Vytautas Lingaitis Paris 2008-05-14

1. Task M 6 - Show how best to access EU financial support and explore the financial procurement strategies Vytautas Lingaitis Paris 2008-05-14

2. EU Funding CEDR

3. General provisions ERDF - ESF - Cohesion Fund (2007-2013) • Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999. • The aim of the Regulation is to strengthen economic and social cohesion in order to promote the harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of the Community for the period 2007-2013. • Community action and cohesion policy aims to respond to the challenges linked to economic, social and territorial inequalities, the acceleration of economic restructuring and the ageing of the population. CEDR

4. THREE NEW OBJECTIVES • A total of EUR 308.041 billion will be allocated to financing regional policy between 2007 and 2013 to work towards the three new objectives: • Convergence; • Regional Competitiveness and Employment; • Territorial Cooperation. These objectives will supersede the former Objectives 1 (to promote the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind), 2 (to support the economic and social conversion of areas experiencing structural difficulties) and 3(to support the adaptation and modernization of education, training and employment policies and systems in regions not eligible under Objective 1) for the 2000-2006 programming period. CEDR

5. Convergence • The total resources allocated to this objective are EUR 251.163 billion, equivalent to 81.54% of the total. The following are eligible: • for the Structural Funds (ERDF and ESF): • regions where per capita GDP is below 75% of the Community average. They will receive 70.51% of the funds allocated for this objective; • regions where per capita GDP has risen above 75% of the Community average due to the statistical effect of enlargement will benefit from transitional, specific and degressive financing. They will receive 4.99% of the total allocation; CEDR

6. Convergence (continue) • for the Cohesion Fund: • Member States whose per capita Gross National Income (GNI) is below 90% of the Community average and which are running economic convergence programmes. They will receive 23.22% of the resources allocated for this objective. Regions where per capita GNI has risen to above 90% of the Community average due to the statistical effect of enlargement will benefit from transitional, specific and degressive financing. They will receive 1.29% of the total allocation; • for specific financing from the ERDF: • the outermost regions. The aim is to facilitate their integration into the internal market and to take account of their specific constraints (such as compensation for excess costs due to their remote location). CEDR

7. Convergence(end) • For this objective, the following ceilings apply to co-financing rates: • 75% of public expenditure co-financed by the ERDF or the ESF. The ceiling can be raised to 80% where the eligible regions are located in a Member State covered by the Cohesion Fund, and even to 85% in the case of the outermost regions; • 85% of public expenditure co-financed by the Cohesion Fund; • 50% of public expenditure co-financed in the outermost regions (a new additional allocation from the ERDF to compensate for excess costs). CEDR

8. Regional Competitiveness and Employment • The Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective aims to strengthen the competitiveness, employment and attractiveness of regions other than those which are the most disadvantaged. • It must help to anticipate economic and social changes, promote innovation, entrepreneurship, protection of the environment, accessibility, adaptability and the development of inclusive labor markets. It will be financed by the ERDF and the ESF. CEDR

9. Regional Competitiveness and Employment (continue) • The resources intended for this objective total EUR 49.13 billion, equivalent to 15.95% of the total and divided equally between the ERDF and the ESF. Of this amount: • 78.86% is intended for the regions not covered by the Convergence objective. • 21.14% is earmarked for transitional degressive support. • Under this objective, measures can be co-financed up to 50% of public expenditure. The ceiling is 85% for the outermost regions. CEDR

10. Regional Competitiveness and Employment (end) • The eligible regions are: • regions which fell under Objective 1 during the period 2000-06, which no longer meet the regional eligibility criteria of the Convergence objective, and which consequently benefit from transitional support. The Commission will produce a list of these regions. Once adopted, the list will be valid from 2007 to 2013; • all other regions of the Community not covered by the Convergence objective. CEDR

11. European Territorial Cooperation • The European Territorial Cooperation objective aims to strengthen cross-border, trans-national and inter-regional cooperation. It is based on the old INTERREG initiative and will be financed by the ERDF. • It aims to promote common solutions for neighbouring authorities in the fields of urban, rural and coastal development, the development of economic relations and the creation of networks of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cooperation will be based around research, development, information society, the environment, risk prevention and integrated water management. CEDR

12. European Territorial Cooperation (continue) • The resources intended for this objective total EUR 7.75 billion, equivalent to 2.52% of the total, fully covered by the ERDF. This amount will be distributed between the different components as follows: • 73.86% for financing cross-border cooperation; • 20.95% for financing transnational cooperation; • 5.19% for financing interregional cooperation. CEDR

13. European Territorial Cooperation (end) • Regions eligible for funding are those regions , which are situated along internal land borders, certain external land borders and certain regions situated along maritime borders separated by a maximum of 150 km. • In the case of networks of cooperation and exchange of experience, the entire territory of the Community is eligible. The ceiling for co-financing is 75% of public expenditure. CEDR

14. Operational programmes • Operational programmes deal with only one of the three objectives and receive financing from a single Fund. • The Commission appraises each programme proposed to determine whether it contributes to the objectives and priorities of: • the national strategic reference framework; • the Community strategic guidelines on cohesion. CEDR

15. Operational programmes • Operational programmes relating to the Convergence and Regional Competitiveness and Employment objectives must include: • justification for the priorities in view of the strategic guidelines on cohesion and the national strategic reference framework; • information on the priority areas and their specific objectives; • a financing plan; • the implementing provisions for the operational programme; • a list of major projects linked to an operation comprising a set of works, activities or services whose total cost exceeds EUR 25 million in the case of the environment and EUR 50 million in the other fields. CEDR

16. Operational programmes • Compared to the period 2000-2006, programming has been simplified as follows: • on the policy level, each Member State prepares a document based on the Community strategic guidelines approved by the Council and negotiated with the Commission, which will serve as a framework for the preparation of the programmes; • on an operational level, the Commission approves programmes on the basis of the national strategic reference framework. CEDR

17. TEN-T • Objectives: • The trans-European transport network shall be established gradually by 2010 by integrating land, sea and air transport infrastructure networks throughout the Community in accordance with the outline plans indicated on the maps in Annex I and/or the specifications in Annex II. • The network must: • ensure the sustainable mobility of persons and goods within an area without internal frontiers under the best possible social and safety conditions, while helping to achieve the Community's objectives, particularly in regard to the environment and competition, and contribute to strengthening economic and social cohesion; • offer users high-quality infrastructure on acceptable economic terms; • include all modes of transport, taking account of their comparative advantages; • allow the optimal use of existing capacities; CEDR

18. TEN-T budget • The total TEN-Tbudget for the period 2007-2013 is € 8,013 billion. • Inland waterways would receive "maximum possible funding", receiving as much as 11.5% of the total budget. Railways will get 74.2% of total funds, while roads receive just 2.7% (€ 216,35 million).  CEDR

19. Marco Polo • Marco Polo is the European Union's funding programme for projects which shift freight transport from the road to sea, rail and inland waterways. • This means fewer trucks on the road and thus less congestion, less pollution, and more reliable and efficient transport of goods. • The current, second Marco Polo programme runs from 2007-13 and features: • the programme budget is €450 million Euros • this programme includes "motorways of the sea" and "traffic avoidance" projects • Countries bordering the EU eligible for funding if they signed an association agreement CEDR

20. Civitas • CIVITAS - cleaner and better transport in cities - stands for CIty-VITAlity-Sustainability. • With the CIVITAS Initiative, the EC aims to generate a decisive breakthrough by supporting and evaluating the implementation of ambitious integrated sustainable urban transport strategies that should make a real difference for the welfare of the European citizen. • CIVITAS II (2005-2009) 17 cities in 4 demonstration projects are taking part. These 36 cities all over Europe will be funded by the EU with € 100 million and the overall budget of the Initiative will be more than € 300 million. CEDR

21. CivitasObjectives • to promote and implement sustainable, clean and (energy) efficient urban transport measures • to implement integrated packages of technology and policy measures in the field of energy and transport in 8 categories of measures • to build up critical mass and markets for innovation CEDR

22. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • During the working process on Task M6, the group had difficulty in getting information about the EU financed projects’ implementation problems from various countries. After discussions, the group decided that the countries do some mistakes, but they do not publicize and admit them. Accordingly, an official report on the countries’ experience is impossible. CEDR

23. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • During the group discussions it was pointed out that a solution to Task M6 might be to describe what criteria the countries shall meet to become eligible for the EU funds. This explanation is not quite correct because the EU support shall be provided according to the set rules. Countries are preparing operational programmes and the European Commission is taking a decision on the countries’ eligibility. If a country is unable to prove its eligibility, the project is rejected. In short, the funds are available for every country meeting the requirements; however, if due to some internal reasons the country fails to prove its eligibility, any advice is pointless. • The problem whether the criteria for the solution of this task should be corrected will not be solved if an expert in the area is not hired. CEDR

24. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • In our last meeting it was decided to describe the existing EU funds, their aims for 2007-2013 (what has just been done) and to evaluate their use in the period of 5-10 years retrospectively as well as to study the general problems of their implementation. During the 4th meeting, the Lithuanian experience, main problems and possible solutions were presented. It was pointed out that the information is useful and the issue should be studied thoroughly. In our opinion, those common problems will be very similar to the Lithuanian ones, and we will not move forward with this task. CEDR

25. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • Therefore, the following questions should be answered in task M6: • If CEDR decides to hire an expert (a consultant) to survey and make amendments to the EU support criteria, would it be practical, i.e. can a CEDR’s survey change anything? Besides, 2007–2013 programming period is in progress (for example, Lithuania is planning to implement the funds in 2010–2011). Would these amendments be practical then? CEDR

26. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • If the decision was made to survey the funds and describe how they are used by the countries, for example, what percentage is allocated for transport infrastructure, etc. (questions of interest may be suggested). The questionnaire on statistical data would be prepared. This could be a general comparative statistical information; however, would it be of interest to CEDR? In this case, the amendment of the task should be initiated. CEDR

27. Review of Task M6 working process, conclusions and suggestions • If CEDR is not interested in these suggestions about Task M6 future implementation, maybe our group should recommend the Executive Board to cancel Task M6 since it is neither correct nor relevant. CEDR

28. Thank you for your attention Vytautas LINGAITIS