Glossary

A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, governments or combinations. They may work in a partnershiop to increase the likelihood of each achieving their mission, and to amplify their reach.

Payment of the final balance is the final payment made by the Commission to the Programmes. To receive a final payment from the Commission, the Member States must provide a final statement of expenditure and a final implementation report for each operational programme.

Pilot activity is a practical measure implemented in the context of a territorial cooperation project that aims to test or pilot strategies and tools in the partner regions.

"Polluter pays principle" (PPP) is one of the principles of the EU's environmental policy. The "polluter pays principle", which is mentioned in Article 191 § 3 of the TFEU (ex Article174, § 2, of the EC Treaty), means that the cost incurred in combating pollution and nuisances in the first instance falls to the polluter; i.e., the polluting industry. Given, however, that the polluting industry can pass the cost of the prevention or elimination of pollution on to the consumer, the principle amounts to saying that polluting production should bear the expenditure corresponding to the measures necessary to combat pollution (investment in apparatus and equipment for combating pollution, implementation of new processes, operating expenditure for anti-pollution plant, etc.), and the charges, the purpose of which is to encourage the polluter himself to take, as cheaply as possible, the necessary measures to reduce the pollution caused by him (incentive function) or to make him bear his share of the costs of collective purification measures (redistribution function). The European guidelines on State Aid for environmental protection are designed to ensure that aid granted for environmental purposes complies with the "polluter pays" principle.

Pre-financing payments are made between 2014 and 2016 once the Commission has approved an operational programme. Initial pre-financing is made in yearly instalments of 1 % of the funding amount for the operational programme over the entire programming period. From 2016 to 2023, an annual pre-financing of between 2 % and 3 % of the entire funding amount is paid.

A press release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something newsworthy. Typically, they are sent to editors and journalists at newspapers, magazines, radio stations, online media, television stations or television networks.

Private contribution refers to the amount of funds secured by the partners from sources with a private legal status.The programme funds meet only a proportion of the project expenditure. The remainder has to be covered from other sources, which can be the partner's own resources or it can come from external sources, but not from another EU fund.

Procurement procedure is a structured procedure designed to consult the market for the purchase of the goods and services. A procurement procedure leads to the conclusion of a public contract. The purpose of a procurement procedure is threefold: (1) to guarantee the widest possible participation of economic operators, (2) to ensure the transparency of operations, and (3) to obtain the desired quality of services, supplies and works at the best possible price.

The Programme Area is a geographical area covered by a specific programme or, in the case of a programme covering more than one category of region, the geographical area corresponding to each separate category of region.

Programme language is the language used in all communication between the applicants/beneficiaries and the programme bodies. In some cases it could be more than one language.

A programme priority (axis) is an area of thematic intervention in the programme.

Programming refers to the administrative mechanism used to pursue the objectives of the European Structural and Investment Funds. Multi-annual programmes – known as operational programmes – ensure consistency and continuity over a seven-year period. Programmes relate to specific geographical areas at international, national or sub-national level, depending on the governance arrangements in place. Programme aims include identifying strategic priorities and indicative actions, outlining financial allocations, and summarising management and control systems.

A project is a sequence of tasks needed to achieve fixed objectives with limited resources (budget and staff) and within a defined timeframe.

Project Approval is the letter lead partners of approved projects receive after the funding decision has been made, stating the decision of the Monitoring / Steering Committee, as well as the total ERDF fund approved. The programme might also recommend certain project modifications to optimise the project delivery.

Project closure is the last phase in the project implementation process. The focus is on the completion of all work packages and delivery of project results. If the work plan has been successfully completed within budget the project can be closed – once it has completed the final financial control. The financial aspects of the closure process involve making sure that all costs have been appropriately charged to the project, that a proper audit trail exists, and that all post revenue incomes have been accounted for. The project closure also refers to putting the relevant arrangements in place regarding post-project obligations towards such legal aspects as ownership and changes thereof, cessation of activities, reallocation of outputs, and Intellectual Property Rights of project outputs and results and free of charge access to them.

The project implementation phase starts after project approval, and is the period when project partners perform the activities which were presented in the application form and approved by the programme.

Project modifictaion is a change in the agreed-upon project scope as defined by the approved application form.

A project partner is a partner organisation involved in the project implementation.

Project partner type refers to the classification of project partners according to their main purpose, not taking into account their legal status (which could be either public or private).

The project preparation phase is the period when project partners develop the project proposal and prepare the application form.

The project specific objective is a concrete statement describing what the project is trying to achieve. It refers to the project main outputs. It can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project, to see whether it was achieved or not.

Proportionality regulates how the European Union exercises its powers. The proportionality principle means that, to achieve its aims, the EU will only take the action it needs to and no more. The principle is enshrined in the Treaty on European Union under Article 5, which states: ‘the content and form of Union action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties’.

Public expenditure refers to any public contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities, the budget of the Union related to the ESI Funds, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or of public law bodies and, for the purpose of determining the co-financing rate for ESF programmes or priorities, may include any financial resources collectively contributed by employers and workers.