The Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are financial tools set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union. They aim to reduce regional disparities in income, wealth and opportunities. Europe's poorer regions receive most of the support, but all European regions are eligible for funding under the policy's various funds and programmes. 

Lunch event in the European Parliament hosted by MEP Julie Girling on "Fact Checking Science - shaping the governance of scientific advice in the EU" in cooperation with the Nickel Institute and the European Risk Forum. For more information click here 

 In 2018, the Commission will make comprehensive proposals for the next generation of financial programmes for the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the EU's long–term budget. This consultation is an integral part of the process and its objective is to collect the views of all interested parties on how to make the most of every euro of the EU budget.

Schuman Associates held the latest in a series of events for Anti-Money Laundering Europe for which it acts as a secretariat.

The event discussed how the EU can continue its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, and how cooperation amongst institutions, as well as public private cooperation can be  improve.

Speakers included Europol, the European Commission's DG HOME, the ECON secretariat of the European Parliament and the FFIS, the event was moderated by Laura Heuvinck, manager of the AME Secretariat on behalf of Schuman Associates.

European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) also known as the “Open Days” is an annual four-day event held in Brussels during which cities and regions showcase their best practices in relation to their capacity to implement the European Union cohesion policy on various levels.

Each year the Committee of Regions as main institutional organizer selects different themes for the events that are attended by approximately 6,000 participants. 

The Winning Business in Africa project is a joint initiative between Ibec, Schuman Associates and the Irish Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It aims to provide Irish companies with relevant information on EDF contracts in Africa in order to facilitate and increase their participation in the tendering process. The portal contains more than 460 projects worth in excess of €8.5 billion in opportunities. For more information on WBIA click here. Schuman Associates will be delighted to showcase the WBIA portal together with some success stories from its user community on 13 February in Dublin.

Schuman Associates attended the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) ‘Ten issues to watch in 2018’. These issues are likely to be featured on this year’s EU political agenda and the future of the EU budget:

Would you like to join over 5,000 people from 150 countries to debate the world’s most pressing issues? Register for the European Development Days 2017 (EDDs) before 13 May 2017.  EDD 2017 promises to be the most inclusive and dynamic edition and will take place in Tour & Taxis on 7-8 June 2017 in Brussels, Belgium.

 This event will provide a forum to discuss the growing role of public/private information-sharing mechanisms to tackle financial crime around the world as well as the barriers, opportunities and progress across Europe in developing such mechanisms. It will also provide a forum for exploring the balance with privacy and proportionality around these new capabilities.

On 30 April the ERASMUS+ project “B-WISER” closed its fourth month of activities. After a fruitful and interactive kick-off meeting in January, all the partners started working on the project’s implementation under the seamless coordination and supervision by the VUB.

We are currently looking for a social media & community manager for a full-time assignment with the European Commission. Please visit Work with us section for further details. We look forward to hearing from you!

Schuman Associates participated in the Botswana Investment Forum hosted by H.E. Ambassador Outlule and organized by Connect Africa on 26 May 2017 in Brussels.

The event aimed at exchanging knowledge and experience on the investment opportunity in The Republic of Botswana. This included exploring and discussing vision 2036, the emerging innovation & startup ecosystem as well as the quality and effectiveness of business support structures in Botswana. Young entrepreneurs, investors and experts gathered in Brussels to share experiences, insights, and know-how, dishing out how to’s for potential investors, and inspiration for the rest.

AME (Anti-Money Laundering Europe) held their biannual meeting at the offices of the CCBE in Brussels. The roundtable discussion on Future Policy on Combatting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing looked at some of the lessons learned from the 4th AML Directive and what the future of EU policy will be.

The 2017 European Development Days took place in Brussels between 7-8 June with over 8000 participants from the development community. One of the key topics of this year was digitalization in the development world as an enabler to achieve sustainable growth and accelerate the achievement of the UN 2030 SDG’s. In this sense, the EU signed the "New European Consensus on Development" which represents a new collective vision and plan of action to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.

We are delighted to announce the full agenda for our upcoming breakfast briefing with Agtel on the Future of EU Communications, Wednesday 28 June, 8.00-9.30, at Aloft Brussels Schuman. Mairead McGuinness MEP and First Vice-President of the European Parliament will be our keynote speaker. Ruth Estrada, Partner at Schuman Associates will be presenting on "Enhancing the outreach of EU projects: BCO case study".  The event will be moderated by Tony Connelly, Europe Editor, RTE. We only have several places left so if you are interested in attending please RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Please take a look at our new Fact Sheet on the Erasmus+ Sport project B-WISER, in cooperation with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Adecco Group, research & elite sport institutions and dual career experts: https://prezi.com/view/VqG57o2nZRECxHA2MYuh/  

Thanks for joining our fantastic speakers Mairead McGuinness, Thibault Lesenecal, Ruth Estrada, Diarmaid Mac Mathúna and our moderator Tony Connelly for our Future of EU Communications event. If you didn’t make it, why not check out this short video with some of the highlights!

At the Western Balkans Summit in Trieste, Italy, the EU Commission and the regional partners agreed on seven new projects in transport and energy worth over 500 million euro, out of which 194 million euro are EU grants and loans from EBRD and EIB. The European Union is planning to allocate up to 1 billion euro by 2020 to key infrastructure projects in transport and energy of major importance to the region and its connectivity with the EU.