Belarus

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A Community Initiative Baltic Sea Region
INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme
Belarus Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Latvia Lit
huania Norway Poland Russia Sweden
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Content of the presentation

1. Programme area
2. Programme thematic content
3. Programme management
4. Programme budget
5. Project partnership and management
6. Project budget
7. Project implementation
8. Good practice
9. Main challanges

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INTERREG III B programmes
Transnational cooperation on spatial planning and
regional development
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Cooperation area

• Denmark
• Sweden
• Finland
• Germany (North East)
• Estonia
• Lithuania
• Latvia
• Poland
• Norway
• Belarus (North West)
• Russia (North West Kaliningrad)

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Strategic objective
Strengthening economic, social and spatial
cohesion by promoting transnational economic
relationships in order to reach an increased
level of BSR integration and to form a region
with sustainable growth prospects.
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Programme priorities
Priority 1 Promotion of spatial development
approaches and actions for specific territories
and sectors Priority 2 Promotion of territorial
structures supporting sustainable BSR
development Priority 3 Transnational and
bilateral institution and capacity building in
the Baltic Sea Region
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Programme priorities

• Priority 4 border regions (committed)
• Priority 5
• Cross-border (INTERREG III A) priority
• Estonia-Latvia-Russia (North)
• Priority 6
• Cross-border (INTERREG III A) priority
• Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus (South)
• Priority 7
• Technical Assistance

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Measures in Priority 1
  Priority 1 Promotion of spatial development
approaches and actions for specific territories
and sectors Measure 1.1 Supporting joint
strategies and implementation actions for
macro-regions Measure 1.2 Promoting sustainable
spatial development of specific sectors Measure
1.3 Strengthening integrated development of
coastal zones, islands and other specific areas  
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Measures in Priority 2
Priority 2 Promotion of territorial structures
supporting sustainable BSR development Measure
2.1 Promoting balanced polycentric settlement
structures Measure 2.2 Creating sustainable
communication links for improved spatial
integration Measure 2.3 Enhancing good
management of cultural and natural heritage and
of natural resources 
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Measures in Priority 3
Priority 3 Transnational and bilateral
institution and capacity building in the Baltic
Sea Region Measure 3.1 Promotion of
transnational institution and capacity
building Measure 3.2 Bilateral maritime
cooperation across the Baltic Sea
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Ø      Transnational studies and
strategiesØ      Preparation of
investmentsØ      Transnational exchange of
experienceØ      Training of professional
staffØ      Workshops, seminars, networking,
etc.
Examples of eligible activities
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BSR INTERREG III B management structure
Monitoring Committee
....
Supervising the programme
Steering Committee
Selection of projects and funding decisions
NationalSub-committees
Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein Joint
Secretariat
Paying Authority
ManagingAuthority
S
FIN
DE
DK
N
PL
LT
LV
EST
RU
day to day programme management
BY
Information and support
Projects Lead Partner
Municipalities Regions
ProjectPartner
ProjectPartner
ProjectPartner
ProjectPartner
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Programme funding

• ERDF funds 149.0 M EURO
• Norwegian national 6.0 M EURO
• Total programme funding 155.0 M EURO
• All ERDF available for III B priorities was
  committed in 1-8 rounds
• including the additional funding from the new MS
  and IIIA priorities

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Partnership (minimum requirements)

• partners from three different countries
• two countries should be financial contributors
• one partner from EU

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The Lead Partner Principle (example)
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full financial and legal responsibility for
Lead Partner Principle

• project management system
• submitting Application Form
• signing the Subsidy Contract
• reporting of the project progress
• requesting payments

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Who can be a project partner?

• National, regional and local public authorities
• Public equivalent bodies
•  
• Public equivalent body means any legal body
• governed by public or private law
• established for the specific purpose of meeting
  needs of the general interest,
• not having an industrial or commercial character
  only,
• having legal personality,
•  

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Who can be a Lead Partner?

• In addition a LPs institution should
• Be financed, for the most part, by the State, or
  regional or local authorities, or other bodies
  governed by public law,
• Or be subject to management supervision by those
  bodies,
• Or have an administrative, managerial or
  supervisory board, more than half of whose
  members are appointed by the State, regional or
  local authorities or by other bodies governed by
  public law.

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Examples of partners that can apply for funding
from the BSR INTERREG III B

• National, regional and local public authorities
• Ministries
• regional councils
• municipalities, etc.

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Institutions that could be considered as Public
equivalent bodies
Examples of partners that can apply for funding
from the BSR INTERREG III B (2)

• associations
• academic institutions
• research institutes
• foundations
• NGOs and non-profit organizations
  (community-based, humanitarian, industrial,
  cultural, etc.)
• development agencies, etc.

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BSR INTERREG III B Project Budget

• 1. ERDF contributions
• up to 75 for Objective 1 regions
• up to 50 for other regions
• 2. National co-funding
• Partners own funding eg. public funds at
  national, regional or local level

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Project implementation
European Commission
Joint Secretariat / PA
Lead Partner
Project Partners
Reports
Payments
PA - Paying Authority
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Good practice at strategic level

• A joint pool of ERDF funds on a joint bank
  account without national sub-accounts
• Tasks of Managing and Paying Authority carried
  out by single, competent institution which is not
  a public authority
• Lead Partner principle (clear responsibilities
  between MA and project)
• Joint management structures/bodies including a
  strong joint transnational Joint Technical
  Secretariat
• National sub-committees responsible for
  disseminating information at national/regional
  level
• Work of Monitoring and Steering Committees
  facilitated by various task forces.

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Good practice at operational level

• General tools
• English as official programme language
• An up-to-date website as most important info tool
• Project database
• Related to project life cycle
• Pro-active project development - Seed Money,
  Partner Search Forum, Information Seminars,
  Individual Consultations
• Application, assessment and approval Joint and
  transparent decision making (unanimous
  decisions, clear documentation of assessment and
  approval)
• Pro-active project implementation - Lead Partner
  Seminar, Seminars for financial managers and
  auditors, Quality Workshops, Publicity and
  communication training etc.

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Challenges for project partners
Problem Way out
Simple Objective 1 programmes preferred (infrastructure investments) Convince decision makers of added value of transnational networking and cooperation
Culture and language barriers Learn English!
High technical and quality requirements of transnational projects Invest in human resources training of qualified staff in public administrations
Low awareness about the programme Increased information activities at national and programme level
Considerable administrative workload Make use of standardized tools, training, support actions!
Significant competition among projects lobby at your decision makers.?!
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