EU funds for roads - CEDR

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- Where the conditions are right, the Commission is committed to providing budget support
as a means to strengthen country ownership, finance national development strategies
(including poverty reduction strategies), and promote sound and transparent public
finances 63 .
- Budget support
64 involves the direct transfer of funds to a partner country’s budget,
where they can be managed using national systems 65 .
- Those receiving aid in this way must display sound macro-economic policies, and take
steps to improve public financial management.
2.2 How to secure EU funds for road projects
The success of a body (being either a public authority, like a roads directorate, or a private
company or person) in obtaining financial support from EU funds for its projects/operations,
depends greatly on the body itself (supposing that there are EU funds available for roads, but
there are many potential recipients eligible to receive them). A few recommendations for
success in this respect are outlined below:
(a) Good preparation: This is obvious for all human activities. However, in order to access EU
funds, good preparation is a ‘condition sine qua non’ and a very critical issue since it
requires time, effort, and money. This includes at the very least:
The determination of one’s own needs: What projects do we want to implement in order
to reach our objectives in the referenced period? What priority projects must we
implement? Can we finance these projects with our own/national available funds? What
funds do we need to secure from ‘external’ sources?
The search for financial opportunities: Investigation of existing EU funds (financial
instruments) and of the terms and conditions under which they provide their funds. Are
there EU funds that might co-finance our projects (or parts of them)? What are the
funding capabilities of the EU funds within the framework of potentially agreed axes of
financing for priority sectors/cross-cutting issues or regions/areas? What other
bodies/projects are likely (or certain) to compete for the same available funds? What is
the possibility of succeeding in securing EU funds for (each of) our projects? What is the
likely amount of funding that (each of) our projects could receive?
63 To receive budget support, a partner country must meet certain eligibility conditions. These cover three main
areas, which should be in place or under implementation:
- a well-defined national or sectoral development or reform policy and strategy;
- a stability-oriented macroeconomic framework;
- a credible and relevant programme to improve public financial management.
64 There are two main types of budget support:
- General budget support (GBS), representing a transfer to the national treasury in support of a national
development or reform policy and strategy.
- Sector budget support (SBS), representing a transfer to the national treasury in support of a sector
programme.
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When transferred to the country, the EU funds form part of the partner country’s global resources and are
consequently used in accordance with its public financial management system. Therefore, budget involves three
key elements: (a) foreign exchange from the EU fund is transferred to the partner country’s central bank; (b) the
central bank credits the country’s national treasury with an equivalent amount of local currency; (c) transfers by
the EU fund to the central bank are made only after certain agreed conditions for payment are met.
EU funds for roads