South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme Bologna, 15° June 2009 Kick-off meeting of project SARMa SEE Joint Technical Secretariat

Group 1: The “Interested” – meeting minimum formal standards: 691 formally ok EoIs, 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: still pending (42 including projects approved and approved under condition) The “dimension” of the 1st call for proposals

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 Develop technology & innovation networks in specific fields Develop the enabling environment for innovative entrepreneurship Enhance the framework conditions and pave the way for innovation 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 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 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 The Area of Intervention 2.4 The general purpose of the AoI 2.4 related to energy and resource efficiency has resulted in a high number of projects concentrating around a limited number of topics (e.g. proposing energy efficiency of public buildings, building networks of energy agencies, analysis of the state of art of the renewable energy sources). This has shown often limited knowledge of the topic and limited capitalisation of results of previous projects implemented at a national land European level (especially IEE). A stronger focus on the transnational aspect of the management of renewable energy sources and the stronger involvement of energy providers was expected.

Financial data, costs per AoI

Contracting – signing of the Subsidy Contract 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 prepared and 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. The Project Implementation Projects approved with conditions will be asked – before signing the Subsidy Contract – to resubmitted project’s documents that have changed (addendum of the Partnership Agreement, revised Application Form, new Declaration and Co-financing Statements).

Starting up the projects The projects can start the implementation after approval by the Monitoring Committee: 11 March 2009 The Project Implementation (2) 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

Reporting 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 (2) The Project Partners’ role in reporting: Project Partners collect documentation proving their expenditures, and get them validated according to the national control system 1.each ERDF PP should prepare and submit to the national First Level Control, and that will be the basis also for the Declaration of their expenditures that will be part of the LP’s application for reimbursement of project costs 2.report of a PP towards the LP to help them prepare the main Progress Report 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. As a recommendation for the LP as well as PPs: build up your own monitoring and evaluation system in order to regularly check how the project proceed! In this respect the Partner Report can also be a useful tool for that.

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. 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) Reporting (3)

The LP and the project partners have to consider the timeframe of the reimbursement of Funds (when setting the payment deadlines of contracts, mainly!) Timeframe for reimbursement

Financial management of the project 3.LP prepares Progress report and AfR and submits to the JTS 2.LP verifies that the expenditures presented has been validated by the controllers 4.JTS Verifies the Progress reports and Application for reimbursement + Declarations of the Controllers 6.Reimbursement of ERDF contribution to the LP by the Financial Transfer Unit 1.Project Partners collect documentation proving their expenditures, and get them validated according to the national control system 7.LP transfers ERDF contribution to Project Partners LP Deadline: 3 months from the end of the reporting period! Approval + reimbursement procedure: circa 3 months ! 5.Initiation of the reimbursement process by submitting the verified AfRs to the FTU

Best wishes for a successful partnership and project’s implementation!