Easier access to EU funds for external action of local and regional governments

The French Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AFCCRE) organised on 13-14 June a third training session on European financing and external cooperation for local governments in Rennes (France).

Two other sessions took place in Brussels (Belgium) in February and in Nancy (France) in March. PLATFORMA took part to these trainings, along with the European Commission, to present to local and regional governments’ representatives the general framework of the external policy of the European Union. The Delegate to local governments’ external action, Bertrand Fort, and the General Director of AFCCRE, Christophe Chaillou, were also among the speakers.

Access to European funding programs is becoming a major challenge for French local and regional governments involved in external cooperation, in order to pursue committed partnerships and benefit from leverage effect to strengthen the impact of their actions.

Implemented with support from the Délégation à l’action extérieure des collectivités territoriales (DAECT – delegation to external action of local governments) of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, this training scheme is available to territorial agents that wish to improve their understanding of European financing opportunities regarding external cooperation of local governments, especially within the CSO-LA framework.

Following the large success of the first three sessions, AFCCRE is planning additional trainings before the end of 2017.

PLATFORMA secretariat encourages this kind of initiatives organised by national associations and is ready to support them.