EU PROGRAMMES

The EU Programmes consist of a series of measures adopted by the EU in order to promote cooperation and solidarity among its Member States, to support the idea of Europeanness and to overcome common challenges in various areas such as innovation, entrepreneurship, public health, education etc. The EU Programmes are financed from the EU Budget and occasionally from Member States’ own budget. Financial contribution is given to the international projects that are drawn up in line with the EU Programmes´ objectives and conditions.

Member States as well as candidate countries can participate in these programmes under the condition that an annual fee is paid to the budget. By expanding the EU Programmes to candidate countries, the EU has aimed not only to raise the knowledge of candidate countries on EU policies but also to further enhance cooperation with Member States. The first step in this regard was the political will showed in the Copenhagen Summit (1993) for the participation of Central and Eastern European Countries which had already signed the Association Agreement, in the EU Programmes. The European Council in Luxemburg (1997) reiterated the importance of such participation in EU Programmes and Agencies as part of the enhanced Pre-Accession Strategy of candidate countries.

Moreover, at this Summit, the EU leaders have also decided to adopt a “European Strategy for Turkey” which would regulate Turkey´s participation in some of the EU Programmes and Agencies. On the 4^th March 1998 following the request of the Luxembourg European Council, the Commission adopted the European strategy for Turkey. The main elements of the pre-accession strategy for Turkey included the alignment of legislation and the adoption of the Acquis. At the Helsinki Summit held in 1999, Turkeys status as a candidate country has been recognized by the EU. In this context, Turkey gained the right to participate in all EU Programmes and Agencies, which are open to candidate countries.

As of 15 April 2021, Turkey has announced its intention, in principle, to participate in the following EU programmesin the 2021-2027 period: LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Change/Action, EU Space Programme, InvestEU, Digital Europe and Single Market Programme.

The list of EU Programmes to which Turkey has been participating can be found below:

EU PROGRAMMES TO WHICH TURKEY PARTICIPATES

• HORIZON 2020 PROGRAMME

Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy that aims to secure Europes global competitiveness. With its 80 billion euros budget, Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation Programme launched so far by the EU. This Programme covers the period from 2014 to 2020. The goal of Horizon 2020 is defined as to ensure that the EU produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering tangible results in that area.

Turkey has been associated to EU research framework programmes since 2003. Under the previous programme, the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013) there has been over 1000 participations from Turkish public and private institutions in approximately 950 projects which have received around 200 million euros in EU funding.

The agreement granting Turkey full access to Horizon 2020 was signed on the 4^th June 2014 in Istanbul. The national coordinator of the Horizon 2020 Programme in Turkey is the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).

In 2018 the Commission proposed an ambitious 100 billion euro research and innovation programme - Horizon Europe - to succeed Horizon 2020. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached in March and April 2019 a provisional agreement on Horizon Europe. The European Parliament endorsed the provisional agreement on 17 April 2019.

The EU institutions reached a political agreement on Horizon Europe on 11 December 2020 and set the budget for Horizon Europe at 95.5 billion euros in current prices (including 5.4 billion euros from the Next Generation of the EU – Recovery Fund). On this basis, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU proceed towards the adoption of the legal acts.

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth. The programme aims to facilitate collaboration and to strengthen the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies. Horizon Europe creates jobs, fully engages the EU’s talent pool, boosts economic growth, promotes industrial competitiveness and optimises investment impact within a strengthened European Research Area. Legal entities from the EU and associated countries can participate.

Horizon Europe have some new elements.

One of them is the European Innovation Council which has been launched on 18 March 2021. The European Innovation Council is a key novelty of Horizon Europe and represents the most ambitious innovation initiative that Europe has taken, with a budget of 10 billion euros for the period 2021-2027. It is unique in the world in that it combines research on emerging technologies with an accelerator programme and a dedicated equity fund, the European Innovation Council Fund, to scale up innovative start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Around 3 billion euros of the EIC’s budget will go towards the EIC Fund. It provides support for innovations with potential breakthrough and disruptive nature with scale-up potential that may be too risky for private investors. This is 70% of the budget earmarked for SMEs.

The other new element are the missions of the programme. There are 5 main missions of Horizon Europe: adaptation to climate change, including societal transformation; cancer; healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters; climate-neutral and smart cities; soil health and food. Next is the programmes’ open science policy which makes it mandatory to have open access to publications and that open science principles are applied throughout the programme.

Finally, Horizon Europe has a new approach to partnerships. It supports objective-driven and more ambitious partnerships with industry in support of EU policy objectives.

Links: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/ and https://www.h2020.net/

•  ERASMUS + PROGRAMME: 

The Erasmus+ Programme aims to boost skills and employability, as well as to modernize Education, Training, and Youth work. The seven year programme includes a budget of 14.7 billion euros; a 40 percent increase compared to current spending levels, reflecting the EUs commitment to investing in these areas. Erasmus+ Programme will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad. Erasmus+ Programme will support transnational partnerships among Education, Training, and Youth institutions and organisations in order to foster cooperation and bridge the worlds of Education and work in order to tackle the skills gaps we are facing in Europe.

The new 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme has been launched on 25 March 2021. The Erasmus+ programme budget for 2021-2027 is 26.2 billion euros, compared with 14.7 billion euros for 2014-2020. This will be complemented by about 2.2 billion euros from the EU’s external instruments. The target of Erasmus+ in this new period is to be more inclusive, more digital, and greener. Turkey is one of 33 countries which will take part in the Erasmus+ programme in the new period.

The National Agency is responsible for the management of this Programme in Turkey.

Links: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_en.htm and https://www.ua.gov.tr/en

• PROGRAMME FOR THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES AND SMEs (COSME): 

COSME is the EU Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020 with a planned budget of 2.3 billion euros. COSME will support SMEs in the following area:

• Better access to finance for SMEs;
• Access to markets;
• Supporting entrepreneurs;
• More favourable conditions for business creation and growth.

The agreement granting the right to Turkey to participate the COSME Programme was signed on the 16^th October 2014.

Links: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/cosme/index_en.htm and http://www.sanayi.gov.tr/

• CUSTOMS 2020

Customs 2020 is a programme aiming to ensure the efficient functioning of the internal market by fighting against the increasing trend in fraud and by strengthening the competitiveness of European business. The Programme aims to reinforce security and safety within the European borders by developing the customs procedures. Customs 2020 has a budget of 547.3 million euros and covers the period from 2014 to 2020. Customs 2020 aims to support cooperation between customs authorities in Europe to help increase their efficiency and avoid mismatches in their work, which could hinder the functioning of the Customs Union. It will also facilitate networking, joint actions and training amongst customs personnel, while also funding IT systems to enable the development of electronic customs in Europe.

Turkey is participating to the Customs Programmes since 1996. The Agreement granting the right to Turkey to participate in Customs 2020 Programme was signed on the 16^th July 2014.

Link: http://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/eu-funding-customs-and-tax/customs-2020_en 

• FISCALIS 2020

In order to improve the operation of taxation systems in the internal market, EU operates the Fiscalis Programme. The overall objective of this programme is to improve the proper functioning of the taxation systems in the internal market by increasing cooperation between participating countries, their administrations and officials. The Programme aims to help Member States work more closely against tax and customs fraud, through improved administration procedures and practices and improved electronic systems for information exchange between national administrations. It also encourages further cooperation in investigations, training seminars for customs and tax officials and experts and the exchanges of officials between national administrations. Fiscalis 2020 allows the development and operation of major trans-European IT systems in partnership. The programme has a budget of 234,3 million euros and will run for the period covering 2014 to 2020.

Turkey participates to the Fiscalis programmes since 2003. The EU Unit of the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the management of the Programme. The Agreement granting Turkey the right to participate in the Fiscalis 2020 Programme was signed on the 16^th July 2014.

The proposal for the future Fiscalis programme is included in the 2021-2027 MFF Heading 1 “Single Market, Innovation and Digital” as an independent programme in view of its specificities, under the name “Cooperation in the field of taxation”. The new programme is the continuation of the existing Fiscalis 2020 programme and its predecessors, which have proven their added value.

Link: http://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/eu-funding-customs-and-tax/fiscalis-2020_enme/fiscalis_2020/index_en.htm

• EaSI

Turkey signed an agreement with the European Commission in February 2015 to participate to two of the three pillars of the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI): Progress and Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship.

With a total budget of 920 million euros, the EaSI covering the period 2014-2020 aims to modernize labor market and social security systems, to provide financial support for social entrepreneurship and to contribute to the increase of employment rate, especially among young people. This Progamme contributes to the improvement of working conditions, to the enhancement of social protection and to the fight against social exclusion and poverty.

Links:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081 

• Civil Protection Mechanism

EU Civil Protection Mechanism was created in 2001 and aims to strengthen cooperation between the EU Member States and six Participating States in the field of civil protection, with a view to improve prevention, preparedness and response to disasters. Having a well-coordinated joint response in case of a disaster is vital since a joint approach helps to pool expertise and capacities of first responders, avoids duplication of relief efforts and ensures that assistance meets the needs of those affected. By pooling together civil protection capacities and capabilities, it allows for a stronger and more coherent collective response. When the scale of an emergency its big for the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the Mechanism. Through the Mechanism, the European Commission plays a key role in coordinating the response to disasters in Europe and beyond.

In addition to the EU Member States, there are currently six Participating States to the Mechanism (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkey). Since its inception in 2001, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has responded to over 420 requests for assistance inside and outside the EU.

The Mechanism also helps to coordinate disaster preparedness and prevention activities of national authorities and contributes to the exchange of best practices. This facilitates the continuous development of higher common standards enabling teams to better understand different approaches and work interchangeably when a disaster strikes. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) in its centre. It coordinates the delivery of assistance to disaster-stricken countries, such as relief items, expertise, civil protection teams and specialised equipment. The centre is responsible for the rapid deployment of emergency support and acts as a coordination hub between all EU Member States, the 6 additional Participating States, the affected country, and civil protection and humanitarian experts. The centre operates 24/7 and can help any country inside or outside the EU affected by a major disaster upon request from the national authorities or a UN body.

Turkey has joined the European framework for cooperation in disaster management and emergency response on 6 May 2015, which entered into force on 4 April 2016. Turkey has access to cooperation opportunities, including joint civil protection trainings and exercises, disaster prevention and preparedness projects, direct communication among European civil protection authorities during emergencies, coordinated European relief operations, EU transport co-funding, sharing of best practices and more.

As an additional layer of protection to the Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU established a European reserve of additional capacities (the “rescEU reserve”). The reserve includes firefighting planes and helicopters, medical equipment, medical evacuation capacities and a medical team trained for setting up a field hospital. In response to the coronavirus, the EU has distributed tens of thousands of protective masks, medical gloves and 30 ventilators coming from strategic rescEU distribution centres currently hosted by 6 EU Member States -Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Sweden- to countries who needed them most.

Links:

https://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/mechanism_en and https://www.afad.gov.tr/

EU AGENCIES

The agencies have been set up in order to find innovative solutions to the problems occurring in the EU common policies with a decentralized approach. An EU agency is a body governed by European public law which is distinct from the EU Institutions and has its own legal personality. It is established by an act of secondary legislation in order to accomplish a very specific technical, scientific or managerial task within the framework of the EU law. While some of the agencies are facilitating the dialogue in Europe by gathering different interest groups, some others help the functioning of various Union mechanisms.

As mentioned above, the participation of candidate countries in the EU agencies was first deliberated at the Copenhagen Summit (1993). In the “Agenda 2000” of 16^th July 1999, it was stated that the participation of Central and Eastern European Countries’ (CEEC) in the agencies would facilitate their harmonization with the acquis communautaire. The Luxemburg Council conclusions held in 1997 stressed the importance of participation of CEEC´s participation in EU agencies as part of the enhanced Pre-Accession Strategy, as well as part of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and Malta.

Furthermore, the “Communication on a European Strategy for Turkey” adopted by the Commission in March 1998, determined the conditions for Turkey´s participation to the agencies. Following Turkey’s recognition as a candidate country in 1999, with the Accession Partnership Document, it was declared that the national contributions of Turkey to the agencies would be financed under the pre-accession strategy.

• European Environmental Agency

The European Environmental Agency came into force in 1993 in order to provide independent information on environmental issues, to develop environmental policies and became an information source for experts working in the area of implementation and evaluation.

The Agency’s main objectives are as follows: to protect the environment in EU Member States, to integrate the environmental policies into the economic policies, to provide information on sustainability and to coordinate the European Environmental Information and Observation Network-EIONET.

The European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and EU Member States are the main clients of the Agency. Apart from these EU institutions, the Agency also serves the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of the EU. The Agency has currently 33 member countries including the 28 Member States of the EU as well asTurkey, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The Agency is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Turkey fully participates to the European Environment Agency (EEA) in accordance with the Accession Agreement signed on the 9^th October 2000. This agreement was published in the Official Journal on the 28^th January 2003.

Detailed information about the Agency can be seen here.

• European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was set up in 1993 to provide factual, objective, reliable and comparable information concerning drugs, drug addiction and their consequences. Today it offers policymakers the data they need for drawing up informed drug laws and strategies. It also helps professionals and practitioners working in this field to present the best practice and new areas of research. The Centre does not have however the authority of creating a policy proposal but it affects the decision making mechanisms with its studies and analyses.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction acts with the assumption that a continuous flow of information in the fight against drugs and drug addiction is needed. Within this perspective, the Center gets all its information on drug trends and their evolution from the European information network on drugs and drug addiction (Reitox) consisting of “focal points” specialized on drugs in the EU Member States, candidate countries, Norway and the European Commission.

The agreement on Turkey´s participation to European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was signed on the 26^th August 2006 and entered into force on the 8^th October 2008 with its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Further information can be found here.