Summary
Around thirty five percent of the European Union’s (EU) budget is
spent developing the environmental, transport, tourism, medical,
and information and communication technology infrastructure in
the less developed areas of the 27 EU Member States. Grants from
the Structural and Cohesion funds and loans from the European
Investment Bank are the main instruments used to further the EU
economic development policy. The new EU Structural Funds amount
to € 308 billion for its 27 Member States for 2007-2013. This
report is designed to help U.S. companies better understand the
process by which projects are funded and financed in the EU, and
consequently to maximize the chances of participating in these
projects.