European funds have always been of paramount importance for local and regional authorities around Europe. In the context of the current economic recession and budgetary restrictions at every level, European funding becomes even more an important source of potential income for subnational public authorities. The final conference of the Pro-I3T project (financed by the Europe for Citizens programme) which took place in the Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 23 October, adressed the question of how local and regional authorities can make best use of EU funding programmes. During the first part, participants got acquainted with the current European programmes and discussed the challenges of accessing European money. Basis for this discussion provided Mr. Vanraes, AER Bureau member and member of the Brussels-Capital (B) Regional Parliament, with the presentation of the AER’s report : Information and access to European funding. During the second part, the challenges and potentials of the future programming period have been discussed. Among the panelists, were representatives from the Cyprus presidency, the European Commission, the CoR and the ERRIN network.
