Active European Citizenship

DIA – EU: Dialogue with the E.U. – The voices of the Citizens

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Financial arrangements of cooperation & implementation

Speech’s themeThe specific speech concerns the presentation of the financial arrangement that E.U is using for supporting and promoting the cooperation and intervention related with the Civil Society. Emphasize will be given to the financial arrangements funded directly through the European Union and not in a National level, since only the first ones:

•Have international, cross-border character, favoring (promoting) the cooperation among partners from different countries

•Promote in practice the diffusion of the expertise and the best practices among different geographical areas

•Form the basic tool of active implementation for NGOs in the field of Civil Society

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Necessity of financial arrangement existence

Until the middle of the ’90s, the civil society could not develop a dynamic action, as the vehicles were entrapped in a Europe where:•Emphasis was given exclusively to the economy and to promoting firstly the economic and secondly the monetary union •The mobility of the people wasn’t easy from one country to another, creating hermetically to the transfer of technical know-how and to co-operations •There were not platforms and fields for international cooperation among vehicles of the Civil Society •The structure of the vehicles of the Civil Society was rudimentary and the available financial resources for action development were minimum•The National level predominated against European or international level

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Targets of financial arrangements

The activation of financial arrangements regarding the Civil Society’s actions from the European Union served the following aims :

•To empower and provide the necessary financial resources to the vehicles that activate in the Civil Society •To create the appropriate platform of international cooperation and exchange of experience among different National vehicles•To promote the Democracy and the participation of the citizens in all the social activities •To produce a spirit of social solidarity and a system of values•To set the foundations for an inter-cultural dialogue and communication•To secure the national traditions

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Financing Channels

The resources were disposed from the European Union for the financing of actions regarding the Civil Society leaked through :

1.NGOs aiming to the promotion of relevant actions 2.Governmental Vehicles and Services with similar subjects

3.Regional and Local authorities

4.University Institutions and others vehicles of Higher Education

5.Other non-profit vehicles and networks

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Forms of Financial Arrangements(1/2)

During the last decade, European Union has contributed several billions of euros for the funding of actions of the Civil Society through a series of Programs, totally or partly focused on the social field. Indicatively are reported:

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Programme Duration Overall Budget (€)

5th Framework Programme 1998 - 2002 15 billions

6th Framework Programme 2002 - 2006 17.5 billions

7th Framework Programme 2007 - 2013 51 billions

INTERREG III 2002 - 2006 5 billions

Interreg IV 2007 - 2013 7.8 billions

Al-Invest III 2004 - 2007 53 millions

AL-INVEST IV 2009- 2012 50 millions

Forms of Financial Arrangements (2/2)

Programme Duration Overall Budget (€)

Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme

2007 - 2013 3.6 billions

Europe for Citizens 2007 -2013 0.25 billions

Youth in Action 2007 -2013 0.9 billions

Culture 2007 – 2013 0.4 billions

Fundamental Rights and Justice 2007 – 2013 0.4 billions

Lifelong Learning Programme 2007 – 2013 7 billions

Ambient Assisted Living Programme 2008 – 2013 0.7 billions

South East Europe Programme 2007 - 2013 0.25 billions

PROGRESS programme 2007 - 2013 0.75 billions

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Evaluation of the efficiency of financial arrangements

The E.U. used financial instruments for the support of the Civil Society which constituted the vehicle for the development of relevant actions. The benefits, however, could be maximized if confront the following disfunctions :

•Partially and not fully match European and National strategies and priorities•Insufficient capitalisation of the productive project and its conversion into Best Practices•Influence from non relevant vehicles to the Civil Society for promoting politicians •Insufficient evaluation of the vehicles that implement these kind of actions for future purposes •Insufficient participation of the vehicles of Civil Society to consultation for the planning and determination of priorities of the financial arrangements

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