Interreg Europe. National Info Day 26 May 2015, Helsinki. Elena Ferrario Project Officer Interreg Europe Secretariat

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1 European Union European Regional Development Fund Interreg Europe National Info Day 26 May 2015, Helsinki Elena Ferrario Project Officer Interreg Europe Secretariat

2 Interreg Europe Evolution of the Cohesion policy From 3 objectives to 2 goals Goal 1: Investment for growth and jobs 97% of the funds EUR 340 billion Goal 2: European Territorial Cooperation 2.9% of the funds EUR 10.2 billion

3 INTERREG Interreg Europe Goal 2: European Territorial Cooperation INTERREG: 3 strands and 79 different programmes (EUR 10.2 billion) A cross-border 60 programmes 74% - 7,548 MEUR B transnational 15 programmes 20.3% - 2,075 MEUR C interregional 1 programme INTERREG EUROPE networking 3 programmes URBACT INTERACT ESPON 5.6% MEUR 3

4 Interreg Europe Convergence of EU policies 1. New objective set for interregional cooperation 2. Concentration principles INTERREG EUROPE 3. Smart Specialisation strategies 4. Integration of Regions of Knowledge (RoK) 4

5 Interreg Europe Objective set in the ETC Regulation - Article 2(3)(a) for interregional cooperation: to reinforce the effectiveness of cohesion policy identification and dissemination of good practices with a view to their transfer principally to operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal but also, where relevant to cooperation programme 5

6 Interreg Europe INTERREG EUROPE is about Policy learning among public authorities to improve performance of policies & programmes for regional development, in particular Structural Funds programmes, and where relevant, European Territorial Cooperation programmes 6

7 Interreg Europe Eligible area EU28 + Norway & Switzerland 7

8 S3 innovation infrastructure innovation chains Thematic focus 4 priority axes Interreg Europe creation, development, growth of SMEs Research and innovation SME competitiveness energy efficiency renewable energies sustainable transport Low-carbon economy Environment and resource efficiency natural heritage cultural heritage resources efficiency 8

9 Interreg Europe 2 actions A. Interregional Cooperation Projects B. Policy Learning Platforms 9

10 Interreg Europe Project main features Definition Partners from different countries working together on a shared regional policy issue (within the thematic fields of the programme) Objective.to improve the effectiveness of the policies of the regions involved in the project (in particular their Investment for Growth and Jobs goal programmes) 10

11 Interreg Europe Project partnership: who is eligible? Public bodies (the main target group) (e.g. local, regional, national authorities) Bodies governed by public law (Directive 2004/18/EC) Private non profit bodies Confirmation of the eligibility status: check with your contact point 11

12 Interreg Europe Project finances Recommended ERDF budget: between EUR 1 to 2 million Co-financing rates According to legal status or location 85% ERDF Public or public equivalent from EU 75% ERDF Private non-profit from EU 50% Norwegian funding Public, public equivalent and private nonprofit from Norway Swiss funding Public, public equivalent and private nonprofit from Switzerland 12

13 Interreg Europe Platforms: origin INTERREG IVC capitalisation exercise S3 platform Seville Objective Objective: To contribute to policy learning across EU in particular on Structural Funds implementation Better exploiting projects results (internal capitalisation) Opening up programme results to anyone interested (external capitalisation / demand driven) 13

14 Interreg Europe Platforms: what is it? Research and innovation SME competitiveness Low-carbon economy Environment and resource efficiency A service provided per priority axis via: Online collaborative tool With relevant functionalities + Expert team Content and coordination role 14

15 Interreg Europe Platforms: example of services Advice regional stakeholders and running projects Organise and facilitate peer reviews among regions Organise and facilitate thematic workshops Analyse and disseminate the content of projects through dedicated events & publications Facilitate knowledge sharing and networking among regions on the collaborative tool 15

16 Interreg Europe Platforms Target groups Stakeholders involved in the implementation of Growth & Jobs or cooperation programmes Other stakeholders relevant to the topics Implementation Sub-contracting arrangement Through procurement procedure Launched in the course of

17 Interreg Europe Conclusions Rationale INTERREG IVC Regional development policies Interreg Europe Regional development policies, principally SF programmes Area EU-27, NO+CH EU-28, NO+CH Eligibility Co-financing Actions Public & public law bodies No private 75%-85% (country) 1-phase project + CAP Public & public law bodies Private non-profit bodies 85% public or equivalent 75% private non-profit 2-phase project + PLP 17

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19 1. Improving Structural Funds programmes 2. Public administrations as main target groups 3. Mobilising stakeholders 4. Capturing results 19

20 1. Improving Structural Funds programmes 20

21 1. Improving Structural Funds ERDF + ESF = Structural Funds + Cohesion Fund = The Funds + EAFRD + EMFF = ESI Funds (European Structural and Investment Funds) 21

22 1. Improving Structural Funds Goal 1: Investment for growth & jobs EUR 340 billion Goal 2: European Territorial Cooperation EUR 10.2 billion INTERREG EUROPE EUR 359 m 22

23 1. Improving Structural Funds How is it reflected at project level? Policy instruments addressed to be specified in application form At least half of the policy instruments addressed by a project need to be related to Structural Funds programmes 23

24 1. Improving Structural Funds How do you improve policies? Support new projects Change programme governance Change programme structure 24

25 2. Public administrations as main target groups 25

26 2. Involving policy makers Why? Rationale INTERREG EUROPE: dedicated to improving policy instruments Public administrations: organisations responsible for policy design and implementation Public administrations: core target group of INTERREG EUROPE 26

27 2. Involving policy makers How is it reflected at project level? Participation of public administration: prerequisite e.g. When Structural Funds programme addressed, managing authorities / intermediate bodies should be involved If the organisation responsible for the policy instrument addressed is not a partner, it should provide a letter of support: a commitment to fully support and closely follow the project implementation 27

28 3. Involving policy makers Required for a partner when: Letter of support - Structural Funds programme is addressed, but the managing authorities, intermediates or other relevant bodies in charge of the management of this Structural Funds programme is not directly involved in the project as a partner - Another policy instrument (outside Structural Funds) is addressed, but the organisation responsible for this instrument is not directly involved in the project 28

29 2. Involving policy makers A new role for MAs/IBs of SF programmes Active participation as project partners Political endorsement as providers of letters of support Active involvement in phase 2 of projects (roll-out of the action plan) Strategic communication to relevant stakeholders Active use of policy learning platforms 29

30 3. Mobilising stakeholders 30

31 3. Mobilising stakeholder Why? Rationale 4 levels of learning in interregional cooperation 3. Regional stakeholders learning 2. Organisational learning 4. External / EU level learning 1. Individual learning Key success factor to interregional learning: to go beyond individual / organisational learning 31

32 3. Mobilising stakeholder How to optimise learning? Creation of stakeholder groups: - 1 group per partner region - Members: organisations competent in the field tackled by the project (e.g. for innovation: research centres, universities, agencies, SMEs) body in charge of policy instrument addressed (in case this body is not a partner) - Involved in the interregional learning process 32

33 4. Capturing results 33

34 4. Capturing results Why? Rationale Importance to demonstrate results beyond policy changes Impacts of cooperation can take time Tackle the pilot action paradox : pilot action cannot be known at the application stage 34

35 4. Capturing results Projects: structure and duration Implementation in 2 phases Phase 1 (exchanging and learning) Phase 2 (monitoring) From 1 to 3 years Fixed to 2 years Maximum duration: 5 years 35

36 4. Capturing results Phase 1 Projects: structure Interregional learning Interregional exchange of experience e.g. seminars, workshops, site visits, staff exchanges, peer reviews 1 action plan per region Measures to be implemented Timeframe Work steps Responsible players Costs and funding resources (if applicable) 36

37 4. Capturing results Projects: structure Phase 2 Monitoring the action plan implementation Monitor the implementation of the different action plans Pilot actions (only in justified cases) 37

38 4. Capturing results Insight into phase 2 Primarily dedicated to monitoring the action plan implementation Activities pre-defined by the programme (i.e. 2 partner meetings, 1 dissemination event, website update and reporting activities) 38

39 Challenges & success factors 39

40 Improvement of Structural Funds Secondary challenges Commitment of the decision makers Compatibility of the Operational Programmes Caused by lack of involvement of the MAs/IBs 40

41 Improvement of Structural Changes Real challenges Availability of funding Timing Administrative burden o At the level of the INTERREG programme o Within the regional / national programmes (e.g. decision making process) Political change (election) Role of the MA 41

42 Few success factors Preparation phase Start from the policy instruments and from a real territorial need Build a strategic partnership: o Ensure the issue addressed is shared by the whole partnership (small is beautiful) o Involve the organisations responsible for the policy instruments o Meet the partners before applying Be as specific as possible 42

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44 First call for proposals 44

45 Table of content 1. Calendar 2. Application pack overview 3. Quality assessment main principles 45

46 1. Calendar 1 st half 2015 National information days Individual consultations on the basis of project idea forms April 2015 Launch of information campaign for first call June 2015 Lead applicant seminars mid-july 2015 (tbc) First call for project proposals closed Submit application 46

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48 2. Application pack First call for proposals terms of reference No thematic restrictions: call open to all investment priorities No specific requirement in terms of geographical coverage One third ERDF budget available: MEUR28 per priority axis Online application 48

49 2. Application pack Application Form 49

50 2. Application pack Letter of Support Partner declaration 50

51 2. Application pack Programme manual 51

52 Selection Selection procedure 2 step selection procedure: 1. eligibility assessment: fulfilment of technical requirements 2. quality assessment: 2 step qualitative evaluation 52

53 1. Eligibility assessment Eligibility assessment principles Technical yes or no process No correction possible Only eligible applications are further assessed 53

54 2. Quality assessment main principles Quality assessment A. Strategic assessment criteria Scoring scale: 5 excellent 4 good 3 adequate 2 poor 1. Relevance of proposal 2. Quality of results 3. Quality of partnership 1 very poor 0 knock-out criterion (KO) B. Operational assessment criteria 4. Coherence of the proposal and quality of the approach 5. Quality of the management 6. Budget and finance only projects that are successful at the strategic assessment stage (reaching at least an average adequate level i.e. an average score of 3.00 or above) are assessed also from the operational point of view. 54

55 Thank you for your attention! 55