, the submitted project proposals will be assessed. CENTRAL EUROPE Member State representatives will select the projects that, based on the quality of the submitted documentation, promise to deliver the best results.

The programme makes €231 million in ERDF funds (European Regional Development Fund) available for eligible expenditure by lead partners and project partners. Project partners can be co-financed up to 85 percent, depending on their country of origin and on whether they are engaged in an economic activity or not. Partners will have to match the project budget with some of their own funds. Projects can have a total budget ranging of €1-5 million. In exceptional cases, smaller or larger projects can also be funded. Calls for proposals are announced on this programme website.

Which projects can be funded?

The CENTRAL EUROPE programme finances territorial cooperation projects that add explicit value to the CENTRAL EUROPE cooperation area. Whether or not a project generates transnational added value is the result of key factors such as, among others, the issue addressed, the partnership involved, the degree of innovation and the visibility and impact of project activities and results.

More specifically projects seeking funds from the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme should meet the following characteristics:

• Transnational thematic focus: Projects should focus on issues that are relevant to the four programme priorities and their areas of intervention and that cannot be sufficiently addressed by individual regions or countries alone. Projects should also contribute to the overall programme goals such as strengthening territorial cohesion and enhancing the competitiveness of Central Europe.
• Transnational partnership: The partnership must involve a minimum of three partners from at least three countries, and at least two of the countries should be EU Member States. Partners need to be involved in the project in a proportionate way, and they must be able to credibly outline the benefits they derive. The Programme is particularly interested in promoting multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral partnerships.
• Coherent approach and effective management: Projects must define their objectives, approach and planned effects in a logical, coherent and clear manner. Projects must have efficient and transparent management and coordination structures and procedures.
• Effective knowledge creation and transfer: The Programme’s emphasis on innovation implies that projects adopt a knowledge-based approach and pay close attention to generation, application and transfer of relevant expertise and state-of-the-art knowledge. This includes analysing a project’s environment.
• Concrete outputs and results: Projects must have a measurable positive impact on a clearly defined trans-national geographic area. Their outputs and results must enable actual implementation, for instance, by preparing investments and should be transferable beyond the partnership. Study projects without concrete and applicable results will not be supported.
• High emphasis on communication: Projects need to develop a communication strategy outlining their information and dissemination activities. This will include activities targeting the media in their regions as well as non-media communication and PR activities.