Belarus Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Latvia Lithuania Norway Poland Russia Sweden 4. Implementation of the BSR INTERREG IIIB Neighbourhood Programme th and 7 th call for proposals - 8 th call for proposal by Marta Plichta BSR INTERREG III B NP Joint Secretariat Steering Committee meeting Hamburg, 9-10 December 2004

Preparations to the NP implementation (1) June – December 2004 The NP Implementing Guidelines (NPIG) published by the COM on 24 June 2004 Reaction to the NPIG - position paper of the BSR INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme - sent to the COM on 22 July 04 + A-pack, assessment and reporting forms and proposal of alternative implementation models Discussion with the COM (DG Regio, DG Relex, EuropeAid)- Brussels - September 2004 clarification of some issues addressed in the position paper Discussion with the EC Delegations in St.Petersburg and in Minsk - September 2004 implementation procedures of internal (ERDF) and external (Tacis) funding in the framework of joint projects

The Action Programme (Tacis 2004) approved in September’ M EURO allocated for BSR - 2 M EURO allocated for IIIA North and South priorities - 5% TA external (Tacis) Proposal of additional tasks to be carried out by the JS/JTS in regard to the external funding (Tacis) implementation – sent to the COM (EC Delegation) - November 2004 Proposal of the necessary amendments to application form of the BSR INTERREG III B NP (incl. IIIA) -based on comments from COM (received 18 Nov.04) Summary of the BSR NP sent to the EC Delegation - to be translated into Russian language (IIIA & IIIB) Preparations to the NP implementation (2) June – December 2004

Discussion with the EC Delegation on the assessment procedures/evaluation criteria/A-pack – 15 December 2004 # Model of the organizational structure (programme and project level) # Division of responsibilities between the COM and the BSR IR III B programme stakeholders - Technical Assistance (external TA) # Capacity building and information seminars in RU/BY - Regional Capacity Building project 2003 # Joint application and assessment procedures # Joint implementation of projects - synchronization of external and internal part The NP issues still to be discussed:

7 th Call for proposals 1 February – 7 March 2005 The COM recommendation to open the NP call for proposals only when the external budget is available - the COM forecast - March 2005 NO major changes in regard to the 6th call Additional questions from the Tacis CBC application added to the ANNEX IV (activities on non-EU territory) Publishing on the web the information for applicants on current state of affairs regarding 7 th and 8 th call for proposals In the Programme Manual (for the 8 th call) an additional chapter will be included

The JS targets:  Long term: Development of joint procedures in regard to the external and internal fund implementation applicable for the Neighbourhood Instrument ( ) programme  Short term: Joint projects applying in the framework of the NP in the 8 th Call for proposals (autumn 2005) Conditions to be fulfilled 1. Financial agreement (budget 2004) approved by Russian & Belarusian government =access to the external funding 2. Application form and A-pack agreed with the COM by May’05 3. Coordination between the external and internal part of the project (programme) on place by May TA external available for JS/MA to be used for additional tasks in regard to the RU/BY participation in the NP (?)

 To be continued… Thank you!