European funds: from 2028 results will count, new skills are needed for projects

Starting from 2028, European funds will focus on results rather than spending, employing new skills for project success. The new multiannual European budget 2028-2034 will alter priorities, tools, and intervention methods of the European Union. It will no longer emphasize expenditure but rather the outcomes achieved, following the so-called "Pnrr method."

However, this is not the only change on the horizon. The Commission is proposing to review performance indicators, carrying out a radical standardization, promising profound simplification without any guarantees that it will reduce complexity. Available resources alone are insufficient to ensure project success: companies, public administrations, research institutes, and universities require professionals capable of identifying needs, selecting the most suitable program, creating competitive proposals, and accompanying their implementation throughout.

This need has given rise to the Executive Master "European Funding: Access, Management, and Reporting" by Sole 24 Ore Business School, a mixed format course – both in-person and remote – aimed at managers, consultants, professionals, and public officials. The course begins on October 23rd in Rome and features 112 hours of training spread over eight weekends.

"Access to European funding today requires a structured approach: knowing the programs or spotting a call is not enough, one must be able to transform an opportunity into a concrete, sustainable, and manageable project throughout its lifecycle," emphasizes Marco Amici, Scientific Coordinator of the Executive Master at Sole 24 Ore Business School.

The Master's program delves into all major European funding programs: Horizon Europe, LIFE and Innovation Fund, Erasmus+, CERV, FESR, FSE+, Interreg, and the Just Transition Fund. The training covers design according to the EUPM² method, from needs analysis to partnership construction, intervention logic to budget definition, and project management in the EU, focusing on planning, risks, eligibility of expenses, reporting, audits, and results communication.

The course concludes with a final Project Work that replicates the entire cycle of a European project: from choosing the call to constructing the proposal, operational planning to simulation of reporting. For more information, please visit the course website.