A common definition of a Communication plan is: a plan with defined objectives that outlines measures for communication with selected target groups over a limited time period and with given economic limits.

A Communication policy is generally defined as a set of guidelines for how communication activities should be carried out in an organisation, including principles for the division of responsibility.

The implementation of a Communication plan is one of the key components of the “Commission Regulation (EC) No 1159/2000 of 30 May 2000 on information and publicity measures to be carried out by the Member States concerning assistance from the Structural Funds”. According to the regulation, information for potential beneficiaries and citizens should be carefully prepared and should be available throughout the lifetime of all programmes jointly funded by the Structural Funds. This is why the Commission has requested the Member States to draw up and introduce communication plans that stretch over several years rather than isolated initiatives.

According to the regulation, information and publicity measures should be presented in a structured form for each operational programme, clearly indicating the objectives, target groups, content and strategy of the measures, and should include a budget. Indicators, whereby the quality and effectiveness of the various tools and measures can be assessed, should also be clearly presented.

The communication plans presented below are good examples in the broad sense that they live up to the basic criteria given in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1159/2000.

Examples of communication plans from INTERREG programmes:

Downloads

IIIA

Communication programme
04 Austria-Czech Republic (application/pdf, 96KB)

Information and Communications strategy
20 Ireland-Wales (application/pdf, 24KB)

Communication Action Plan
33 Greece-Albania (application/pdf, 177KB)

Communications Action Plan
44 Southern Finland-Estonia (application/pdf, 52KB)

Information and Publicity Strategy
47 France-United Kingdom (application/pdf, 236KB)

Information and Publicity Plan
51 Italy-Greece (application/pdf, 108KB)

IIIB

Information and Communication Plan
04 Baltic Sea Region (application/pdf, 35KB)

Information Action Plan
05 Northern Periphery (application/pdf, 59KB)

Publicity and Communication
09 North West Europe (application/pdf, 42KB)

IIIC

INTERREG IIIC joint Publicity Plan/Information System
INTERREG IIIC (application/pdf, 33KB)