EU funds for roads - CEDR

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2.1.1 The allocation of funds to EU member states
• Structural Funds/Cohesion Fund
In the period 2007–2013, the programming of the use of EU money from the Structural
Funds and the Cohesion Fund in each country (MS) is common 39 to all funds and comprises
the following steps:
a) The country prepares a Strategy Paper presenting the strategic and tactical goals set out
for the development of the country and its regions within the framework of the wider EU
strategies, policies, and objectives
40 . This paper is examined and, after any necessary
changes are made, agreed by the EC (DG REGIO). When approved, this document
forms the framework 41 for the implementation of all co-financed interventions in the
country. This is important, because during the reference period, projects which do not fall
under the provisions of this document will not be allowed to be co-financed by EU funds.
b) The country prepares a proposal for the organisation of the interventions to be
implemented in the reference period under specific Operational Programmes (OPs).
These OPs can either be ‘regional’
42 or ‘sectoral’ 43 . The OPs are examined and
approved by the EC (DG REGIO). Usually the OPs approved by the EC are documents
that describe the objectives and general categories of the interventions to be
implemented, but do not include details at project level 44 .
39 The Cohesion Fund had its own procedure until the period 2000–2006, albeit one that was very closely
coordinated with the procedure of the Structural Funds. For the period 2007–2013, the procedure is the same for
all funds (Structural and Cohesion Fund).
40 Such as the Lisbon strategy goals, the EU Cohesion Policy, the Green paper for Transport etc.
41 In the period 2000–2006, this document could take the form of either a ‘Community Support Framework’ (CSF),
which consisted of many Operational Programmes, i.e. sets of interventions aimed at achieving specific common
objectives, or a ‘Single Programming Document’ (SPD), which is actually one single Operational Programme for the
whole country. In the period 2007–2013, this document is known as either a ‘National Strategic Reference
Framework’ (NSRF) when it refers to interventions funded by the ERDF, CF, and ESF, or a ‘National Strategic Plan
for Rural Development’ when it refers to interventions funded by the European Agricultural Fund, or a ‘National
Strategic Plan for Fishery Development’ when it refers to interventions funded by the European Fisheries Fund.
42 The ‘Regional Operational Programmes’ (ROPs) contain interventions (projects) which are implemented in a
specific region (usually this region corresponds to an administrative region of the country, although this is not a
pre-requisite).
43 The ‘Sectoral Operational Programmes’ (SOPs) contain co-financed interventions referring to a specific sector of
the national economy, such as transport, education, environment etc. SOPs are usually applied nation-wide (i.e. its
interventions may take place in any region(s) of the country. Note: All OPs are usually funded by only one EU fund.
In exceptional cases, an OP may be allowed to be financed by two EU funds (ERDF and CF or ERDF and ESF).
However, its projects/interventions should be co-financed by only one EU fund.
44 Exceptions include the so called ‘major projects’, i.e. interventions that have an estimated budget of over €50
million, which should be mentioned by name in the approved Strategic Framework document.
EU funds for roads