Communicating and raising EU visibility: Guidance for external actions

Recipients of EU funding have a general obligation to acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of any EU funding received. The visibility obligations apply equally, regardless of whether the actions concerned are implemented by the European Commission, through grants and procurement contracts, or partners through indirect management.

The EU emblem is the single most important visual brand used to acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of EU funding. Apart from the emblem, no other visual identity or logo may be created or used to highlight EU support, unless previously agreed with the European Commission. Partners implementing Global Gateway projects/programmes should also include the Global Gateway logo in addition to the EU emblem.

The EU emblem should be accompanied by a funding statement (‘Funded by the European Union’ or ‘Co-funded by the European Union’) mentioning the EU’s support. Both the EU emblem and the funding statement are essential to acknowledge EU support. As a rule, they always go hand in hand and must not be separated.

Visibility counts as an eligible cost. Any expenditure related to visibility is part of the action and can benefit from EU funding. Given that individual projects/programmes will not, in principle, include a dedicated visibility budget any costs necessary to ensure compliance with contractual visibility requirements should be factored into the budget foreseen for the relevant objectives and activities of the action.