The regulations of the European Union lay down to beneficiaries of ERDF grants a certain number of obligations in terms of publicity, in order to highlight the role and the actions of the European Union. A maximum of transparency and clarity about ERDF spending must be guaranteed during the project implementation. If these obligations are not respected, the grant allocated to your project may be reduced.

Rules for any informative action

• towards the public : you must clearly specify, either verbally or in writing depending on the context of the publicity, that the operation you are implementing was selected under the European Cross-border Cooperation Programme INTERREG IV A France (Channel) – England, co-funded by the ERDF.

• towards the beneficiaries, the potential beneficiaries, and the public : communication medium must contain the following elements :

a) the emblem of the European Union, which can be downloaded from the European Commission’s website at the following address:http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/graph/embleme_fr.htm

b) the name of the relevant Fund:  “European Regional Development Fund”,

c) and the words “European Union. Investing in your future.”.

Points b) and c) do not apply to small promotional objects.

Point b) does not necessarily apply if the beneficiary project is financed simultaneously by several funds.

Regulation for investments above € 500 000

There is a specific regulation for investments with a public contribution of more than € 500 000:

• For any operation of financing infrastructure or building: during the implementation of the operation, the beneficiary has to install a billboard at the site of the operation, indicating the type and name of the operation and shall contain the elements described above. These elements must occupy at least 25% of the plaque.

•  When the operation is completed, the beneficiary must install a permanent explanatory plaque that is visible and of significant size, at the latest six months after completing the operation. The plaque must indicate the type and name of the operation and contain the elements described above, occupying at least 25% of the plaque. In the event that it is not possible to affix an explanatory plaque, the beneficiary undertakes to implement other means of publicity in order to highlight the European Union’s contributions.

How to respect these obligations?

The Interreg IVA France (Channel)-England programme has developed a communication kit gathering all the useful tools to complete your publicity obligations:

• a « block-mark » with the programme logo and the compulsory graphic elements together ; at your disposal to use it on your promotional medium,
• bilingual posters for project events,
• stickers,
• a press release,
• a map of the programme.

The communication kit is to download in the Downloadable materials section.