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Daily, Euroalert.net publishes in its section of EU Funding all the information regarding to the financing of the individual policies adopted by the European Union.

The programmes and community initiatives are one of the instruments used to finance European common policies. Euroalert.net keeps and publishes a database containing more than 400 European Programmes and Community Initiatives published since 1972, and is constantly improving the quality of its contents.

An European programme, sometimes also called Community Initiative, is a coherent set of measures taken by the Commission of the European Communities in agreement with the European Parliament and the European Council by a Decision. European Programmes pursue the implementation of specific projects or activities that provide added value for implementing EU policies. Community initiatives, which are articulated by programming periods, are intended to contribute to the increase of European competitiveness and to promote the degree of integration among EU members . In the current programming period (2007-2013) there are more than 130 European Programmes.

To finance our projects as best as possible it is necessary to know very well and thoroughly understand the purpose of all existing instruments. Because of its importance in terms of available budget, European programmes can be classified into the following categories:

1. Regional development and cohesion instruments.
2. Common agricultural and fisheries policy instruments.
3. Cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation programmes.
4. Other instruments or policies.

1. The Financial Instruments for Regional Policy of the European Union

The programmes, initiatives and expenditure on regional policy accounts for 44.2% of overall EU budget (average for 2007-2013).

The structural measures are financed mainly through contributions that come from structural funds and assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

In the current programming period (2007-2013) the most important cohesion instruments are:

• European Social Fund (ESF).
• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
• Cohesion Fund.

The Structural Funds are multi-year instruments that finance economic development programmes and that generally do not finance individual projects or actions. They are structured into concerted actions for a period of several years and the principle of responsibility is applied to them. This means that the concerted actions and the funds are managed jointly by national or regional authorities of Member States and by the European Commission, and all of them are responsible of its correct implementation.

2. Financial instruments of the Common Agricultural and Fisheries policy

The programmes, initiatives and expenditure included within the CAP and the CFP grouped 43% of the overall EU budget (average for 2007-2013).

In the current programming period (2007-2013) the most important instruments are:

• European Fisheries Fund
• Support for rural development by European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
• Programme to finance the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Just as the instruments of territorial cohesion, the three financial instruments of the CAP and the CFP are managed jointly by national or regional authorities of Member States and the European Commission, and all of them are responsible all the correct implementation thereof.

3. Cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation programmes

The EC has set up for the period 2007-13 the European Territorial Co-operation objective thought three types of programmes:

• Cross-border co-operation programmes along internal EU borders. ERDF contribution: €5.6 billion.
• Transnational co-operation programmes cover larger areas of co-operation such as the Baltic Sea, Alpine and Mediterranean regions. ERDF contribution: €1.8 billion.
• Interregional co-operation programme (INTERREG IVC) and 3 networking programmes (Urbact II, Interact II and ESPON). ERDF contribution: €445 million.

4. Financial instruments for other European Union policies

The remaining budget (18.2%) is used to finance other policies such as the fight against terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration or the protection of cultural heritage, public health and consumer interests, among others. These measures are also developed in programmes and initiatives which are available in the EU funding section, where Euroalert.net has collected more than 400 programs and initiatives since 1972.

Among these financial instruments we can find major European programmes such as the Programme of Action in the field of Lifelong Learning or the Trans-European Networks Transport and Energy among others.