South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme 8th June 2009 Kick-off conference for the project DANUBEPARKS Orth Joint Technical Secretariat SEE
Legal framework Reference Document at EU level The Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion 2007-2013 EC Regulation 1083/06 General EC Regulation 1086/06 ERDF EC Regulation 1828/06 Implementing EC Reg. 1083/06 EC Regulation 1085/06 IPA Regulation EC Regulation 718/07 Implementing EC. Reg. 1085/06 Reference Document at Programme Level Operational Programme (20th December 2007) Reference Document at national Level National Strategic Reference Frameworks 2007 2013
The programme area EU Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania Non-EU-member States: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine (Italy and Ukraine do not participate with its whole territory)
The programme strategy Global objective Specific objectives Priority Axes Improvement of the territorial, economic and social integration process and contribution to cohesion, stability and competitiveness through the development of transnational partnerships and joint actions on matters of strategic importance Facilitation of innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge economy and information society by concrete cooperation action and visible results Improvement of the attractiveness of regions and cities taking into account sustainable development, physical and knowledge accessibility and environmental quality by integrated approaches and concrete cooperation action and visible results Foster integration by supporting balanced capacities for transnational territorial cooperation at all levels P1: Facilitation of innovation and entrepreneurship P2: Protection and improvement of the environment P3: Improvement of the accessibility P4: Development of transnational synergies for sustainable growth areas P5: Technical assistance to support implementation and capacity building Promotion of sustainable development Promotion of equal opportunities and non discrimination Visible and concrete cooperation projects; guarantee of qualitative partnerships; active project development beyond open call procedure application of EU principles implementation principles
The areas of Intervention P1. Facilitation of innovation and entrepreneurship Develop technology & innovation networks in specific fields Develop the enabling environment for innovative entrepreneurship Enhance the framework conditions and pave the way for innovation P2. Protection and improvement of the environment Improve integrated water management and flood risk prevention Improve prevention of environmental risk Promote cooperation in management of natural assets and protected areas Promote energy and resource efficiency P3. Improvement of the accessibility Improve coordination in promoting planning and operation for primary & secondary transportation networks Develop strategies to tackle the digital divide Improve framework conditions for multimodal platforms P4. Development of transnational synergies for sustainable growth areas Tackle crucial problems affecting metropolitan areas and regional systems of settlements Promote a balanced pattern of attractive and accessible growth areas Promote the use of cultural values for development
within the SEE Programme! Joint concrete co-operation projects with a result-oriented approach (not simple exchange of experiences and know-how transfer ) Clear transnational focus on the SEE area Active project development beyond open call procedure Actions preparing investment and delivering concrete examples of small-scale investment Better transfer of project results; higher project budget for dissemination and capitalisation
The programme structure
The dimension of the 1st call for proposals Group 1: The Interested meeting minimum formal standards: 691 formally ok EoIs, 5.900 project participants (Lead partner & project partner), requested ERDF contribution EUR 957 Mio Group 2: The Selected for full application: 95 EoIs, around 1120 project participants (Lead Partner & Project Partner), requested ERDF contribution EUR 170 Mio Group 3: The Full Applicants : 90 submitting Full Applications Group 4: The Eligible : 71 meeting the formal and eligibility criteria requested ERDF contribution EUR 128,6 Mio Group 5: The Project Owners selected for contracting: 42 (before the condition clearings)
Distribution of LP per country / per AoI AoI AT GR HU IT RO SK SLO Total 1 Innovation networks 1 4 1 5 1 1 13 1,1 Innovation networks 3 2 5 1,2 Innovative entrepreneurship 1 1 2 1 5 1,3 Pave the way for innovation 1 1 1 3 2 Environment 4 5 1 3 13 2,1 Water management 1 1 1 3 2,2 Environmental risks 2 1 1 4 2,3 Management of natural assets 1 1 2 2,4 Energy and resource efficiency 3 1 4 3 Accessibility 1 1 3 5 3,1 Transportation networks 1 1 2 3,2 Tackle digital divide 1 1 3,3 Multimodal platforms 2 2 4 Sustainable Growth Areas 2 3 3 1 1 1 11 4,1 Tackle crucial problems 2 1 1 1 5 4,2 Promote balanced pattern 2 2 1 1 6 4,3 Cultural values Total 6 7 4 16 3 2 4 42
NUMBER OF PROJECT PARTNERS PER COUNTRY No of Project Partners (including LPs) AT 34 BG 49 GR 57 HU 55 IT 83 RO 68 SK 23 SLO 34 AL 11 BiH 8 HR 33 MK 7 MD 6 MN 9 SRB 52 UA 11 Total 540
Starting up the projects The Project Implementation The projects can start the implementation after approval by the Monitoring Committee: 11 March 2009 Important: starting date & end date of the project are fixed in the subsidy contract expenditure of the IPA partners are eligible only from the date of signature of the Grant Contract Contracting - ongoing The subsidy contract will be concluded between the Lead Partner (ERDF) and the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) on behalf of the Managing Authority (MA) The Subsidy Contract is going to be signed first by the JTS and will be sent to the Lead Partner. The Lead partner has to send back to the JTS the signed originals within 21 days (max. 15 working days) from the reception.
Reporting the next challenge! The Project Implementation The Lead Partner should give account of the general progress of the whole project in a Progress Report. The specific descriptions of the activities and outputs have to justify the reported expenditures of the different project partners that are claimed for the reporting period. The Financial part has to present the expenditure incurred, paid and validated by the ERDF project partners during the reporting period which are the basis for the Application for reimbursement. The LP summarise the activities of the IPA partners of the project reporting also briefly the status of their contractual and reporting procedures, as well as their reported expenditures. The SEE Programme will reimburse the requested ERDF contribution for a LP only in case its connected progress report is accepted by the JTS.
Reporting The Project Partners role in reporting: Every single Project Partner must contribute to the compilation of each Progress Report. This is valid also for Project Partners without financial contribution and Project Partners from non-eu member states. Reporting deadlines: As a general rule, the Lead Partner has to submit the progress report and the application for reimbursement twice a year, on a six-month basis. The reporting periods will be fixed in the subsidy contract, and will be the same for the projects of the First call. The first progress report and application for reimbursement have to cover the preparation costs of the project and the project expenditure incurred and paid within the first reporting period. End of first reporting period: 31 August 2009 First deadline for submission: 1 December 2009 New reporting tool: Monitoring and Information System of the Programme (more information to LPs at the LP seminar + training).
Project Partners collect documentation proving their expenditures, and get them validated according to the national control system Partner 2 Partner 3 Partner 4 Financial management of the project Partner 1 Expenditures validated at national level by the Controllers Lead Partner (LP) verifies that the expenditures presented has been validated by the controllers LP prepares Progress report and Application for Reimbursement and submits to the JTS Joint Technical Secretariat Verification of Progress reports and Application for reimbursement + Declarations of the Controllers LP Deadline: 3 months from the end of the reporting period! Initiation of the reimbursement process by submitting the verified AfRs to the FTU Financial Transfer Unit Reimbursement of ERDF contribution to the LP Approval + reimbursement procedure cca. 3 months! LP transfers ERDF contribution to Project Partners
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