About EUR 547 million of EU regional and structural policy funds for 2022 allocated to intermediate bodies

NordenBladet — On 10 February 2022 the Government decided on the grant authorisations under the EU’s regional and structural policy programme, Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021−2027; and the Finnish structural funds programme, Sustainable growth and jobs 2014–2020, to the intermediary bodies in 2022. At the same time, the Government decided how to distribute the funds of the Interreg programmes for the period of 2021–2027 and the European Neighbourhood Instrument Cross-Border Cooperation 2014–2020 programme in 2022.EUR 520.4 million of the Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021−2027 programme allocatedThe Government authorised the granting of about EUR 520.4 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF +) to the intermediate bodies. These are the first authorisations for the programming period of 2021−2027. The intermediate bodies, including the ELY Centres, regional councils and the Finnish Food Authority, will allocate the funding for the implementation of Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021−2027, the EU’s regional and structural policy programme, and the Interreg programmes for the 2021−2027 programming period.The Innovation and Skills in Finland programme provides funding for research and development activities, SME growth and competitiveness, energy efficiency, climate change adaptation and circular economy. The projects funded by the programme also support employment and education and help prevent social exclusion.EUR 26.9 million in funds allocated in programming period 2014–2020 The Government allocated a total of approximately EUR 26.7 million of the funds of the Sustainable growth and jobs 2014–2020 programme to the ELY Centres and regional councils, which serve as intermediate bodies for Eastern and Northern Finland. In addition, the Government granted EUR 240,000 to the Regional Council of the Oulu Region for the implementation of the Karelia ENI CBC programme in 2014–2020, which is part of the European Neighbourhood Instrument Cross-Border Cooperation. These funds were distributed now, because the grant authorisations from the previous programming period had been cancelled and re-budgeted. This procedure aims to ensure that the regions use the funding of the programming period in full.The focus of the remainder of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding will be on RDI and low-carbon projects. The projects of the European Social Fund (ESF) should increase the effectiveness of measures that respond to the challenges concerning the availability of skilled labour. The intermediate bodies will provide information on calls for project applications on the EURA 2021 digital portal.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi