Technical Assistance for the Implementation of Structural

Technical Assistance
for the Implementation of
Structural Instruments in Romania
Project co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund
through OPTA 2007-2013 /
Support for the implementation of the ACIS Communication Plan
Editor: Directorate Technical Assistance, Ministry of Public Finance
Publishing date: March 2010
The contents of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of
the European Union and of the Romanian Government.
Contents
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Operational Programme Technical Assistance 2009 Achievements and 2010 Perspectives
Status of Using Technical Assistance in Romania
as of 31 December 2009
Continuous Training in the Field of Structural Instruments
Case Studies
Events financed from Technical Assistance funds –
Priority Axis 5 of the Sectoral Operational Programme
Increase of Economic Competitiveness
Intermediate Body for Research
Using Technical Assistance to communicate ESF in Bulgaria
Implementation status of Structural Instruments in Romania
National Strategic Report 2009 on the Implementation of
Structural and Cohesion Funds
EC Message: Challenging the 4th Year of Implementation
Operational Programme
Technical Assistance -
2009 Achievements and 2010 Perspectives
Every half year, the release of this brochure is an opportunity for us to
make a short review and to ask ourselves what we have achieved, what the status
of our projects is and what our perspectives are for the upcoming period.
One frequent question is if the 2009 has fully met our expectations,
taking into account that - despite notable achievements especially regarding the
approved and contracted projects from OPTA - the payments still advance at a
slow pace.
The current article aims to provide a perspective on the 2010 tendencies,
based on the progresses registered last year. Thus, the value of the approved
projects grew almost twice in 2009 compared to 2008, reaching 15% from the
2007-2013 EU programme allocation, while the contracted projects grew almost
8 times, reaching 13% of the same allocation. This increase was due to new
projects received and approved in 2009, but also due to several approved projects
from 2008 whose contracting finalised in 2009. Until 31.12.2009, payments were
made of 0.4% of the EU allocation, although they rose almost 16 times compared
to the payments made until 31.12.2008.
The end of 2009 shows an acceleration of the programme implementation
on several levels:
The number of approved payment claims increased significantly.
Three more projects relevant for the coordination and management of
Structural Instruments started implementation in November and December
last year.
Several projects materialised after having been negotiated with the
European Commission during the previous period and prepared with the
support of Romanian institutions: the projects targeting the support for
Growth Poles coordinators and their support staff, as well as the projects
for part-financing the remuneration expenditures for the staff involved in the
coordination, management and control of Structural Instruments.
Under these circumstances, in our opinion, the pace of OPTA
implementation will significantly speed up during the first part of 2010, as
concerns the contracting and actual payments, as well as the results obtained by
using this assistance.
To support this consideration, we present below several OPTA cofinanced projects, which shall produce significant results in terms of supporting
the Structural Instruments management system:
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1.Support for coordinating the implementation of the
Integrated Development Plans for the national Growth Poles
Objective:
To coordinate the preparation and implementation of Integrated
Development Plans (IDPs) related to the seven Growth Poles, by supporting the
activities carried out by the Growth Poles coordinators and their support staff.
The Growth Pole Coordinator:
He/she is an employee of the Regional Development Agency in the region
where the Growth Pole is located and has the task to support the coordination of
the preparation and implementation of the pole’s Integrated Development Plan and
of the projects included in the plan.
Activity:
The Growth Poles Coordinators will support the preparation,
implementation and monitoring of the IDPs for the Growth Poles, which will
include projects financed from several operational programmes as well as from
other public funds, facilitating the cooperation and consultation with all institutions
involved from central and local level.
Therefore, their activity will represent a key horizontal mechanism for the
Georgeta Smadu
Growth Pole coordinator, Iasi
“In 2004, the first Inter-community Development Association in the
country was set up - Iasi Metropolitan Area - with partners from Iasi
Municipality, Iasi County Council and 13 local communal administrative units, representing about half of the population and 15% of
the county area. The city of Iasi is the most important city in the region and the second
biggest city in the country, having multiple opportunities: academic, cultural, historical and
economic. The most appropriate „profile” needs to be designed, in order to allow it to play
the role of catalyst for development.
The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Iasi Growth Pole, comprising several
projects aimed to lead to an accelerated development of the area, was the first plan submitted to the Managing Authority for the Regional Operational Programme and endorsed
by the Management Committee for the Coordination of Structural Instruments.
The proposed projects target both the business infrastructure and the urban infrastructure, including the historical area of the city, an intermodal transport centre, social
infrastructure, as well as environmental projects and research projects of the universities.
We are currently examining the state of the projects together with each applicant
within IDP, we are participating in the monitoring of the calendar for preparing the project
documentations, identifying the problems arisen and recommending solutions to address
them with regard to: ownership, financing sources/opportunities, obtaining of necessary
approvals, calendar of various programmes, in order to ensure the appropriate framework
for implementing the proposed projects.“
5
coordination of Structural Instruments and will be done under the guidance of
the Ministry of Public Finance – the Authority for the Coordination of Structural
Instruments and of the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism – the
Managing Authority for the Regional Operational Programme.
The Pole Coordinators’ activity shall have a direct impact on the
effectiveness and efficiency of the projects to be financed from Structural
Instruments within the Integrated Development Plans of the Growth Poles.
Until now, 6 such projects have been submitted and approved for
financing under OPTA, out of which 5 were contracted in total value of
14,230,260.23 lei.
2.Support for partial financing of remuneration
expenditures for the staff involved in the coordination,
management and control of Structural Instruments
Objective:
The projects aim at supporting the system of remunerating and
motivating the staff within the structures involved in the coordination and
management of Structural Instruments, by partially providing the resources
needed for implementing the Law no. 490/2004 regarding the financial
stimulation of the staff managing Community funds, with subsequent
completions and amendments.
The proposed objective supports the attainment of the specific objective
of the Priority Axis 1 - Support to the implementation of Structural Instruments
and programmes coordination, which aims at „strengthening the overall
coordination of Structural Instruments implementation and building appropriate
capacities and capabilities of the system” so that to ensure efficient and
effective coordination, management and control of the Structural Instruments.
The projects target to ensure the stability of the staff from the public
institutions assigned to contribute to the management and coordination of
Structural Instruments, as a prerequisite for the appropriate functioning of the
management system. The first project of this type was contracted in December
2009 (for the Ministry of Public Finance staff involved in the coordination and
management of Structural Instruments) and the first reimbursement under this
project already took place.
In the upcoming period, all relevant public institutions are expected to
submit such projects for financing under OPTA.
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Nr. 3 / 3.2010
3. Improvement of the indicators system used for the
monitoring and evaluation of the Operational Programmes
and the National Strategic Reference Framework
Objective:
To improve the quality of the indicators system for monitoring and
evaluation of the Operational Programmes and of the National Strategic
Reference Framework through the preparation of a Guide on indicators and
dissemination of this guide amongst the actors involved in the management of
Structural Instruments.
The Guide on monitoring and evaluation indicators will represent a
practical information source that will:
clarify terminology and usage, frequency of data collection and
processing procedures.
include tables of indicators generated by the Single Management
Information System (SMIS), in order to obtain a clear picture of the
progress and context of the financed interventions.
The Guide should be relevant for all actors within the management
of interventions, both decision makers and project beneficiaries with a role
in project monitoring, as well as for the persons in charge of evaluating
interventions.
The preparation of the Guide on monitoring and evaluation indicators
will be preceded by a needs analysis of the users of information, as well as by
an assessment of the current system of indicators (depending on the coverage
area, proportionality and management capacity) and of individual indicators
(depending on relevance, sensitivity, availability and cost).
In order to put the system of indicators into operation, technical
assistance shall be provided in the form of a helpdesk, in order to answer in
due time to the requests for clarifications on the Guide and on the system of
indicators in general.
Additionally, guidelines shall be proposed to improve the Romanian
regional statistics and to develop a methodology for the strategic evaluation
of the environmental effect of all Operational Programmes (greenhouse gas
emissions, development of green areas etc.).
The main results expected for 2010 are as follows:
a report regarding the analysis of the system of indicators,
a first version of the Guide on monitoring and evaluation indicators,
guidelines for the strategic assessment methodology of environmental
effects and improvement of the Romanian regional statistics,
the set-up of an operational helpdesk for specific questions related to
individual indicators or to the system of indicators.
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Janos Matolcsy
Team Leader
“The observance and analysis of the progress and effects of the Operational Programmes and of
the National Strategic Reference Framework cannot be performed without a system of monitoring
and evaluation indicators. Defining a set of indicators is not enough for having updated and appropriate information, addressing the questions related to “what has been done” and “what are the
effects”. The data collection mechanisms and the costs for measuring indicators require a special
attention.
The recent personal experience gained in the process of preparing the Final Implementation Report
of an Operational Programme has proven the importance and need for an instrument (guide on
monitoring and evaluation indicators) to provide practical guidance for the authorities and interested
parties from the Member State having responsibilities in the context of Structural Instruments.” 4. Carrying out evaluations in the 2009-2010 period
Objective:
To contribute to strengthening the coordination capacity of Structural
Instruments implementation and to the development of an appropriate administrative
system through actions aimed at ensuring a common level of expertise and
knowledge amongst the actors involved.
The project is structured on two components:
Component 1: A formative evaluation of Structural Instruments in Romania
Component 2: Other evaluations, the latter component comprising the interim
evaluation of the Operational Programme Technical Assistance, a synthesis
at national level based on the interim evaluation reports carried out for the
Operational Programmes and at least two ad-hoc evaluation reports.
The project “Carrying out evaluations in the 2009-2010 period” started in
November 2009, after signing the contract with the Consortium consisting of KPMG
Romania, GEA Strategy&Consulting and Pluriconsult.
Component 1:
The formative evaluation of Structural Instruments in Romania shall
provide the decision makers and the policy makers, as well as the
programme managers, with pertinent information and credible analyses on
the performance of Structural Instruments in Romania to date, highlighting
the internal and external critical factors affecting their efficiency and
effectiveness, drafting the main lessons learned during the first year of
implementation and underlining the best practices acquired by participants
during this process.
The results expected from the first component relate to formulating
conclusions and recommendations regarding the real performance of
Structural Instruments compared to expectations and defined targets,
as well as compared to the capacity of the persons involved in their
implementation, regarding the major internal and external factors influencing
their performance, the technical assistance, information and publicity actions,
as well as efficiency and effectiveness of projects portfolio.
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Nr. 3 / 3.2010
Componenta 2:
The purpose of the interim evaluation of the Operational Programme
Technical Assistance is to analyse the progress registered during the
implementation of the Operational Programme, outlining the main lessons
learned during the first period of implementation and highlighting the best
practices identified during this process by the participants.
The expected results of this evaluation relate to formulating conclusions
and recommendations on the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and
estimated impact of the implementation. The evaluation will also provide
answers to specific questions, such as: OPTA’s contribution to the
development of an evaluation culture within the administrative system
for Structural Instruments, to the existence of a properly qualified
staff through the training interventions supported, to the appropriate
functioning of the relevant structures, to the SMIS development and
functioning.
The synthesis report to be developed within the second component
shall be a synthesis of the evaluation reports based on a pro-active approach
that goes beyond the simple synthesis of the reports’ results at Operational
Programme level. This report will not only contribute to validating the
recommendations of the first component of the project, but also to their
improvement, by analysing the correspondence between the results of the
NSRF evaluation and the results of the interim evaluations at the level of each
Operational Programme.
With regard to the ad-hoc evaluations, it should be mentioned first of all
that they serve as an instrument for informing the management on the problems
identified during the implementation of Structural Instruments. The topics of
the first ad-hoc evaluation, “Challenges related to the capacity of Structural
Instruments beneficiaries” is to examine the implementation capacity of the
beneficiaries, starting from the signature of the financing contract up to the
interim or final payments.
The evaluation reports will be delivered in the final format, in
compliance with the agreed workplan, as follows:
May 2010: the formative evaluation of Structural Instruments in
Romania and OPTA interim evaluation;
June 2010: the first ad-hoc evaluation report. The second report
- whose topic will depend on the problems identified - shall be most
probably finalised at the beginning of next year.
September 2010: the Synthesis Report. This deadline was set taking
into account the deadlines for finalising the other interim evaluations of
the other Operational Programmes.
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Status of Using Technical Assistance in
Romania as of 31 December 2009
Technical Assistance in 2009
For the “Convergence” Objective, 2009 was the year of actual
implementation of Technical Assistance projects, in the sense of establishing the
desired flow: receipt – approval – contracting of financing applications, receipt –
verification of payment claims and making payments.
250
214,167,934 €
200
150
125,432,138 €
100
90,038,073 €
81,707,400 €
50
Mil.
Euro
16,778,632 €
Allocated
2007-2009
Projects
submitted
Projects
approved
Contracted
Paid
Statu of Techincal Assistance implementation
as of 31.12.2009
For conversion to Euro, the inforeuro exchange rate for December 2009 was used:
1 Euro = 4.2788 lei.
The main indicators achieved until 31.12.2009 refer to:
16%
nformation
nd publicity
Organisation of meetings of relevant committees and working groups – 59
Drafting of studies, analyses, reports – 15
Drafting of guidelines and other methodological documents - 3
Support for project appraisal – 819 evaluated projects
Trainings for MAs, IBs and beneficiaries staff (participant training days) – 4273
Organisation of events for exchanging experience – 5
Organisation of communication and promotion events – 469
Organisation of media campaigns – 7
Drafting, printing and distribution of publicity material (pieces) – 140,000
15%
T Systems
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Nr. 3 / 3.2010
250
214,167,934 €
Regarding
the public procurement contracts related to TA projects, the
200
status as of 31.12.2009 is presented below:
150
125,432,138 €
79 TA
to 70.7 million lei
100 contracts finalised, amounting
90,038,073 €
81,707,400 €
60 TA contracts under implementation, with a total value of 93.89 million lei
50
Mil. contracts under contracting, with a total value of
16,778,632
31 TA
82.51€ million lei
Euro
Allocated under
Projects
Projects
61 TA contracts
preparation,
with a total
value ofPaid121.27 million lei
Contracted
2007-2009
submitted
approved
Regarding the Technical Assistance contracts under preparation, the
expenditures related to the support for programme management and managing
structures, to IT systems development or maintenance, as well as to the promotion
and publicity activities continue to prevail, as shown in the chart below:
16%
Information
and publicity
TA public procurement contracts
under preparation as of 31.12.2009
Total 121,27 million lei
(61 public procurement contracts)
15%
IT Systems
for the OP management
69% Support
and managing structures
For the Territorial Cooperation Objective, most of the expenditures relate also
to the support for OP management, and information and publicity activities. The main
indicators achieved at 31.12.2009 are as follows:
Organisation of meetings for relevant committees and working groups – 22
Training (participant training days) – 124
Organisation of communication and promotion events – 74
Drafting, printing and distribution of publicity material (pieces) – 4,500
The data analysed for both Objectives reveals the ongoing need for speeding
up the use of TA in view of ensuring the necessary support for the management and
coordination of Structural Instruments, but also for developing the administrative
capacity of beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries.
Note:
The syntheses presented in this article are based on the reports on Operational Programmes forwarded to the Inter-ministerial
Group (Government), as well as on the data provided in the Analysis Forms on using Technical Assistance filled in for: OP
Technical Assistance, Regional OP, OP Developing the Administrative Capacity, SOP Transport, SOP Environment, SOP Increase
of Economic Competitiveness, SOP Human Resources Development, OP Romania-Bulgaria, OP Romania-Ukraine-Moldova, OP
Romania-Serbia, OP Hungary-Romania, OP South East Europe, Joint OP Black Sea.
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Continuous Training
in the Field of Structural Instruments
Case Studies
I.Context
Continuous training of the staff involved in the management of European
funds represents an older concern of the national coordinator department.
The first training programmes were carried out in 2002 for the staff of Phare
implementation units.
The preparation for Structural Instruments started in 2004. In 2005, a
first version of a training coordination mechanism in the field was set up, centred
on the Ministry of Public Finance as a coordinator of training in Structural
Instruments. It requires cooperation with all other Managing Authorities of
Operational Programmes within a Working Group that aims at correlating the
training actions and programmes. Every year, with the support of this Working
Group, the training needs of the staff involved in the management of Structural
Instruments are collected and annual common training plans are drafted.
Having the support of the Operational Programme Technical Assistance,
a series of contracts started in 2009, targeting the training of the staff within
the coordination and management structures; these programmes include both
basic training of less experienced staff, as well as medium to advanced training
on specific functions: financial management and control, management of project
applications, audit, monitoring as well as other projects.
A sustained training programme is addressed to the users of the Single
Management Information System (SMIS), with training sessions corresponding
to the SMIS modules and sessions dedicated to SMIS coordinators within each
users’ entity.
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II. Case studies
Here there are opinions of two Contractors, regarding the training in Structural
Instruments:
The first horizontal training project financed by OPTA
The contract “Continuous training of the staff involved in the
management of Structural and Cohesion Funds”, financed from the Operational
Programme Technical Assistance started in April 2009 and is implemented by
a consortium led by WYG International Ltd. The contract is an undertaking
of wide scope and it includes 4 specific components, with a target of 850
participants, employees of the Managing Authorities, Intermediate Bodies,
Certifying Authority, Audit Authority and Authority for Coordination of Structural
Instruments.
Carmen Podan
Project Director
WYG International
The sessions cover the training needs of less experienced persons in
this field, but also of those having an advanced level of expertise in financial
management and control, drafting of applicant guidelines and management of
financing applications, as well as in the field of the audit for Structural and
Cohesion Funds.
During April - December 2009, 14 training sessions took place, with
294 participants from institutions managing Structural and Cohesion Funds.
The sessions were appreciated by the participants, with regard to the clear and
useful topics addressing the needs for personal professional development, the
quality of training material, the interactive presentations, as well as because the
training sessions were accompanied by real examples and the trainers proved a
high professional level.
In the next period, other 25 training sessions will be implemented,
covering the 4 components, and 10 international study visits will take place,
aiming at supporting the consolidation of the knowledge gathered within
Component 2, regarding the financial management of Structural Instruments.
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Project summary
The purpose of the project is
to strengthen the administrative
capacity of the institutions
responsible for the efficient
management of Structural
Instruments, through structured
training. In order to attain the
general objective of the project,
several specific requirements
were formulated. These specific
objectives build up four training
components as follows:
Component 1:
Basic training on Structural and Cohesion Funds principles, project cycle
management and the new public procurement legislation. Under this
component, 300 persons within the Managing Authorities and Intermediate
bodies will be trained.
Component 2:
Advanced training in financial management and control, for the staff
of the Managing Authorities and Intermediate Bodies involved in the
management of Structural Instruments. Under this component, 150
persons from the Managing Authorities and Intermediate Bodies will be
trained, and study visits will be organised in 2 EU Member States.
Component 3:
Training in drafting applicants’ guidelines and management of financing
applications for the staff of the Managing Authorities and Intermediate
Bodies, non-governmental organisations, as well as other public
administration institutions. Under this component, 300 persons from these
structures will be trained.
Component 4:
Training in the field of audit of Structural and Cohesion Funds for the
staff of the Managing Authorities and Intermediate Bodies, Audit Authority,
and Central Harmonisation Unit for Public Internal Audit of the Ministry of
Public Finance. Under this component, 100 persons from these structures
will be trained.
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Nr. 3 / 3.2010
A new training project – a challenge for performance
We have recently launched a new training project financed from
the Operational Programme Technical Assistance and implemented by a
consortium led by East West Consulting Belgium (EWC). The title of the project
- „Continuous training in the coordination and monitoring of Structural and
Cohesion Funds, as well as in the management of training activities in the field”
- certainly remembers us of a series of similar training projects that started in the
pre-accession period.
Project summary
The project aims at strengthening the administrative capacity of the
institutions responsible for the management of Structural Instruments, will be
implemented during a period of 18 months and is structured on 3 components:
Liliana Olivia Lucaciu
Project Leader
“..And still this project will be different ... more useful for
the participants, more enjoyable”- say we, the team of
trainers committed to implementing it. The team consists of
Romanian and foreign trainers with significant experience in
technical assistance projects addressed to the institutions
involved in the management of Structural Instruments. We
are happy to work again together with representatives of
ACIS – the contract beneficiary - but also with participants whom we already
met in previous projects. The excellent cooperation we have had so far and the
standards imposed by East West Consulting compel us to comply with a higher
level of expectations.
We are aware of the fact that the day-to-day professional tasks leave
little time for professional development, the large offer of training existing in
the market demands more exigency from our side and increased capacity for
managing our own performance, understanding of individual needs require
attention and care for each participant. All these are challenges that we must
face and that set up the premises for the success of this project.
Behind the project objectives and activities lies the word
PERFORMANCE. Each component has a content element related to
performance, and it is our task to integrate them in the context of each
employee’s activity. Thus, the first component includes technical elements
related to the performance of Operational Programmes, the second component
includes individual and group performance elements, and the third component
includes aspects related to performance improvement through interventions
such as training. Last but not least, our performance as a team guarantees the
success of the project, because it means satisfaction of the beneficiaries, of the
participants in the training provided within this project.”
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Component 1:
Training in monitoring, evaluation and management of Structural and
Cohesion Funds for the staff of the Managing Authorities and Intermediate
Bodies, Certifying and Paying Authority, Audit Authority, ACIS.
Training sessions are planned between September 2010 – May 2011 and
aim at training 250 persons on the system of indicators and 200 persons
in Operational Programmes performance monitoring and management
(monitoring of the ,,n+2” / n+3” rule).
Componenta 2:
Training for the staff of the Authority for Coordination of Structural
Instruments.
Training activities within this component address the development both
of technical skills in the field of Cohesion Policy, project management and
public procurement, and of skills related to the professional efficiency and
organisational integration (communication, performance management and
team work).
The training sessions shall be accompanied by study visits for
consolidating the knowledge and facilitating the transfer of on-the-job
learning.
Componenta 3:
Training in human resources management and train-the-trainer activities
for the members of the Working Group for coordination of training in the
field of Structural Instruments.
This component addresses the specific needs of the Training Working
Group, generated by their role of coordinators of training within the
institutions responsible for the management of Structural Instruments
and for ensuring the operation of a mechanism of efficient and unitary
management of the training activities across the whole system.
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III. OTHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES:
In parallel with this type of training for all employees within the
management structures for Structural Instruments, each Managing Authority has
carried out in 2009 specific training sessions for their own staff, financed from
the Technical Assistance Priority Axis of that operational programme or from
the pre-accession programmes; the trainings focused mostly on the procedures
applied.
Training programmes for the beneficiaries of Structural Instruments
were implemented in 2009 especially by the Managing Authority of the
Regional Operational Programme and by the Managing Authority of the Sectoral
Operational Programme Human Resources Development.
In 2009, the Managing Authority of the Regional Operational
Programme managed the training project “Training at national and regional level
for increasing the absorption capacity of the Operational Programmes that are
managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Housing”, financed from
the Phare 2006 programme.
The direct beneficiaries of this project were the Managing Authority,
Intermediate Bodies and institutions benefiting from financing under the
Regional Operational Programme.
222 employees from the Managing Authority and Intermediate
Bodies attended a total of 12 training sessions on “Public Procurement”,
“Project Preparation”, “Project Management”, “Training techniques and
communication skills”, “Communication and presentation skills”.
A total of 46 training modules were organised for the beneficiary
institutions of the Regional Operational Programme, attended by 1010
participants within the 8 development regions. In these sessions, topics
as “Project preparation”, “Public procurement for works contracts”,
“Management of works projects” were presented.
In 2010, the Managing Authority of the Regional Operational
Programme will implement a new training project, also addressed to the
Managing Authority, Intermediate Bodies and beneficiary institutions. This
project will aim at solving the practical problems encountered by the employees
of these institutions in implementing European funds and shall comprise a series
of about 65 training sessions that will be organised for the identified target
groups.
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Events financed from Technical Assistance funds –
Priority Axis 5 of the Sectoral Operational Programme
Increase of Economic Competitiveness
Intermediate Body for Research
Under the Sectoral Operational Programme Increase of Economic
Competitiveness, Priority Axis 5 – Technical Assistance, two Key Areas of
Intervention are included, as follows:
1. KAI 5.1 – Support for the management,
implementation, monitoring and control of SOP - IEC
Objective of this key area of intervention:
To provide technical and financial assistance for the coordination,
monitoring, evaluation and control processes, leading to an effective,
efficient and transparent implementation of the projects financed under
SOP IEC and to the efficient use of the European Regional Development
Fund and of the national resources.
2. KAI 5.2 – Support for communication, evaluation and IT
Objective of this key area of intervention:
To implement by the SOP IEC Managing Authority the obligations
deriving from Article 46 of (EC) Regulation No. 1083/2006 regarding
the promotion of programme actions and operations, and the provision
of information to the institutions interested in receiving support as well
as to the wide public, with regard to the opportunities provided by the
assistance and to its results.
Another objective is to consolidate the administrative capacity for the
SOP-IEC management, by providing a sufficient number of computers
and office equipment, including software applications dedicated for the
management, monitoring, control and evaluation, complementary with the
SMIS system.
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Management of the Technical Assistance Axis
Taking into consideration the specific character of this priority axis and
also the limited number of eligible beneficiaries (MA SOP IEC and the 4 IBs), no
call for applications is launched and consequently no project selection is carried
out. However, they are evaluated by a Technical Assistance Committee, in
terms of administrative compliance, eligibility and quality of the project fiche,
according to the mechanism for accessing Technical Assistance, approved by
the Monitoring Committee.
The projects must comply with the objectives of the priority axis / key
area of intervention / operation and with the Community and national
legislation in force.
The total financial allocation for this priority axis is about
90 million Euro:
Sources: 75% ERDF and 25% state budget
Indicative distribution between the two key areas of intervention:
- Support for the management, implementation, monitoring and control of SOP
IEC: 65%
- Support for communication, evaluation and IT: 35%
The indicative distribution between the operations of the second key area of
intervention is:
- Information and publicity: 19%
- Evaluation: 4%
- IT: 12%
The amount of 90 million Euro allocated to the Priority Axis 5 Technical
Assistance represents 2.64% of the total funds allocated to SOP IEC
The indicative percentage allocation between the Intermediate Bodies and the
Managing Authority is:
- Maximum 15% of annual funds for each of the four IBs (15%x4=60%)
- 40% for the MA.
By the end of 2009, 26 Project Fiches were submitted by the 4 IBs,
amounting to 42,091,561 lei, and 21 fiches were approved, amounting to
25,390,471 lei.
Under this Technical Assistance Axis, the National Authority for
Scientific Research, through the Intermediate Body for Research, is implementing
several Project Fiches to support the activities related to Priority Axis 2 of SOP
IEC.
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In order to reduce the deficiencies, the Priority Axis 2 “Competitiveness
through research, technological development and innovation” focuses on issues
aimed to contribute to the achievement of the following objectives:
increase of research capacity by developing the research and development
(R&D) capacity and attracting young people and highly qualified specialists,
both for RD institutions (universities and RD institutes), as well as for
companies that have research departments
intensify R&D activities in support of companies
encourage the technology transfer based on cooperation between R&D
institutions and companies
stimulate companies’ demand for innovation
support the set-up and development of innovative companies and develop
excellence / competitiveness poles
Contribution of SOP-IEC Priority Axis 2 to the attainment of the national
objective regarding the increase of R&D expenditures in companies to 1% of GDP is
achieved through stimulation of demand for research and its orientation towards the
private sector:
By direct financing of private innovative companies;
By supporting demand-driven partnership and not offer-driven partnership,
since in the case of the demand-driven partnership the direct application in the
productive sector of the results of the research is a key selection criteria;
By improving the research infrastructure for supporting the development of
clusters and poles of competitiveness and specialising young researchers and
technicians who will afterwards migrate to the business sector.
Promotion campaign for the Priority Axis 2
In 2009, the General-Directorate Intermediate Body for Research carried
out a technical assistance projects for “Supporting the communication activities for
ensuring the information and promotion on financing opportunities through Priority
Axis 2 of SOP-IEC”, consisting of:
Communication campaign I (January – June 2009):
In the first two quarters of 2009, taking into account the open calls for
applications under the operations 2.1.1 “R&D projects in partnership between
universities/ research institutes and companies” and 2.1.2 “R&D projects of
high scientific level with the participation of international specialists”, two
big regional conferences were organised, one in Iasi and a second one in Cluj,
financed through technical assistance contracts.
Impact: The conferences had a real success, in Iasi the conference was
attended by 700 participants from the region and from the country, and in Cluj
the conference was attended by 250 representatives of research institutes,
universities, companies, representatives of local authorities and media
representatives.
20
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
Results: Following the campaign carried out during this period,
supported from Technical Assistance funds, but also following the
events organised by the Regional Offices of the Intermediate Body
for Research, with the support of universities, 195 projects were
submitted by the close of the call for applications under operation
2.1.2, out of which 45 were selected (within the limits of the
allocated budget), and 90 projects were submitted under the operation
2.1.1, out of which 66 were selected.
Communication campaign II (July – December 2009):
In the second half of 2009, within the same Technical Assistance
Project, under the contract “Publicity Campaign consisting in events
for information and promotion of financing opportunities under SOP
IEC Priority Axis 2 – Competitiveness through research, technology
development and innovation”, a second publicity campaign was
implemented for the operations of KAI 3 “Access of companies to
research-development and innovation activities” of Priority Axis 2
and for informing the beneficiaries on how to fill in the financing
applications. Under that contract, 58 events were organised, of which
4 conferences in Bucharest, Iasi, Constanta and Brasov, as well as 54
seminars in all counties.
Impact: The conferences organised in the 4 cities were attended in
average by over 200 participants, among which were representatives
from the Regional Operational Programme, Cross-Border Cooperation
Directorate, representatives of local administration and of potential
beneficiaries. Within the seminars, topics on how to fill in applications
for financing were presented, and debates took place related to other
aspects of the project implementation process. For the conferences
and seminars, 5000 presentation folders and 120 CDs were provided,
containing information materials regarding the calls for applications
and the operations launched under Priority Axis 2. In addition, a series
of 1720 posters, 60 banners and 60 city-lights were produced and
financed, with the purpose to announce the events organised.
For optimum information of beneficiaries and of potential beneficiaries, the
Intermediate Body for Research will continue in 2010 the communication
activities under the same project.
21
Using Technical Assistance to
communicate ESF in Bulgaria
Ivan Krustev
Head of HRD OP Programming Unit
European Funds, International Programmes and Projects General Directorate
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy is the Managing Authority
for the Human Resources Development Operational Programme (HRD OP)
co-financed by the European Social Fund. The programme has a budget of
1,213,869,575 euro of which 48,6 million euro are designated for the Technical
Assistance Priority Axis.
The HRD OP Technical Assistance is a separate horizontal priority axis
targeted at supporting the effective management and implementation of HRD OP
according to the EU requirements. It has three main areas of intervention:
Support for HRD OP Management;
Assistance for Information and Promotion of HRD OP;
Strengthening the capacity of potential beneficiaries.
The main area of intervention aimed at Assistance for Information
and Promotion of HRD OP is directly linked to the implementation of the
Communication Plan of the operational programme.
The aim is to
develop information and promotion tools suitably adapted to the
needs of the HRD OP recipients and potential final beneficiaries through:
special seminars and training events for promotion of the Operational
Programme, dissemination of information regarding the opportunities for
application and the ways to receive ESF co-financing for a project, for
project management in conformity with the EU and national regulatory
framework, etc.
also, the area of intervention supports the material and technical
support of the OP publicity activities
22
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
All of the above-mentioned activities are envisaged in the
Communication Plan thus its implementation corresponds with the
implementation of respective part of the HRD OP technical assistance.
The actual implementation of the HRD OP communication and publicity
activities is performed on project basis where the Managing Authority has
applied in partnership with the three Intermediate Bodies with a single project
covering the whole programming period and all of the activities foreseen in
the Communication Plan. The amount of the grant received from the HRD OP
Technical Assistance Priority Axis is 8 million euro which equals the total budget
of the Communication Plan as approved by the Commission.
The main challenge in elaborating and implementing communication
and publicity activities for HRD OP and the ESF is to find the right approach
towards all potential applicants and the beneficiaries including social and
economic partners, employers, NGOs, municipalities, governmental bodies,
community centres, schools, out-of-school pedagogic institutions, higher
educational establishments, social service providers, social enterprises, etc., as
well as to reach out to the general public. Having regard to the above the project
implemented by the Managing Authority combines a wide range of activities
aiming to raise awareness among the people in Bulgaria about the possibilities
provided to them by the Community and the operational programme.
These activities include:
Promotion of ESF and opportunities provided by the operational
programme at every stage of its implementation via television, radio,
printed and electronic media
Communication with the media including press releases, press
conferences, interviews, topical articles
Information events devoted to the HRD OP (seminars, conferences,
round tables, etc)
Elaboration and further development of the HRD OP web-site
Design and distribution of printed information materials and souvenirs
Outdoor advertising
Establishment of HRD OP information centres throughout the six
planning regions in Bulgaria
As of now the project is still in its initial stage of implementation
but it is steadily gaining pace. The first steps were to design and develop the
new web-site of the HRD OP (www.ophrd.government.bg) and to produce
information materials and small-scale souvenirs including brochures, pens, USB
flash sticks, etc.
In communicating the HRD OP significant attention is given to the direct
contact with the people. In this regard a number of events were also organised
including public discussions and information days. The biggest event funded by
23
the technical assistance so far was the 2009 HRD OP Annual Event which was
held on 19th December 2009 in three central stations of the Sofia metropolitan
subway. The location was chosen because of the number of people who use the
subway – about 280 thousand daily. The concept of the event combined the use
of several communication channels.
It was pre-announced to the media and advance information was
published on the web-sites of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and
the HRD OP.
Special branded stands were produced and placed in the lobbies of the
subway stations.
A series of six short films were also produced. The films featured
participants in different projects funded by the HRD OP. They presented
individual stories of how ESF helps people to receive better qualification,
better social services and quality education. Throughout the event the films
were played on large screens placed on the stands in the subway.
About 15 thousand small souvenirs were produced and distributed to the
people in the subway.
Behind the stands throughout the events employees of the Managing
Authority and the Intermediate Bodies were answering questions and giving
advice and consultation to the citizens.
The peak of the event was a press briefing by the minister of labour
and social policy Mr. Totyu Mladenov held in one of the subway stations.
The briefing was attended by representatives of various media including
televisions, radio and the press. The briefing was used to announce the
start of the distribution of training vouchers funded by the HRD OP to
unemployed and employed persons who want to improve there qualification
and skills. The first vouchers were presented to the final beneficiaries by
the minister himself.
The feedback from the people who stopped by the HRD OP stands
during the event was mostly positive. All of them pointed out that it is a good
opportunity for the people to ask questions directly to the people responsible for
the management of the operational programme. Subsequently information about
the event was presented by several TV and radio stations as well as published in
the main newspapers and news agencies.
The experience from the activities implemented so far and the
feedback from the participants are of great help for planning the next steps in
communicating the HRD OP and ESF in Bulgaria. The communication and publicity
activities contribute for more and better projects, increased participation and public
awareness and efficient management of the operational programme.
24
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
Implementation status of
Structural Instruments in Romania
I. Context
Being in the first stage of using the Structural Instruments, Romania
has registered a slower progress in the first years, due to the difficulties related
to the implementation of a new and complex financing system, both at the level
of the structures managing the Operational Programmes, as well as at the level
of beneficiaries. Nevertheless, this stage was followed by a rapid growth of the
absorption levels while advancing in the implementation cycle. In this context, one
of the major priorities of the Romanian Government in 2009 was to trigger the use
of Structural Instruments through measures aiming at simplifying the process and
at improving the mechanism for the absorption of Community funds.
The institutional system created for the management of Operational
Programmes was stabilized and strengthened, which is also demonstrated by
the accreditation of management and control systems for all seven Operational
Programmes by the Audit Authority and by the European Commission. The
measures related to the simplification and improvement of the legislative and
institutional framework taken by the Government in 2009 have allowed for a
visible speeding up of the implementation process of Operational Programmes.
II. Status of Operational Programmes implementation
The status of project submission, approval, signing of financing contracts/
decisions and payments to beneficiaries for the seven Operational Programmes as
of 31 December 2009 is shown below.
PROJECTS SUBMITTED
Operational Programme
Regional OP
SOP Environment
No.
Total
amount
(million lei)
PROJECTS APPROVED
No.
Total
amount
(million lei)
FINANCING
CONTRACTS/DECISIONS
No.
Eligible
amount
(million lei)
PAYMENTS TO
BENEFICIARIES
Total
payments
(million lei)
3,110
31,037.27
715
7,259.73
578
5,190.81
790.05
141
16,600.55
64
5,797.01
42
4,517.20
777.71
41
15,739.71
20
4,820.38
17
880.71
134.46
SOP Increase of Economic Competitiveness
5,386
30,559.02
1,264
5,022.07
934
2,802.65
513.70
SOP Human Resources
Development
5,250
32,154.54
1,691
12,842.33
533
2,790.71
286.21
OP Administrative
Capacity Development
931
896.25
111
217.45
101
177.07
6.13
SOP Transport
OP Technical Assistance
TOTAL
31
215.91
23
160.90
19
118.35
3.02
14,890
127,203.25
3,888
36,119.87
2,224
16,477.51
2,511.29
25
Submitted projects
The total number of applications for financing under the 7 Operational
Programmes was 14,890, amounting to 127.20 billion lei, which is
approximately 29.73 billion euro.
The EU contribution to the projects submitted exceeded with 3% the whole
EU allocation for Structural Instruments for the period 2007-2013.
Approved projects
29029
The selection and approval of projects was extremely complex and has
involved sustained efforts of the Managing Authorities and Intermediate
Bodies, in order to approve until 31 December 2009 – out of the 14,889
submitted projects – 3,888 projects amounting to 36.12 billion lei,
representing approximately 8.45 billion euro, of which 5.71 billion euro EU
contribution – 30% of the total 2007-2013 EU allocation.
Transport
Allocated
value
Regional
Human
Resources
Competitiveness
Received
projects value
Administrative
Capacity
241
146
107
3125
4260
4874
5029
10691
5512
Environment
381
738
179
Mil. Lei
3821
5000
5595
8603
1614
15000
10000
11330
20000
2478
25000
15123
20444
30000
Technical
Assistance
Approved
projects value
Status, at 31 December 2009, of project submission and approval
compared to 2007-2009 allocation
24%
30%
Regional water
Local authorities
As concerns the number of major projects approved companies
by the European
and IDA
Commission, Romania ranks the first amongst EU Member States. There has to be
stated that the 3,888 approved projects also include 19 major projects – with an
individual value above 50 million Euro – with a total value of 1.62 billion euro:
In the field of environment: 13 major projects
In the field of transport: 5 major projects
16%
12%
In the field of energy: 1 major project
Ministries and
central public
institutions
26
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
140000
Companies
13%
Other
5%
NGOs
Rejected projects
29029
Out of the 14,890 projects received until 31 December 2009, 6,528
projects amounting to a total value of 29.85 billion lei were rejected.
Most of the projects were rejected under SOP Human Resources Development, i.e. 3,329 projects with a total value of 19.04 billion
lei, and under SOP Increase of Economic Competitiveness, i.e. 2,069
projects rejected, amounting to 4.49 billion lei. The main reasons for
rejecting the projects during the selection process were the following:
non-compliance with the administrative requirements and non-compliance
with the eligibility criteria. This involves increased efforts of the Managing
Authorities and Intermediate Bodies for preparing the beneficiaries in order
to improve the quality of the projects submitted.
30000
241
146
107
24%
30%
Regional water
companies
Local authorities
and IDA
16%
Ministries and
central public
institutions
381
738
179
15123
2478
3125
11330
4260
4874
10691
5029
5000
Mil. Lei
3821
10000
5512
15000
Substantial progress in implementation has been registered also as
concerns the number of financing decisions and contracts signed with the
beneficiaries.
Until 31 December 2009, out of the 3,887 approved projects, 2,224
contracts were signed, amounting to an eligible value of about 16.50
billion lei, representing 3.86 billion euro, of which the EU contribution
amounts to around 3 billion euro. This contribution represents about 55%
of the EU allocation for the period 2007-2009.
The breakdown of signed contracts/decisions by categories of
Transport EnvironRegional from
Human
Competitiveness
Administrative
Technical
beneficiaries,
as it results
the table
below, shows
that about 70%
ment
Capacity
Assistance
Resources
of the value of contracts signed is assigned to the public sector and
the difference is represented by contracts/decisions signed with private
Approved
Allocated
Received
beneficiaries
(companies-12%,
NGOs-5%
and others
projects
value – 13%).
value
projects value
5595
8603
1614
20000
20444
Financing contracts/decisions signed with the beneficiaries:
25000
12%
Companies
13%
Other
5%
NGOs
140000
120000
100000
80000
Types of project beneficiaries
27
value
projects value
projects value
24%
30%
Regional water
companies
Local authorities
and IDA
Payments to beneficiaries
The payments of funds to beneficiaries, representing pre-financing and
reimbursements made by the Managing Authorities until 31 December 2009
amount to 593 million euro, i.e. 10.3% of the allocation for the period
2007–2009. This amount should be summed up with about 5 million euro,
representing the amount of VAT reimbursements made by the Managing
Authorities related to eligible expenditures, until 31 December 2009.
In this context, we must mention that the amounts paid by the Managing
Ministries and
Authorities until 31 December 2009 represent about 94% of the volume of
central public
Companies
funds institutions
requested by beneficiaries, which confirms the fact that the speed
of processing the pre-financing/payment claims is very good. However,
important efforts shall be further needed, in order to keep up this speed,
also considering the significant increase expected for 2010 with regard to
NGOs
Other
the amounts that will be requested
for payment.
16%
12%
13%
5%
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
Mil. Lei
Q II
2008
Q III
2008
Payments
Q IV
2008
Eligible value of
contracted projects
QI
2009
Q II
2009
Value of
approved projects
Q III
2009
Q IV
2009
Value of
submitted projects
Overall progress in implementation at NSRF level
Q1, 2008 – Q4, 2009
III. CONCLUSIONS
Data presented in this article reflect visible speeding up of the implementation
process during 2009, for all above-mentioned chapters, despite the fact that the
performance varies from one programme to another.
The most important factors that influenced such a progress are the measures
related to the simplification of accessing and implementation procedures that were
taken during this year, as well the progressive experience gained by the Managing
Authorities and Intermediate Bodies. The progress registered in 2009 creates
favourable premises for increasing the absorption in 2010
28
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
National Strategic Report 2009
on the Implementation of
Structural and Cohesion Funds
Context
According to the provisions of Council Regulation No. 1083/2006, Art.
29, by the end of 2009 and 2012, the Member States shall submit to the European
Commission (EC) a concise report containing information on the implementation
status for the 2007-2013 Operational Programmes co-financed with the support of
Structural Instruments.
The preparation of the 2009 National Strategic Report was coordinated by
the Ministry of Public Finance, through the Authority for Coordination of Structural
Instruments (ACIS), based on the methodology developed by the EC and it was
adapted to the Romanian institutional and strategic framework.
The NSR was jointly drafted by the structures involved in the management
of Structural Instruments, as well as by other specialised institutions. The European
Commission was informally consulted on a regular basis during NSR preparation and
the received recommendations were integrated into the document.
The final version of the 2009 NSR was officially sent to the EC through the
SFC 2007 IT system on February 5th, 2010.
The document was posted by ACIS on the website www.fonduri-ue.ro and
published by the European Commission on the EU website www.europa.eu.
NSR Structure
1.Socio-economic situation and trends: the chapter presents the relevant socioeconomic analysis for the time when the programming documents were drafted, as
well as its impact on the approved strategy, having as reference the fields analysed
in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013.
2.Achievements and future prospects in relation to the implementation of the
Operational Programmes: NSR presents shortly the implementation status of the
Operational Programmes1 and their contribution in achieving the priorities defined
under NSRF 2007-2013, in implementing the objectives of the Cohesion Policy as
defined in the Community Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion and of the objectives
defined in the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Employment (2005-2008).
3.Difficulties and challenges in implementing the priorities and the approved
strategy: the main difficulties encountered by the authorities involved in Structural
According to the EC Methodology, the status of implementation has as reference date September 30th,
2009, for all Member States.
1
29
Instruments management and by the beneficiaries of these funds are presented, as
well as solutions identified and applied by the Romanian authorities for overcoming
these difficulties and speeding up the absorption, as a reply to the measures
proposed at EU level under the European Plan for Economic Recovery.
4.European Territorial Cooperation in Romania: the chapter presents the
implementation status of the Operational Programmes under the „European
Territorial Cooperation” Objective.
5.Good practice examples: according to the EC requirement, the Strategic Report
describes good practice examples selected from amongst the projects approved
or under implementation, or related to policies implemented with Structural
Instruments support, financed under SOP Environment, SOP Competitiveness, SOP
Human Resources and ROP. From these examples the „Policy on growth poles” is
presented at the end of this article.
6.Conclusions: Starting from the forecasts on the socio-economic development, in
the end, the document indicates the conclusions of the Report on the effective and
forecasted contribution of the Cohesion Policy to the socio-economic development
of Romania and analyses the relevance and coherence of the strategy defined
through NSRF and the Operational Programmes.
Main conclusions of the 2009 NSR
Although Romania was one of the first Member States whose Operational
Programmes were approved by the EC, the actual start of their implementation
was not easy. Given the difficulties related to the implementation of a new and
complex financing system both at the level of structures managing the Operational
Programmes, as well as at beneficiaries’ level, Romania registered a slower
evolution in the first years, followed though by a rapid growth of the absorption
level, along with the progress registered during the implementation cycle.
The annual progress in the implementation of Operational Programmes
confirms the following aspects:
2007 was the year of negotiations with the European Commission for
the approval of NSRF and of the Operational Programmes. The first calls for
applications were launched.
2008 was the year of massive launch of calls for applications. By the
end of the year, approximately 90% of the operations foreseen within the
programmes had been open to the potential beneficiaries.
2009 may be characterised as „the year of contracting”, taking into
account the rapid increase of the number of financing decisions and
contracts signed with the beneficiaries. The second half of the year
registered a visible progress with regard to the actual implementation of
projects and to the payments made.
30
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
The progress of last year creates favourable premises for increasing the
absorption in 2010.
The measures taken in 2009 with regard to the simplification of the
mechanisms for accessing the funds, as well as those foreseen for 2010,
the experience gained by the structures responsible for the management of
Operational Programmes, the increased interest of the applicants, the increased
experience of the beneficiaries in implementing projects, as well as the economic
recovery expected for the second half of 2010 are factors that will favourably
influence the speeding up of the absorption.
From the perspective of the current economic situation and of the speed
in accessing Structural Instruments, until now no major elements were identified
that should impose the change of the strategy approved at the level of NSRF
and Operational Programmes, and the global and specific objectives related to
the filling of gaps in development, as compared to the other Member States and
European regions, are still relevant.
Forecasts for 2010:
In 2010 some adjustments are expected, that might lead to changes
in the approved Operational Programmes, but these are still under thorough
analysis.
During 2010, the need to revise some targets at level of NSRF and
Operational Programmes will be also analysed from the perspective of the impact
registered during the previous years by the economic and financial crisis and by
other socio-economic factors, but also from the perspective of the projection of
the respective indicators until the end of the programming period. Last but not
least, the conclusions and recommendations formulated within the first interim
programme evaluations will be taken into account.
In the context of maintaining the relevance of the overall strategy
on implementing the Structural and Cohesion Funds in Romania, the utmost
priority for the Romanian Government is to improve the system of accession
and implementation, in order to speed up the absorption of funds, for ensuring
a rapid infusion of capital into the economy, in order to diminish the effects of
the economic crisis, to facilitate some investments that are essential at national,
regional and local level, as well as to avoid automatic decommitment of the
amounts allocated to Romania.
31
Example of good practice “Policy on growth poles”
Country:
Region:
Project:
Operational
Programme:
Priority Axis:
Key area of
Intervention:
Duration:
Objective:
Funding:
Contact:
32
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
Romania
All regions
Policy on growth poles
All Operational programmes
Relevant Priority Axes from different operational
programmes
Relevant key areas of intervention from different
operational programmes
2007-2013
Convergence
European Territorial Cooperation
The support from the community funds is
ensured through all the Operational Programmes financed
form the Structural and Cohesion Funds (including those
under the European Territorial Cooperation Objective), as
well through the Rural Development National Programme,
financed from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development. The Managing Authorities for Operational
Programmes have established concrete measures in
order to ensure the financing of projects included in
the integrated development plan for growth poles,
in line with the specific implementation mechanism
of each programmes. In the period 2007-2013, the
projects foreseen in the integrated development plan
for the Growth Poles are financed from the national
public funds (state budget, local budget), community
funds and other sources (e.g. loans from international
financial institutions). As example, in the case of ROP,
the financial assistance for the growth poles is ensured,
mainly, through the priority axis 1 „Support to sustainable
development of the cities – urban growth poles”. In this
regard, it was established that up to 50% of the funds
allocated to this priority axis for each regions, except
for Bucharest-Ilfov, to be dedicated to financing the
projects included in the Integrated Development Plans.
Moreover, the project for the growth poles can benefit of
financing as well under the other priority axis of ROP, on
a competition base.
Name: Gabriel Friptu, Director General, MA ROP
Organisation: Ministry of Regional Development and
Tourism
Address: Bucharest, 17 Apolodor (North side) Str., S5
E-mail: [email protected]
Operation / Policy Overall objective: The support of national growth poles
description: in order to ensure the contribution to balanced and
polycentric territorial development of country, increase of
regions competitiveness, to stop the widening of internal
disparities and support of surrounding areas (including rural
ones), trough the concentration of a strategic investment
mix in the influenced areas of designed growth poles.
Description of activities: The objectives of the growth
poles will be achieved through the rehabilitation of urban
infrastructure, including urban public transport; sustainable
development of the business environment; rehabilitation
of social infrastructure, including social housing and
improvement of social services.
Expected results: In order to contribute to the solving
of a complex problems and to ensure a polycentric and
balanced territorial development of the country, there
will be financed, based on integrated development plans,
growth poles - made of large urban centres (7 large cities
were designated as such through GD 998/2008 for the
designation of the national growth poles, with further
completions and modifications) and their influence areas.
These poles will consolidate on medium term the role as
regional and national development engines.
Strategic context: Through the NSRF, Romania established as
strategic development direction for the period 2007-2013,
the support of growth poles, in such a manner that the
economic activities that will be concentrated in these
growth poles will encourage and speed up the development
of regional economies and of the national economy, with
the latter becoming more able to cope with the competition
imposed by the globalization, and with the challenges
caused by the deep financial crisis.
It is well known that the development level of a
region is direct influenced by the development of the large
urban centres. Through their multiple superior functions
and as beneficiaries of the economic results of the
numerous companies located in these areas, large cities act
as real „engines” of the regional economic growth.
In Romania, the development of the growth poles around
large cities is necessary to counterbalance the hypertrophic
development of the Capital, to reduce the socio-economic
pressures put on Bucharest. The polycentric and balanced
spatial development can contribute to the reduction of
R
T
P
T
A
o
D
p
2
to
s
O
d
F
A
a
p
d
m
p
P
s
s
îm
p
d
o
s
a
B
P
a
c
P
N
O
A
s
E
33
Strategic context:
(cont’d)
the concentration level of population and labour force
in the Capital and to the creation of a spatial structure
which can favour and encourage a balanced economic
development of the territory. Moreover, the creation of
attractive work conditions and living standards in other
regions/cities of the country will contribute to reducing
the migration towards the Capital.
The urban geographic context of Romania of a
balanced polycentric structure of the large cities, spread
more or less uniform throughout regions favours the
implementation of a strategy based on growth poles.
All development regions have in their localities
network at least one city over 200,000 inhabitants,
which can stimulate and induce development towards the
surrounding areas, mainly rural, but also rural.
For the designation of growth poles, there
have been taken into consideration a set of minimum
conditions considered to be essential for a city capacity
in order to become the nucleus of a growth pole, which
translate into the following selection criteria for the cities:
economic development potential (degree of functional
specialisation);
research and innovation capacity (universities,
research institutions, excellence centres, scientific
nucleus of a high quality research, which have
the capacity to keep the pace with scientific and
technologic progress);
adequate business infrastructure (industrial
parks, incubators, scientific and technological parks
ensuring the trading of research results);
entrepreneurship environment and culture based
on diversity of business relationships and social
connexions;
accessibility (road, railway, airway, naval
transport);
public services offered (health infrastructure,
cultural infrastructure);
34
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
administrative association capacity.
Based on these criteria, seven large cities were
designated, one in each Development Region (except for
the Bucharest-Ilfov Region of the capital city) to be the
nucleus of the growth poles: Iaşi (North -East), Constanţa
(South -East), Ploieşti (South Muntenia), Craiova (SouthWest), Timişoara (West), Cluj-Napoca (North-West),
Braşov (Center).
Operation / From the institutional point of view, the Ministry
policy design/ of Regional Development and Tourism (MRDT) was
implementation: designated as the national authority in charge with the
preparation and implementation of the Growth Poles policy.
The coordination of this policy is ensured by the Ministry
of Public Finance (MPF) together with MRDT. At the level
of each Growth Pole, an Inter-Community Development
Association was established, reuniting the local public
administration authorities from the area related to that
pole and having the role to initiate and prepare the pole’s
Integrated Development Plan (the instrument which defines
and correlates the priorities and action directions on short
and medium term for the development of the Growth Pole),
as well as to ensure its implementation through subsequent
projects.
Also, for each Growth Pole, through contest,
a pole coordinator was selected, who will support the
coordination of the preparation and implementation of
the pole’s Integrated Development Plan and its projects.
The pole coordinators are hired within the Regional
Development Agencies and their activity is financed under
the OP Technical Assistance.
As mentioned, for the Regional Operational
Programme, the financial assistance for the Growth
Poles will be provided, mainly, under the Priority Axis 1
– “Support to sustainable development of cities - urban
growth poles”, up to 50% of the funds allocated for this
axis financing the projects included in the Integrated
Development Plans. It has to be underlined the fact that
the individual projects, components of the Integrated
Development Plan within this priority axis are financed
only after obtaining the endorsement of the Management
Committee for the Coordination of the Structural
Instruments1 on the integrated plan and the related list of
projects. Also, the projects related to the Growth Poles
may benefit, on a competitive basis, from financing under
the other priority axes of ROP.
Another example is the SOP IEC, where the
selection mechanism includes adding an additional scoring
for the projects comprised on the list of projects, part of
the Growth Poles Integrated Development Plans, taking
into consideration their strategic dimension.
The approach of the development by using the
Growth Poles is a novelty for the Romanian national and
Inter-institutional coordination structure composed of representatives at management level from the
Authority for the Coordination of Structural Instruments, Certifying and Paying Authority and Managing
Authorities
1
35
Operation /
policy design/
implementation:
(cont’d)
36
Nr. 3 / 3.2010
regional development policies. The biggest difficulty
consisted of creating the implementation mechanisms for
this policy, which will combine the requirements of the
national-regional policy with the ones of the local policy,
complying in the same time with the European principle
of subsidiarity. This difficulty delayed the launching of the
ROP Priority Axis 1 and the preparation of the integrated
development plans. However, this has not affected the
interest of the local authorities, observing a real concern
of these authorities in the preparation of the integrated
development plans and the subsequent projects. Thus,
until December 2009, all seven integrated development
plans for the Growth Poles and the related projects lists
were finalised and submitted for analysis and validation
to the central authorities. Out of these seven plans, four
(Iasi, Craiova, Brasov and Constanta) have already been
endorsed, with several adjustments, by the Management
Committee for the Coordination of Structural Instruments.
The preparation and implementation of this policy
of supporting the Growth Poles is a long term process,
but is already a model of concerted strategic action
which opens new perspectives for the socio-economic
development at national, regional and local level. The
Growth Poles network consolidated with the support of
the Structural and Cohesion Funds will become the frame
on which the Romanian major development corridors will
be built and which will spread out development at the
level of the respective regions. Moreover, a network of
strong and competitive poles will represent a solid internal
instrument for counteracting the negative effects of the
economic and financial crisis at European or world level.
EC Message:
Challenging the 4th Year
of Implementation
In 2009 Romania has registered a progress in the accomplishment
of some critical steps related to the execution and management of Cohesion
programmes. Concretely, this has resulted in the completion of the compliance
assessment exercise, representing the final step to start absorption of interim
payments from EC. A total of 19 major projects (out of which 11 approved in
2009) have been approved up to now, covering the domains of almost all the
sectors foreseen in the Operational Programmes: water supply, wastewater
treatment, waste management, highways and national roads, port infrastructure
and energy sector. 9 major projects are presently under instruction at the
Commission services, and more than 40 are expected in the forthcoming
months, mainly for the environment sector, followed by transport and energy.
The EC appreciates the achievements made, and encourages to look forward.
The EC disbursements related to the 2007-2013 programming period,
up to now, amounts to 1.5 billion Euro, representing about 10% of the total
allocated amount for the whole programming period. The EC support in the
context of the financial crisis has been implemented through the application
of the European Recovery Plan. EC has also strengthened the importance of
building administrative capacity supporting incentives to human resources
involved in the management of Structural Instruments.
The fourth year of the programming period will issue new challenges
both for us and for your commitment and work. The continuous improvement
and acceleration of implementation needs to be undertaken in the country
in parallel with some major issues, like the reform of administration, the
stabilisation of the legislative framework, the rigorous implementation of the
action plans. The process of evaluation now deployed will act as a tool to
reinforce the strategic vision of the policies and programmes. The preparation
of a macroeconomic model and the start of the simulation for the indicators
and impact of the programmes constitute important goals. Romania will start
gathering the elements to express its point of view in the European debate on
the future of the Cohesion Policy.
2010 will be a difficult year with high risks for the implementation.
The impact of the economic and financial crisis will continue to create
additional difficulties to those already known: credit crunch, budget constraints,
suboptimal allocation of human resources to implementing structures.
37
In this context the Technical Assistance will perceive and drive its
priorities. The continuous commitment is focused on building long-term tools to
facilitate access to Structural Instruments. The overall actions are aimed at filling
the urgent priorities and at the same time constructing a long lasting capacity
building.
The access to funds is achieved through
the strengthening and maintenance of the existing expertise
the support to strategic projects
the substantial contribution to enhance the use of a monitoring
system that is aimed at guaranteeing transparency and simplification of
procedures in Romania
correct application of public procurement
awareness against fraud and corruption.
The beneficiaries should now not wait anymore to play an active and
major role in the circuit: they benefit and apply for accompanying services
and are better involved to understand the chain of procedures. The improved
communication between the beneficiaries and the implementing bodies will have
to result in a mitigation of any potential detrimental impact on their willingness
to apply for EC funds.
Anastassios Bougas
Head of Unit
DG Regio
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Nr. 3 / 3.2010
Contact
Authority for Coordination of Structural Instruments
Ministry of Public Finance, www.fonduri-ue.ro
General Director: Ştefan CIOBANU, tel: 021 302.52.00, fax: 021.302.52.64
Public Relations: Ioana PÂSLARU, tel: 021.302.53.13, fax: 021.302.52.64,
e-mail: [email protected]
Managing Authority for
Operational Programme Technical Assistance
Ministry of Public Finance, www.poat.ro, www.mfinante.ro
Director: Livia CHIRIŢĂ, tel: 021.302.52.37, fax: 021.302.52.64
Public Relations: Cristina DINU, tel: 021.302.52.24, fax: 021.302.52.64,
e-mail: [email protected] Managing Authority for Operational Programme Administrative
Capacity Development
Ministry of Administration and Interior
http://www.fonduriadministratie.ro/
Director: Ruxandra POPOVICI, tel: 021.310. 40 60, fax: 021.310.35.61
Public Relations: Marius GUBERNAT, tel: 021.314 3929, fax: 021.310.35.61,
e-mail: [email protected]
Managing Authority for
Sectoral Operational Programme Transport
Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, www.mt.ro General Director: Şerban Alexandru CUCU, tel: 021. 319.61.47
Public Relations: Irina PRIVANTU, tel: 021.319.62.91, fax: 021.319.61.78,
e-mail: [email protected] Managing Authority for
Sectoral Operational Programme Environment
Ministry of Environment and Forests, www.mmediu.ro General Director: Doina FRANŢ, tel: 021.335.35.65, fax: 021.316.07.78
Public Relations: Mălina FRĂTEANU, tel: 021.316.6157, fax: 021.316.07.78,
e-mail: [email protected] Managing Authority for
Sectoral Operational Programme Increase of Economic
Competitiveness
Ministry of Economy Trade and Business Environment, www.minind.ro General Director: Cătălina MELIŢĂ, tel: 021.202.52.72, fax: 021.202.52.75
Public Relations: Valentin BARBU, tel: 021.202.5258, fax: 021.202.52.75,
e-mail: [email protected] 39
Managing Authority for Sectoral Operational Programme
Human Resources Development
Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection, www.fseromania.ro General Directors: Cristina IOVA, tel: 021.315.02.09, fax: 021.315.02.06
Public Relation: Mihaela HANCIA, tel: 021.315.02.08, fax: 021.315.02.06,
e-mail: [email protected] Managing Authority for Regional Operational Programme
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, www.inforegio.ro General Director: Gabriel FRIPTU, tel: 037 211 14 12, fax: 037 211 16 30
Public Relations: Andreea MIHĂLCIOIU, tel: 037 211 14 09,
e-mail: [email protected] Joint Managing Authority of the Joint Operational Programme
Romania-Ukraine-Republic of Moldova 2007-2013
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, www.ro-ua-md.net, www.mdrt.ro
Programme Manager: Daniela POPESCU, tel/fax 0372 111 456
Public Relations: Claudia CRISTEA tel: 0372 111 332, fax: 0372 111 323,
e-mail: [email protected]
Black Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme 2007-2013
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, www.blacksea-cbc.net, www.mdrt.ro
Apolodor Street, No17, 5th District, Bucharest
Programme Manager: Sorina CANEA tel: 0372.111.309, fax: 0372.111.456
Public Relations: Ana GHEORGHE tel: 0 372-111.323, fax: 0372.111.456
e-mail: [email protected]
Managing Authority of the Romania-Bulgaria
Join Programme 2007-2013
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, www.cbcromaniabulgaria.eu,
www.mdrt.ro
Apolodor Street, No17, 5th District, Bucharest
Head of Unit: Ioana MANŢOG tel: 0372.111.369, fax: 0372.111.456, e-mail: [email protected]
Managing Authority of the Romania-Serbia
IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, www.romania-serbia.net, www.mdrt.ro
Head of Unit: Oana CRISTEA tel: 0372.111.309 fax: 0372.111.456
Public Relations: Oana SAVONEA tel: 0372.111.366, fax: 0372.111.456,
e-mail: [email protected]
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