Cross-financing is a rule that allows a single project to also fund expenditure that would otherwise fall within the scope of support of another EU fund. Typically, this applies to a situation where a project focused on education and employment funded from the ESF+ needs a small investment in equipment or building alterations to a classroom, i.e. expenditure characteristic of the ERDF, or conversely, an infrastructure project needs training for operating staff. The aim is that the formal division of funds should not stand in the way of the project's logical coherence. Cross-financing is not without limits, however: its share is capped at a percentage of total eligible expenditure, set by the programme and the specific call, and it can be applied only where the given expenditure is directly necessary for achieving the project's objectives. The intention to use cross-financing must be clearly justified already in the application for a non-repayable financial contribution and reflected in the budget structure.
See also: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), Eligible expenditure.
