Schuman Associates news

With the new European Commission set to take office, ideally in December, it is time to look at what policies can be expected from Ursula von der Leyen and her team of Commissioners. In the agenda, titled "A Union that strives for more" the Commission President-elect named six main priorities for the coming years.  Concerning the European Gree...

2014-2020 Since its EU accession in 2007, Bulgaria has been benefiting from the Union's Investment and Structural Funds at an increasing speed. For the last decade, these funds appear to be the chief driver for Bulgaria's reforms and economic development. EU funding furthermore plays a major role in financing public investments, with almost half of...

During the European Week of Regions and CitiesSchuman Associates took part in the event "Promoting City of the Future organized by the Central Bohemia Region. The focus of the workshop was on how to change an unprivileged area into a modern citycombining sustainable development and reflecting environmental, modern technology, economic and social ne...

Following the announcement of the proposed College of Commissioners to serve under President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, we will be taking a closer look, in the coming weeks, at the key portfolios that will shape the major EU funding streams of 2021-2027. But first, a general overview of the new European Commission portfolios and their Commiss...

European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027  EU Cohesion Policy (CP) has significantly contributed to the stable GDP growth (4.7%) that Poland has experienced over the last 15 years of EU membership. With more than 50% of all public investment in Poland coming from Cohesion Funding, the country is still on the podium of Europe's fastest...

 The big numbers Once every seven years, the EU decides on its future budget. The new budget will start in January 2021 and it is still expected to be the first for the European Union without the UK. The EU institutions are now negotiating the proposal for the 2021-2027 budget and sectoral funding programmes. A compromise is sought before the ...

Digital Europe 2021-2027 is the first EU programme entirely dedicated to investments in key digital areas. It aims to support the development and wide use of digital technologies to the benefit of European citizens and businesses. A budget of 9,2 BEUR is planned to fund projects in 5 areas: supercomputing; Artificial Intelligence; Cybersecurity; Di...

European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027  EU funding plays a major role in financing public investments in Romania, with almost 50% of all public spending coming from Cohesion funds (€30.8 billion under the current EU 2014-2020 budget).This opens a large market for all companies selling to the public sector in Romania. At the same ti...

The official date of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union is coming up soon, on the 31st of October 2019. While Brexit, depending on whether the UK leaves with or without a deal, will have a huge impact on Europe as a whole, will also affect the European Parliament. Should the UK leave the EU on the 31st of October, regardless of ...

As the first woman in history to be elected President of the European Commission, and with only a narrow majority in the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen takes the helm at a critical time, and has a challenging road ahead of her. Having secured 383 votes in the European Parliament yesterday evening – only nine votes over the required minim...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) strongly supports EBRD efforts to enhance urban environmental sustainability. On July 2, they both signed the disbursement of 87 MEUR as the first tranche of a 228 MEUR facility to support the EBRD Green Cities programme. The GCF is a global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the c...

Sustainable Europe – Sustainable FutureFinland took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1st July 2019. The country is taking over the helm of the EU at the time of uncertainty. As it stands now, the date of the UK departure from the EU is set for 31st October, and whatever the outcome, Finland will have to manoeuvre the tran...

Schuman Associates' CEO and Founder, Gerard McNamara, has been rated one of the top EU Public Affairs Consultants in Brussels by BestinBrussels.eu – and his consultancy is rated in the top 60 out of almost 300 Brussels consultancies in the Transparency Register.The key to success, in McNamara's words, is "understanding future trends and aligning ou...

On 20-21 of June in Brussels European leaders adopted the new Strategic Agenda for 2019-2024. The European Council agreed on an agenda for the EU for the next five years that sets out priority areas that will steer the work of the European Council and provide guidance for the work programmes of other EU institutions.The strategic agenda focuses on ...

​On 20 June, Schuman Associates moderated the EU Sector Seminar for External Aid organized by the Permanent Representation of France and Spain to the EU and ICEX – Spain Trade and Invest. Panelist from DG DEVCO, DG NEAR, EEAS, EIB, AECID, AFD and SOS Sahel discussed the different modalities for private sector participation in EU External Aid action...

In 2018, the European Investment Bank (EIB) supported over EUR 230 billion worth of investments. Among others, these enabled the creation of 29 million ultra-fast digital connections, generated 290 million passengers in EIB-funded transport, and supported 370,000 SMEs. The largest total investments in 2018 were made in Spain (EUR 8.48 Billion), Ita...

At Schuman Associates, we are celebrating 30 years of connecting our clients with Europe.  We started out as a small team in November 1989, at a time when Europe was going through major historical changes with the fall​ of the Berlin Wall. Over the years, we've seen the EU evolve, gaining fourteen new Member States, an...

 On 29 May, the European Commission published its annual assessment of the reform agenda in the Western Balkans partner countries and Turkey. This is an exercise carried out by the Commission on an annual basis to assess concrete progress and commitment towards European integration and to provide key recommendations. In the coming days, Schuma...

Horizon 2020 is the EU's Research and Innovation Programme for 2014-2020. It is a great opportunity for private companies, research centres, public institutions, SMEs, from all European countries to receive consistent funding for high quality R&D projects in many diverse sectors of science and humanities. In this edition of our Horizon 2020 Das...

Once again, Schuman Associates will be moderating the EU Sector Seminar for External Aid, taking place on 20th June in Brussels. This year the topic is private sector participation in External Aid funding instruments with a view on the upcoming MFF 2021-2027 and the new financial architecture that is being proposed. The seminar will be followed by ...