Glossary

Eligibility criteria is the criteria used to assess the eligibility of the project. Whether the project is eligible or not eligible depends on rules set at EU and programme level.

An eligible area is the teritory defined in the Operational Programme where project activities co-financed by an Interreg programme should be implemented.

Equipment is a budget line that covers any tool, device, instrument, software, etc. purchased, rented or leased by a partner, necessary to achieve objectives of the project. This includes equipment already in possession by the partner organisation and used to carry out project activities (only pro-rata cost related to the project is eligible). (HIT)

ERDF equivalent refers to national funds of Andorra, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, available to partners from Andorra, Greenland, Faroe Islands, etc. respectively. Depending on the geographical coverage of the programme, different ERDF equivalents may apply. There can be more than one ERDF equivalent in a programme.

The European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) is an entity with legal personality provided by the EU regulations (Regulation (EC) 1082/2006 being the main legal base for its establishment). It aims at facilitating and promoting territorial cooperation in view of strengthening the Union’s economic, social and territorial cohesion. It enables public entities, but also in specific situations non-profit private entities providing public services, to come together and create a cooperation structure with legal personality. As a general rule, an EGTC must consist of at least two members coming from at least two EU Member States. However, under certain conditions accession of members from third countries or overseas countries of territories is also possible. An EGTC may carry out actions of territorial cooperation, with or without financial contribution from the EU. The EGTC's members unanimously agree on the content of a convention, which describes its objections, tasks and competences, and on the basis of that document adopt statutes. In the case of cooperation programmes, EGTC can act as a managing authority, be responsible for managing part of the programme, be beneficiary of project or act as an intermediate body. The international composition and scope of actions of EGTC naturally enables it to take on new Interreg activities, as well as actively facilitate multi-level governance and macro-regional strategies.

The European Region Development Fund (ERDF) is an EU fund which is intended to help reduce imbalances between regions of the Community. The Fund was set up in 1975, and grants financial assistance for development projects in the poorer regions. In terms of financial resources, the ERDF is by far the largest of the EU's Structural Funds. The main aim of the ERDF is to overcome the structural deficiencies of the poorer regions in order to reduce the gap between these regions and the richer ones.

The European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) objective of the EU's Cohesion Policy supports cooperation across borders of the EU. The 3 dimensions of the ETC Objective: (1) Cross-Border Cooperation: helps transform regions located on either side of borders of the European Union into strong economic and social poles. In particular cross-border actions are encouraged in the fields of entrepreneurship, improving joint management of natural resources, supporting links between urban and rural areas, improving access to transport and communication networks, developing joint use of infrastructure, administrative cooperation and capacity building, employment, community interaction, culture and social affairs. (2) Transnational Cooperation: promotes cooperation among greater European regions, including the ones surrounding sea basins (e.g., Baltic Sea Region, North Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic Area) or mountain ranges (e.g., Alpine Space) and facilitates coordinated strategic responses to joint challenges like flood management, transport and communication corridors, international business and research linkages, urban development and others. Special attention is given to outermost and island regions (e.g., Indian Ocean, Caribbean Area or Northern Periphery). (3) Interregional Cooperation: provides a framework for the exchange of experiences between local and regional actors from across Europe in order to contribute to the EU’s strategies on growth, jobs and sustainable development. In addition, it aims at reducing disparities by matching less experienced regions with more advanced regions in the various policy fields such as innovation, demographic change, energy supply and climate change.

Evaluation is the periodic assessment of the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance of a project/programme in the context of stated objectives. This assessment is usually undertaken as an independent examination with a view to drawing lessons that may guide future decision-making.

Ex-ante evaluation is evaluation of a programme before its implementation. The ex-ante evaluation ensures that the Cooperational Programme articulates its intervention logic, and that that it contributes to the Europe 2020 strategy.

Expenditure is payment of cash or cash-equivalent for goods or services as evidenced by an invoice or receipt.

An Expression of Interest is a short version of the application form which is used at the first application stage when programmes are using the two-step approach to project selection. The content of it is not binding in the case of submitting the full application form in the second step, but it should not depart significantly from what was initially proposed.