The Managing Authority of PROCOVERGÊNCIA, the Community support programme for the Azores in force during the programming period 2007-2013 which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in 966 million Euros, promotes an exhibition titled “25 anos, 25 Projectos – A União Europeia hoje nos Açores” (25 years, 25 Projects – European Union today in the Azores).

The exhibition will open tomorrow, July 22, at the Angra do Heroísmo Museum at 3 PM and will be attended by the Regional Director for Planning and Structural Funds, Rui Amann. This event is intended to highlight, through photographs of situations before and after the implementation of public investment, some examples concerning the application of Community funds in the Region, paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Azores’ membership to the European Union.

This itinerant exhibition will travel across several islands and to Mainland Portugal, being display at the premises of the Financial Institute for Regional Development in Lisbon.

The accession of Portugal to the EEC in 1986 has made possible the access to the EU financial tools for regional development and cohesion.

The main financial tool adopted by the European Commission for regional policy funding was the European Regional Development Fund, commonly known as ERDF.
From 1986 to 1990, the Azores benefited from this EU fund through the subsidisation of some public investment projects in the areas of accessibility, environment, among others, which were directly submitted to Brussels.

After 1990, with the regional policy reforms, the relevance of ERDF in the European budget increases and there is also some changes in the co-funding process: the separate support awarded to projects submitted and approved in Brussels is replaced for the negotiation, approval and funding of pluriannual projects, presented by the regions and member-states.

The first generation of the so-called Community Support Frameworks was in force for five years (1989-93), the second six years (1994-99) and the following now have an implementation period of seven years.

The designation of the operational programmes drafted by regional authorities and financed by ERDF, particularly PEDRAA I and PEDRAA II, REGIS, PRODESA and, more recently, PROCONVERGÊNCIA, has become familiar in the Azores. The construction notices mentioning Community funding can be found throughout the archipelago.

Thousands of investments have been supported by ERDF over the years and, in this context, the Managing Authority of PROCONVERGÊNCIA  estimates that this Community financial tool has awarded a total of 2.6 billion Euros, in the form of non-repayable grant, since 1989.