Active European Citizenship DIA – EU: Dialogue with the E.U. – The voices of the Citizens A

Financial arrangements of cooperation & implementation Speech’s theme The 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 2

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 3

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 4

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 5

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: 6 ProgrammeDurationOverall Budget (€) 5 th Framework Programme billions 6 th Framework Programme billions 7 th Framework Programme billions INTERREG III billions Interreg IV billions Al-Invest III millions AL-INVEST IV millions

Forms of Financial Arrangements (2/2) ProgrammeDurationOverall Budget (€) Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme billions Europe for Citizens billions Youth in Action billions Culture2007 – billions Fundamental Rights and Justice2007 – billions Lifelong Learning Programme2007 – billions Ambient Assisted Living Programme2008 – billions South East Europe Programme billions PROGRESS programme billions 7

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 8