Funding opportunities
European Structural and Investment Funds
Cohesion policy addresses diverse development needs in all EU regions and cities, with a budget of € 351.8 billion – almost a third of the total EU budget. The ESIFs include the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) for development and structural adjustements of regional economies, economic change, enhanced competitiveness as well as territorial cooperation, European Social Fund (ESF) for employment, social inclusion and education, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for competitiveness of agriculture, sustainable management of natural resources and territorial development of rural communities, and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) for sustainable fishing and costal communities.
European Structural and Investment Funds
InvestEU Fund
The InvestEU Fund is expected to mobilise more than €372 billion of public and private investment through an EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion that backs the investment of financial partners such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and others. It provides the EU with crucial long-term funding, crowding in private investment, supporting the recovery and a greener, more digital and resilient Europe.
InvestEU Portal
The InvestEU Portal allows project promoters to reach investors that they may not be able to reach otherwise. The Portal continues the work started under the European Investment Project Portal (EIPP) and is the online EU ‘marketplace’ connecting EU-based project promoters to investors worldwide. It provides project promoters with more options to finance their projects.
Urban Innovative Actions
The UIA initiative provides urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges. The intiative has a total budget of €371 million for the period 2015 to 2020.
Urban Innovative Actions
URBACT
URBACT is a European exchange and learning programme that promotes sustainable urban development and helps cities work together to develop pragmatic solutions to urban challenges. URBACT is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, in all EU countries, Norway and Switzerland. Covering the period 2014 to 2020, URBACT III has a budget of €96.3 million.
URBACT
Horizon 2020
The Horizon 2020 programme is the biggest EU research and innovation programme, with €80 billion of funding available between 2014 and 2020.
Horizon 2020
Smart Cities Marketplace
The Smart Cities Marketplace helps speeding up the green transition of cities and towns in Europe by improving citizens’ quality of life, increasing the competitiveness of European cities and industry as well as reaching European energy and climate targets. It complements other EU efforts such as REPowerEU with a complete catalogue of offers including calls for free technical assistance, 1-to-1-consultancy services for city-led consortia close to the financing stage, financing masterclasses and a fine-tuned matchmaking for the financing of urban projects and intensified partnerships with other EU initiatives, such as the Covenant of Mayors, the Green City Accord, the European Green Capital/Green Leaf Awards, Scalable Cities, CIVITAS and Living-in.eu, to name but a few.
Smart Cities Marketplace
LIFE
The LIFE programme is the EU's financial instrument for supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects. LIFE tackles urban challenges such as air quality, noise, energy and waste. The total budget for funding projects between 2014 and 2020 is €1.1 billion for environment and €0.36 billion for climate action.
LIFE
Funding advice
InvestEU Advisory Hub
The InvestEU Advisory Hub is envisioned as the central entry point for project promoters and intermediaries seeking advisory support and technical assistance related to centrally managed EU investment funds. Managed by the European Commission and financed by the EU budget, the hub connects project promoters and intermediaries with advisory partners, among them the European Investment Bank Group, who work directly together to help projects reach the financing stage.
It will be operational by the end of 2021. In the meantime please use: European Investment Advisory Hub
JASPERS
Jasper assistance advices cities and regions on strategic planning in a wide range of sectors. It supports preparation of projects in areas benefiting from EU funds so they meet all the necessary standards.
Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions
fi-compass
The fi-compass is a platform for advisory services on financial instruments under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and microfinance under the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation. It supports ESIF managing authorities, EaSI microfinance providers and other interested parties.
fi-compass
Accessing funds
Information about applying for European structural and investment funds.
Accessing funds
How EU funding works
Basic information, including links to websites, about EU funding opportunities available for the period 2014 to 2020.
How EU funding works
Funding, Tenders
EU funding, grants, tenders, and how to apply.
Funding, Tenders