1 Ministry of Regional Development

2 Technical Assistance Operational Programme Information on implementation of technical assistance projects Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012

3 Blocks: The comparison of financial perspective and Problems in implementation and applied solution 2. Programming technical assistance for the new financial perspective New challenges and new ideas 3. Actual state of play Implementation data as of Ministry of Regional Development - 4 October 2012

4 PERSPECTIVE : MAJOR PROBLEMS Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October High turnover of personnel and lack of personnel management strategy 2.Complicated implementation procedures and rules 3.Insufficient efficiency of the IT tools and systems compared to the needs 4.Lack of coordination of the publicity and information measures

5 PERSPECTIVE : REMEDIES Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Ad. 1 Creation of a uniform remuneration and incentive system for government administration personnel (The Action Plan for Increasing the Administrative Potential of the Units Involved in the OP Implementation in the Years ) Ad. 2 Simplification of the system and the procedures (one-year projects and one project for one beneficiary policy) Ad. 3 Simplification of the IT monitoring and control system aimed at supporting the NSRF (KSI). Ad.4 Enhancing the role of the team coordinating publicity and information measures for the whole NSRF (Communication Strategy for the Structural Funds and the CF in Poland has been drafted)

6 OP TA : CHANGES Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012

7 COMPARISON OF ALLOCATION Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 allocation: years of implementation circa 7 mln € per year allocation: years of implementation circa 57,4 mln € per year OP TA OP TA

8 COMPARISON OF BENEFICIARIES Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Ministry of Regional Development Ministry of Finances OP TA OP TA ministries (Intermediate Bodies) 16 regional Certifying Authorities and 16 regional Audit Authorities NEW TYPE: other central administration institutions surrounding the system and affecting it (i.e. Public Procurement Office, Directorate General for Environmental Protection, Central Statistical Office) 35 institution in total

9 COMPARISON OF ACTIONS Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012

10 NEW ACTIONS OF OP TA Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Environmental issues  new beneficiaries: institutions responsible for issuing environmental impact assessments (necessary for infrastructural projects)  trainings and manuals for beneficiaries of the key projects  consulting support for institutions responsible for key projects Extension of the scope of training  new recipients: employees of all institutions involved in structural funds implementation  new topics: EU policies, environmental issues, social conflicts, institutional capacity of institutions implementing structural funds i.e. local government units etc. Extension of the scope of information & promotion  training sessions for specific types of beneficiaries e.g. how to get money for sport projects or for health infrastructure  grants for media, NGO's and researchers dealing with structural funds  info centres in every region

11 COMPARISON OF PROCEDURES Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012  all applications for co-financing had to be approved by the Steering Committee  the application form consisted of 10 pages with very detailed information  all information had to be entered into the IT system  all expenditures were broken down to categories and all changes required an annex to the contract  implementation report was obligatory on quarterly basis as an individual document  each invoice had to be attached to the payment claim OP TA OP TA  all applications for co-financing are approved by the Managing Authority of TA OP  the form consists of 5 pages (incl. 2 pages of the attachment) with the most vital information  only the most important information is entered into the IT system  expenditures are broken down into quarters and no annex to the contract is required unless the total amount of co-financing changes  implementation report is a part of the payment claim  no invoices are attached to the payment claim (only the list of expenses); samples of invoices are looked into during controls

12 PROS AND CONS Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012  small programme easier to co-ordinate  easier to contact and affect on beneficiaries  easier to control the programme  many small and too detailed projects  payments depend on one-two biggest beneficiaries  changes of structure of the ministry cause slowdown of payments and implementing of projects OP TA OP TA  more diverse topic areas of the projects  complex support for institutions responsible for implementation of structural funds  common system of salaries for public administration responsible for implementation of structural funds  changes of administration structure don't pose a threat for payments  the Programme doesn't depend on one or two beneficiaries  more formalised system of implementation  more detailed guidelines for beneficiaries  more beneficiaries to deal with

13 NEW FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 EU regulations are being negotiated Partnership contract is being prepared National provisions are being prepared  a new act on development policy regulating period is being worked on  an existing act on development policy regulating period is about to be changed in order to allow the preparatory and early implementation stage for the new financial perspective

14 NEW FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Major changes: More strategic approach Common Strategic Framework Partnership contract Operational Programmes

15 NEW FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Major changes: 11 Thematic objectives to deliver Europe Strengthening research, technological development and innovation 2.Enhancing access to, and use and quality of, information and communication technologies 3.Enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, the agricultural sector (for the EAFRD) and the fisheries and aquaculture sector (for the EMFF) 4.Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors 5.Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management 6.Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency 7.Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures 8.Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility 9.Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty 10.Investing in education, skills and lifelong learning 11.Enhancing institutional capacity and an efficient public administration TA does not refer to any of the above objectives directly but indirectly supports all of them

16 NEW FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Major changes: Three categories of regions Less developed regions (GDP per capita < 75% of EU average) 15 Polish regions co-financing 85% Transition regions (GDP per capita between 75% and 90%) Mazovia Region in Poland co-financing 75% More developed regions (GDP per capita > 90%) Major problems: How to determine the co-financing rate for the TA projects? How to break down the costs in such projects? Ex-ante conditionality Conditions to be fulfilled prior to submission of Partnership Contracts and operational programmes. Directly related to the thematic objectives or horizontal conditions of effectiveness. Conditionalities must be fulfilled within 2 years of the approval of the Partnership Contract or by end of Non-fulfilment of conditionalities = suspension of payments TA resources are planned to be used to ensure meeting ex-ante conditionality criteria.

17 NEW FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Technical Assistance Operational Programme Three areas of support: 1.INSTITUTIONS – directly and indirectly involved in the system  remunerations  trainings  office equipment  expertise etc. 2.BENEFICIARIES  support for preparation of both individual and contest projects  verification of documentation etc. 3.SYSTEM OF IMPLEMENTATION  promotion  evaluation  horizontal policies  law awareness and its implementation  ex-ante conditionality etc.

18 ACTUAL STATE OF PLAY implementation data as of Ministry of Regional Development – 4 October 2012 Number of applications delivered: 333 Number of contracts signed: 301 Total value of contracts signed (ERDF): 336 m. EUR Allocation contracted: 65% Total value of approved payment claims: 240 m. EUR Allocation settled: 46% Number of projects closed: 221 Total value certified to the EC: 276 m. EUR Total value of the EC payments: 231 m. EUR

19 Ministerstwo Rozwoju Regionalnego Departament Programów Pomocowych i Pomocy Technicznej ul. Wspólna 2/ Warszawa Dziękuję za uwagę 19 Thank you for your attention Ministry of Regional Development Department of Aid Programmes and Technical Assistance 2/4 Wspólna St Warsaw