1. Implementation Section Romania-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Operational Programme 2007-2013 Joint Approval Committee, Bucharest, 3 April 2007

2. MANAGING AUTHORITY Ministry of European Integration (RO) NATIONAL AUTHORITY Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (BG) CERTIFYING AUTHORITY Ministry of Public Finance (RO) JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE EUROPEAN COMMISSION – DG REGIO ROMANIABULGARIA JOINT TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT (ROC) LEAD PARTNER AUDIT AUTHORITY* (RO) ROMANIAN controllers RO PartnerBG Partner BULGARIAN controllers GROUP OF AUDITORS RO Auditors BG Auditors INFO POINT JOINT STEERING COMMITTEE * operationally independent body associated to the Court of Accounts JOINT CONTROL UNIT

3.  MC: equal number of members from both states - supervises the programme and is responsible for the strategic adaptation of the Programme; - alternate chairmanship  SC: equal number of members from both states - responsible for selecting operations for funding

4.  MA: Ministry of European Integration (RO) - responsible for managing and implementing the operational programme in accordance with EC Regulations and the principles of sound financial management;  CA: Ministry of Public Finance (RO) - responsible for certifying statements of expenditure and applications for payment before they are sent to the Commission

5.  AA: Audit Authority – operationally independent body associated to the Court of Accounts (RO) - responsible for ensuring that audits are carried out to verify the effective functioning of the management and control system of the Operational Programme and ensuring that audits are carried out on operations

6.  JTS: Regional Office for Cross-Border Cooperation Calarasi - assists the Managing Authority, the Monitoring Committee, the Steering Committee, the Audit Authority and the Certifying Authority in carrying out their respective duties  Info Point: Pleven -local contact point for project applicants; -mainly info & publicity tasks

7. Lead Partner principle according to Article 20 of ERDF Regulation, for each operation, a lead beneficiary shall be appointed by the beneficiaries among themselves; LP bears the entire responsibility for the administrative and technical implementation of the project; it represents all the project partners/beneficiaries in relation to the Operational Programme structures

8. Pro-active measures for project generation support seminars with potential applicants  thematic workshops, focused on one priority at a time  programme website, including at least: possible partners database, project ideas, FAQ  permanent contact of JTS and IP with applicants  agreements with CCs & DAs, RDAs to act as programme contact points  continuous call for project ideas possible to be submitted to JTS and IP

9. Project application and selection Step 0. Partners prepare the application which is aggregated by the Lead Partner; Step 1. Lead partner sends application to the Joint Technical Secretariat; Step 2. Joint Technical Secretariat performs projects evaluation and ranking through an evaluation committee; Step 3. Joint Technical Secretariat proposes the ranking of applications to the Steering Committee; Step 4. Steering Committee decides on the basis of the Joint Technical Secretariat proposal; Step 5. Steering Committee sends decision to Joint Technical Secretariat; Step 6. Joint Technical Secretariat prepares contracts and sends them to the Managing Authority; Step 7. Managing Authority signs the contract with the Lead Partner Lead Partner (LP) Steering Committee (SC) Managing Authority (MA) 3 2 1 6 5 4 7 Partner 2Partner 1Partner 3 0 Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) and External Experts

10. 4 21 3 8 7 BG PartnerRO Partner JTS Joint Control Unit (RO+BG) Lead Partner Managing Authority Certifying Authority Validation Unit Paying Unit 11 5 5 6 8 ERDF certification and payment flow

11. Certifying Authority Managing Authority Paying Unit LEAD PARTNER RO PARTNER RO 2 1. Certifying Authority confirms to the Paying Unit that the certification of expenditure is completed. 2. Paying Unit transfers the Romanian national co-financing to the Romanian Partners only. 2 1 Romanian co-financing payment flow

12. Bulgarian co-financing payment flow Certifying Authority National Authority LEAD PARTNER BG PARTNER BG 2 1. Certifying Authority confirms to the Bulgarian National Authority that the certification of expenditure is completed. 2. National Authority transfers the Bulgarian national co-financing to the Bulgarian Lead Partners/Partners only. 2 1

13. Thank you! Catalin Glavan Implementation Officer catalin.glavan@dr.mie.ro Tel: +40749 196 331