Effective project management is the key to the success of local firms that have achieved their corporate goals in the last few years. Furthermore, organisations both locally and across the EU have funding opportunities to thank for successful implementation of their business projects. This article will attempt to guide all local businesses who have a project or an idea of a project, and would like to have it financed by European funding, among other forms of funding.
With a substantial budget which exceeds €864 billion allocated to the seven year timeframe 2007-2013, the EU dedicated €347 billion of this budget to the EU Cohesion Policy. Malta has been designated with Community funding in the form of structural and cohesion funds which amount to €855 million. Furthermore, every programme within these funds has its own regulations to be adhered to in order to be eligible to achieve specific objectives. Most of the objectives would be linked to a form of EU policy. Moreover, the availability of such funds ranges from private companies, public bodies, NGOs, Universities, and other organisations; and is subject to individual programme rules.
The main funding instruments of the EU Cohesion Policy for 2007-2013 take the shape of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund. The assistance that falls under such funds are dissected among three objectives, namely: Convergence, regional competitiveness and employment, and European territorial cooperation. Cohesion policy funds are managed by the Planning and Priorities Coordination (PPCD) within the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta.
A range of programmes that fall under the ERDF which are particularly important to Malta are the territorial co-operation programmes which encourage cooperation and an exchange of knowledge and best practices across member states and regions. These include ‘The Italia-Malta Programme’, focusing on socio-economic and cultural cooperation across the maritime border between Malta and Sicily and ‘The Med Programme’ which aims at strengthening competitiveness and sustainable growth while promoting territorial cohesion.
Other programmes that fall under these set of programmes include ‘The Interreg IVC Programme’, ‘The Epson II Programme’, and ‘The Interact II Programme’. These programmes are also managed by the PPCD.
Appealing funds for education institutions include the ‘7th Framework Programme’ (FP7), which is the EU’s main instrument for funding research in Europe. The National Contact Point for the FP7 Programmes is the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST).
SMEs in Malta can find support for their innovation activities to enhance their competitiveness through funding within ‘The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme’ (CIP). Giving utmost importance to ICT and energy efficiency, the CIP is divided into three operational programmes: The ‘Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme’ (EIP), The ‘Information Communication Technology Policy support Programme’ (ICT-PSP), and the ‘Intelligent Energy Europe’ (EIE). The National Contact point for the CIP Programme is the Malta Investment Management Co. Ltd. (MIMCOL).
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