EU funding

1. Matching urban and regional needs
with EU and international funding
Promoting City of the Future
8 October 2019

2. Anca-Andreea Calugaru
Senior Manager with Schuman Associates
‖ 15 years of experience with EU affairs, business development and EU funding strategies
‖ Management of ESIF operations, structure and knowledge centre within Schuman Associates
‖ EU funding strategic consultant - working closely with senior management, but also with
government affairs and sales teams to secure and increase EU funded wins
‖ Preparation and delivery of training sessions on EU funding
‖ Key note speaker in funding events
‖ Main expertise areas: Digital Agenda, funding for ICT markets (smart cities, e-health, e-learning,
e-government, cloud), broadband policy and funding, energy efficiency, healthcare etc.
‖ Geographical focus: Central and Eastern Europe
After so many years, still a big EU enthusiast
Intro:

3. Schuman Associates
Leading EU business advisory in
Brussels
30 years of experience
Multicultural, multilingual team of
consultants
Offices in Athens, Bucharest, Dublin,
Hannover, Madrid, Milan, Prague, Sofia
and Warsaw and partners in the US
and Asia
Intro:

4. A new EU political era & Next decade EU Funding trends
1
EU funding for cities. The landscape at a glance
2
Key reflections & references
3
Today:

5. 1. Times of change bringing a new EU political era
Future of Europe Summit EU elections New institutional set up
and a new EU 2021-2027 Funding generation

6. 1. EU Funding Trends of the next decade
‖ The new European Commission pledged to unlock 1 trillion
EUR over the next decade for climate investment and to
turn parts of the European Investment Bank into a dedicated
climate bank, which would channel private investment to
climate and clean-energy projects “in every corner of the
EU”.
‖ Urban development continues to be a core piece of the
European Regional Development Fund 2021-2027.
37 funding programmes
9X budget increase in digitalization
50% increase in innovation
2X increase in youth support
40% increase in security & defense
3X increase in external borders, migration and asylum
The understanding of these funding trends and
policies is paramount to winning future EU projects.

7. 2. EU funding for cities. The landscape at a glance
EU funding is a predictable, stable and significant source of
support for the preparation and implementation of cities
projects.
R&D and innovation
(first of a kind)
Demonstration & best practice
sharing and networking
Facilitating exploitation/
upscaling/ awareness
Large scale deployment
H2020/ Horizon Europe 2021-2027 LIFE+
Urban Innovative Actions – the new European Urban Initiative 2021-
2027
Interregional Innovation Investments 2021-2027
ESIF
EIB
EFSI- the new InvestEU
Programme
Council of Europe Development
Bank
European Energy Efficiency Fund
(EEEF)
Connecting Europe Facility
Digital Europe 2021-2027
Erasmus+

8. 2. EU funding for cities. The landscape at a glance
Centrally managed funds
Funding instrument, EU
2021-2027 indicative
allocation
Addressability to cities/ regions
Horizon Europe,
100 BEUR
The main goal is to ensure that Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and
private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.
Targeted clusters include: Health, Inclusive and Secure Society, Digital and Industry, Climate, Energy and Mobility, Food and natural
resources
LIFE Programme,
5.4 BEUR
Projects aiming to share best practices, test small-scale technologies and speed up the implementation of relevant EU legislation and policy
Soil – environmental burden; land planning and use; urban development; air quality, energy efficiency and waste management.
European Urban
Initiative,
500 MEUR
Support for capacity-building: provision of support to cooperation networks of cities (thematic, knowledge and innovation transfer), peer-2-
peer exchanges (city-to-city)
Support for innovative actions: core activity will be experimentation at urban scale
Air quality, digital transformation, circular economy, smart cities, adaptation to climate change, jobs and skills in the local economy
Interregional Innovation
Investments,
970 MEUR
Focus on the commercialisation and scaling up of interregional innovation projects for the development of European value chains. Support
thematic smart specialisation platforms on fields such as energy, industrial modernisation or agrifood.

9. 2. EU funding for cities. The landscape at a glance
European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-27
in the Czech Republic
‖ Czech Republic is one of the largest recipients of structural
funds in the CEE region and across the EU.
‖ 42.5% of the total public spending in the country in the
period of 2015-2017 came from the Cohesion funds.
‖ The European Commission proposed an ESIF 2021-2027
allocation of 17.8 billion EUR for the Czech
Republic.
‖ The authorities are now designing the new Operational
Programmes.
‖ Stakeholders are invited to reflect on the set of investment
areas, specific budgets as well as funding conditions.
TOP 5
FUTURE ESIF PRIORITIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
1
Low carbon
economy and
environment
2
Research,
innovation and the
application of new
technologies
3
Educated and
socially cohesive
society
4
Accessibility and
mobility
5
Sustainable territorial
development (integrated
development of urban and rural
areas)

10. 2. EU funding for cities. The landscape at a glance
Financing from development banks
The European Investment Bank
(EIB)
‖ Financing instruments as well as technical assistance
facilities.
‖ Top sectors: research and innovation, regional development,
smart cities, digital technologies, transport, energy,
education.
‖ Individual projects for which total investment cost exceeds
25 MEUR. Framework loans - over 100 MEUR for set of
smaller bundled projects.
‖ New InvestEU Programme 2021-2027.
The Council of Europe Investment Bank
(CEB)
‖ Financing and technical expertise for projects with a high
social impact.
‖ Top sectors: urban development, environment –
decontamination of land, conversion of buildings into
housing, education, healthcare.
‖ Rundown areas are a key target.
‖ Individual loans for a single unit investment or programme
loans for several smaller projects.

11. 3. Key reflections & references
Set the Vision. Formulate the strategy. Be transparent. Get stakeholders’ endorsement.
Consider all the elements that enable "common" businesses to be successful. These include a strong vision,
project governance and management. Engage all stakeholders at all stages.
Make “innovation” the core piece of the project. Transform the city into a living lab to attract businesses and
private investors.
Collaboration with the academic sector can be an important catalyst. “Open doors” policy towards companies
interested to test innovative solutions in real city environments.
Identify and embrace innovative business and procurement models.
New approaches for governing the project, financing it, forming partnerships and procuring solutions.

12. 3. Key reflections & references
Move from a “wish-list” to a concrete project pipeline. Get technical assistance.
Donors look for “serious” projects: well advanced in technical and financial terms.
Dedicate resources. Invest in a project team. Nominate a Project Ambassador.
The key is for the city/ region to rely on a strong funding team (internal and/ or external) as well as to have a
project coordinator who can interface with the donors/ investors.
Network. Get access to city platforms. Learn from similar initiatives.
Learning from similar initiatives can be revealing and also generating further ideas and cooperation at various
levels.
Blending is not just possible but also recommendable to reach the optimal funding/ financing mix
A city of the future project will most probably require multiple donors and investors. Make sure you avoid the
“funding trap”.

13. 3. Key reflections & references
Academies of Learning - University of
Limerick in County Clare
Technical University Dublin. Grangegoreman
Campus
On a site to be designated as a Strategic Development Zone
(SDZ)
Total budget of 300 MEUR, from a variety of sources, including a 110
MEUR loan from the EIB.

14. At the end…
#1 The future of cities is not set in stone. We can shape it. And EU
funding can contribute to this endeavor.
#2 Focus on preparing the ground and getting ready for the new wave
of 2021-2027 EU funding.

15. Thank You!
Schuman Associates scrl.
Rue Archimède 5, bte 12 b-1000
Brussels, Belgium
+32 (0) 2 230 7439
info@schumanassociates.com
Go linkedin
@Schuman_EU