Danube-INCO.NET — Advancing Research and Innovation in the Danube Region

Since 1994, the Cohesion Fund has been used to provide support for the poorer regions of European Union Member States and stabilize their economies with a view to promoting growth, employment and sustainable development.  The Cohesion Fund is aimed at Member States whose Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90 % of the EU average. It aims to reduce economic and social disparities and to promote sustainable development.

For the 2014-2020 period, the Cohesion Fund concerns Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The Cohesion Fund allocates a total of € 63.4 billion to activities under the following categories:

• trans-European transport networks, notably priority projects of European interest as identified by the EU. The Cohesion Fund will support infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility;
• environment: here, the Cohesion Fund can also support projects related to energy or transport, as long as they clearly benefit the environment in terms of energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, developing rail transport, supporting intermodality, strengthening public transport, etc.

The new Cohesion Policy means regions and Member States must target EU investments on four key areas for economic growth and job creation:

• Research and Innovation

• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

• Enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

• Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy

For further information, please visit the following websites: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/funding/cohesion-fund/

 https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/informat/2014/fiche_innovation_en.pdf