European Structural and Investment Funds Regulations 2014-2020

Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that, in order to strengthen its economic, social and territorial cohesion, the Union is to aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions or islands, and that particular attention is to be paid to rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps.

The Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) set out the rules governing the five instruments of the Cohesion Policy: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
In the new programming period they are collectively referred to as the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds.


European Union Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 - the role of the European Parliament