European Union European Regional Development Fund Presentation of Interreg Europe Interreg and interregional cooperation 2014-2020 Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 7 May 2015 Petra Geitner & Nicolas Singer INTERREG EUROPE Joint Secretariat
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 2007 2013 2014 2020 2 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
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 INTERREG B C transnational interregional 15 programmes 20.3% - 2,075 MEUR 1 programme INTERREG EUROPE networking 3 programmes URBACT INTERACT ESPON 5.6% 571.6 MEUR 3 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Context: 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 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Rationale Exchange of experience to improve performance of policies for regional development, in particular Structural Funds programmes EU Cohesion policy Goal 1: Investment for growth & jobs EUR 340 billion Goal 2: European Territorial Cooperation EUR 10.2 billion INTERREG EUROPE EUR 359 m 5 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Eligible area EU28 + Norway & Switzerland 6 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
S3 innovation infrastructure innovation chains Thematic focus 4 priority axis Interreg Europe creation, development, growth of SMEs energy efficiency renewable energies sustainable transport natural heritage cultural heritage resources efficiency 7 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
2 actions A. Interregional Cooperation Projects B. Policy Learning Platforms 8 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Projects: 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) 9 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Projects: organised in 2 phases Phase 1 (1 to 3 years) Exchange of experience ending up with the production of 1 action plan / region Phase 2 (2 years) Monitoring of the action plan implementation + possible pilot actions 10 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Projects: partnership composition Primary target group: bodies in charge of the policies addressed within the project If not involved, letter of support required Creation of one stakeholder group per region 11 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Platforms: rationale INTERREG IVC capitalisation exercise Origin Objective S3 platform In Seville Objective: To contribute to policy learning across EU in particular on Structural Funds implementation Better exploiting projects results Opening up programme results to anyone interested 12 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Platforms: what is it? A service provided per priority axis via: Online collaborative tool With relevant functionalities + Expert team Content and coordination role 13 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
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 14 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Platforms: target groups Stakeholders involved in the implementation of Structural Funds programmes Other stakeholders relevant to the topics Implementation Sub-contracting arrangement Through procurement procedure Launched in the course of 2015 15 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
2 interrelated actions Policy Learning Platforms Open to all regions Enrich Contribute Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Interregional cooperation projects 16 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Projects 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 17 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Projects partnership features From at least 3 countries, from which at least 2 partners from EU-MS Recommendation: between 5 to 10 partners Advisory partners: offer a particular competence that can facilitate the project s implementation do not address a policy instrument and therefore do not need to develop an action plan 18 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
INTERREG EUROPE Funding Programme ERDF budget: MEUR 359 o o ERDF budget for platforms: MEUR 15.3 (max) ERDF budget for projects: MEUR 322.4 equally shared over 4 priority axis (MEUR 84) ERDF budget recommended per project: between MEUR 1 to 2 19 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
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 20 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Project budget Building on positive IVC experience Low error rate in INTERREG IVC rules understood and applied No fundamental changes in INTERREG EUROPE (5 Budget lines: staff, administration, travel & accommodation, external expertise, equipment) 21 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Budget Line Project eligible costs Staff usually the core budget (50%) Administration Travel and Accommodation External Expertise and services Equipment flat rate of 15% of staff costs for meetings, only for partner organisations any services needed outside the partner organisation, incl. T&A for stakeholder groups, usually below 50% office equipment, not exceeding 5,000-7,000 22 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Rules and procedures for projects Decreasing project management and control costs Harmonisation & simplification Online Application Form No financial allocation per component, more budget flexibility No reconfirmation of partnership cost on lead partner level (one control step less) Flat rate administration costs (15% of staff costs) Lump sum preparation costs (EUR 15,000 total budget) - Lower administrative effort + More resources dedicated to content & results 23 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Next step First call for proposals main features Provisional timing: Call for proposals: mid-june to mid-july 2015 preceded by Information campaign: April to mid-june 2015 (draft call documents already available!) No thematic restrictions: call open to all Investment priorities One third ERDF budget available: MEUR28 per priority axis Procedure: on-line system 24 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
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 25 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels
Thanks for your attention! 26 CoR, Lunch briefing 7 May 2015, Brussels