Innovation in communication in the European funding process

European funds contribute to the well-being of communities that succeed in attracting this type of funding. This paper aims at revealing the innovative capacity of communication in the financing process through European Funds, given the multitude of theoretical communication models. Beyond the limits imposed by the law, public authorities involved in the European funding process, although operating within a relatively rigid regulated framework, may increase the number of communication methods and practices, in order to better fulfil their mission of satisfying public needs. An exploratory research on the financing process of European Structural and Investment Funds was conducted, considering the theoretical approaches in the field of communication, as well as the relatively low absorption rate of European Funds, for outlining the real dimensions of the communication problem. The communication was analyzed via eight elements: transmitter, receiver, channel or means of propagation, message, common codes (including coding and decoding), feedback, feedforward and noise. The main results show that the communication process in the field of European funding can be approached from a multitude of perspectives: type, purposes and means of communication, content of communication and its effects, the protagonists involved etc. The paper proposes an approach to communication from a marketing perspective. By applying specific marketing techniques, favorable attitudes, opinions and behaviors can be generated in terms of accessibility of financing through European funds. This can lead to an increase in the absorption rate of European funds, which can result in more innovation, more business growth, higher revenues (through taxes) for the public sector and finally, given the snowball effect, the ultimate purpose: welfare for society as a whole.