1st Meeting of the partnership 18 November 2009, Brussels INTERREG IVC Capitalisation projects Overview and guidelines for their preparation

About INTERREG IVC Main objective  to improve the effectiveness of regional development policies  2 calls for proposals so far  115 approved projects, including 13 capitalisation projects  65% of available ERDF allocated (=185M€) => on average, 1.6M€ ERDF per project  Next call only for capitalisation projects: deadline for submission = beginning of March 2010 with 15M€ allocated

Types of projects under INTERREG IVC 1. Regional Initiative Projects Exchange of experience and good practice, development of tools and instruments of regional policies 2. Capitalisation Projects, including Fast Track Projects Capitalisation projects: optimise results achieved, transfer of good practices identified into mainstream programmes Fast Track projects: Specific European Commission assistance and expertise offered to certain capitalisation projects with reference to the “Regions for Economic Change (RFEC)” Initiative.

Type 2 ‘Capitalisation Projects’ Fast Track Projects

Focus on Fast Track Projects Fast Track projects are Capitalisation Projects which benefit from additional expertise from the European Commission in order to contribute to the Regions for Economic Change initiative. The Commission will provide this additional expertise at its own costs In order to earmark projects for additional assistance, the Commission will assess the Capitalisation Project applications according to a certain number of questions. There is no specific applications to Fast Track Projects (FTP). The approval of projects and their designation as FTP will be the subject of separate and independent processes.

Regional Initiative Projects (Type 1) Capitalisation Projects (Type 2) PurposeExchange, dissemination and transfer of experience. Possible development of new approaches if based on the exchange of experience Transfer of good practices into mainstream programmes Involvement of MA /intermediate body designated to carry out MA tasks Not requiredCompulsory EC supportNoYes, for Fast Track Projects Recommend number of partners Depends in general on the intensity of cooperation proposed. Large partnerships are possible in light networking projects but a limited number of partners is recommended for projects with a higher intensity of cooperation. In mini-programmes, the number of partners must not exceed 8. No recommendation on number of partners involved but recommendation in terms of the number of countries represented in the project: Minimum recommended number of countries represented: 6 Maximum recommended number of countries represented: 10 Recommend duration36 months24 months Recommend budgetMin ERDF: EUR 500,000 Max ERDF: EUR 5 million Min ERDF: EUR 300,000 Max ERDF: EUR 3 million BeneficiariesPublic authorities and bodies governed by public law (as defined in section 2.3.3) Public authorities and bodies governed by public law Overview of the main characteristics of the two types of intervention

Co-financing rates 75% ERDF Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK 85% ERDF Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia

Content - Project activities Component 1: Management and coordination Component 2: Communication and dissemination Component 3: Exchange of experience NOTA: As Capitalisation projects focus on the transfer of regional development good practices into mainstream EU Structural Funds programmes, there will not be an opportunity for them to add components to the three already pre-defined components. Therefore, all content related activities for Capitalisation Projects must be grouped under component 3.

Guidelines for capitalisation projects Key features identified by INTERREG IVC JTS in its brochure published in November 2009 : 1)PARTNERSHIP 2)GOOD PRACTICE 3)TRANSFER PROCESS 4)ACTION PLAN

Key feature n°1 CORE ACTORS – PARTNERSHIP  Managing Authorities are the core actors of Capitalisation projects as the success of any policy implementation depends mainly on them (or the intermediate bodies carrying out some or all of their tasks).  Often, the partnership will be wider, including other policy makers such as: Relevant members of the monitoring committee of the regional OP Best practices owners.

Key feature n°1 CORE ACTORS – PARTNERSHIP Policy-makers and other relevant bodies responsible for policy delivery, known as ‘deep delegations’ should naturally be involved in the project, especially in all events organised at local, regional and international level. Deep delegation refers to the wider stakeholders that each partner needs to have on board to ensure successful implementation of the good practice(s) transferred.

Key feature n°1 CORE ACTORS – PARTNERSHIP Deep delegation Only costs of partners listed in the application form can be reimbursed. In order to cover the expenses of the deep delegations, it is highly recommended to include the organisations involved as partners in the application form (AF). This allows them to receive ERDF funding. If they are not officially listed in the AF, it means that:  either they participate at their own costs  or are involved and budgeted as “external experts” with the condition that their costs will be fully paid and thus definitively borne by one of the official partners.

Key feature n°1 CORE ACTORS – PARTNERSHIP  Wide geographical coverage is essential.  Necessity to have a good mix of less and more advanced regions. Especially the involvement of new MS should be carefully considered.  It is also very important to carefully select partners that share an interest or expertise in a precise field of competence.

Key feature n°2 GOOD PRACTICE  The starting point of every Capitalisation project is a pool of good practices, which have already been identified and successfully tested by the partners.  The good practices can result from any successful policy experience at the local, regional, national or even European level.

Key feature n°2 GOOD PRACTICE What is a good practice? => an initiative (e.g. methodologies, projects, processes, techniques) undertaken in one of the programme’s thematic priorities which has already proved successful and which has the potential to be transferred to a different geographic area.

Key feature n°2 GOOD PRACTICE Towards TRANSFERABILITY => It is crucial when selecting good practices to check as early as possible whether they can feasibly be transferred to the partner’s regional OP.

Key feature n°3 MAIN ACTIVITY => TRANSFER  As the good practices are already identified in the regions, the focus of Capitalisation project activities will be on preparing their transfer into regional OPs, BUT implemention stage is not financed by INTERREG IVC.  The projects use typical tools for exchange of experience such as seminars, study visits, workshops, staff exchange, and so on.  It is also important to disseminate the findings widely beyond the partnership of the project.

Key feature n°3 MAIN ACTIVITY => TRANSFER The transfer process usually consists of three key milestones: 1)selection, 2)adaptation, 3)commitment.

Key feature n°3 MAIN ACTIVITY => TRANSFER 1)Selection Regions have to express their interest on which good practices they would like to see implemented in their territory. Ideally this first step should be initiated already during the project’s preparation. Method: Organisation of a meeting where each region presents its good practices.

Key feature n°3 MAIN ACTIVITY => TRANSFER 2) Adaptation The proposed practices need to be analysed to see why it was successful in a specific context and how it should be adapted to fit within the context of the recipient region(s) = ‘transfer roadmap’. Method : A smaller working group is created within the project between the donor region and the recipient region(s). The involvement of experts and practitioners are often necessary to ensure the successful transfer. Study visits are generally a decisive step in order to gain firsthand experience on the good practice and to discuss relevant issues with the staff involved in the implementation.

Key feature n°3 MAIN ACTIVITY => TRANSFER 3) Commitment Endorsement of the transferred practices by the recipient region(s). This is carried out through the finalisation of a binding action plan by the recipient region, specifying how these good practices will be implemented under its OP. => Necessity to ensure the commitment of the local relevant stakeholders: e.g., they can be invited to the main interregional events. A number of local feedback meetings may be also necessary to raise their awareness.

Key feature n°4 MAIN RESULT – ACTION PLAN  The main result of Capitalisation projects is considered to be the development of an ’action plan’ for all participating regions.  These plans specify how the good practices will be transferred and implemented under the regional OPs.  Each action plan will be signed by the respective Managing Authority and relevant regional stakeholders.

Key feature n°4 MAIN RESULT – ACTION PLAN The action plan is the main result of the project and should be signed by the Managing Authority. Minimum content of this strategic document:  Definition and description of good practice(s) to be transferred; what form they will take and how their implementation will be evaluated.  Names and roles of the main stakeholders in the region that will need to be involved in the implementation process.  Identification of the relevant priority and measure concerned in the regional operational programme, along with the budget required to fund the implementation.  Details on how the implementation will take place.

Key feature n°4 MAIN RESULT – ACTION PLAN NOTA:  It should also be noted that the action plan does not guarantee implementation of a practice within a particular region.  It will be subject to the rules governing allocation of the regional funds, such as calls for projects or decision by a monitoring committee.

Thank you for your attention PASCAL CHAZAUD - Consultant External assistance to NIVERLAN