The EU is one of the world’s most prosperous economic areas …

1. National Strategic Reference Framework and Operational Programmes - project pipelinesGenerating best projects for successful programmesTomas NejdlCoordination Unit Directorate General for Regional PolicyEuropean Commission

2. The EU is one of the world’s most prosperous economic areas … … but huge disparities exist among its 271 EU regions – weakens the EU’s dynamism Hence the political goal of reducing the gaps in development and in order to promote overall harmonious development, “the Union shall develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion. In particular, the Union shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions.” Need for cohesion policy

3. Key policy principles (1) Concentration of financial resources on least prosperous regions and Member States Multi-annual programming ensures stability and continuity (not fiscal transfers, but a support for 7-year integrated investment programmes) and strategic approach (concentration of the effort on competitiveness) Partnership: the involvement of regional, urban, local and other authorities, economic and social partners and civil society, environmental and equal opportunities organisations (better targeting of interventions and stimulation of development projects)

4. Key policy principles (2) Complementarity, consistency and compliance: intervention are complementing national, regional, local and Union’s priorities, are coherent with strategic framework Subsidiarity and proportionality: interventions respect the institutional system of the Member State and management is proportional to Community contribution in the areas of control, evaluation and monitoring Co-financing & additionality (Structural Funds may not substitute national public expenditure): ownership and leverage Shared management: Member States and Commission share responsibility

5. Regulatory framework The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Inter-institutional agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (17/5/2006) Financial Regulation rules applicable to the establishment and implementation of the general budget of the EU shared management – “MS shall take all the legislative, regulatory and administrative or other measures necessary for protecting the Communities' financial interests“ “complementary provisions included in relevant sector-specific regulations”

6. Regulatory framework Cohesion policy “General Regulation” on the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund n°1083/2006 Regulations for each Fund : “ERDF Regulation” n°1080/2006 “ESF Regulation” n°1081/2006 “Cohesion Fund Regulation” n° 1084/2006 EGTC Regulation n° 1082/2006 Commission Implementing regulation n° 1828/2006 modifications in the course of programming period Guidance notes Working papers Manuals and procedures Aide-Memoire

7. Cohesion, rural development and fisheries policies European Council Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Employment European Commission Council CAP/rural development Fisheries policy Cohesion policy Strategic Guidelines for sustainable development of the fisheries sectors and coastal areas dependent from fisheries Community Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion EU Strategic Guidelines for rural development Member States National Reform Programmes National Strategic Reference Framework National Rural Development Strategies National Strategic Plans

8. Community's strategic guidelines on cohesion proposed by the Commission, adopted by the Council, assent by the European Parliament(6/10/2006) 1 National strategic reference framework proposed by the Member State in applying the partnership principle; reflects on the Union‘s orientations, lays down a national strategy and its programming; finally decided by the Commission 2 Operational programme one programme by fund and Member State or region, description of priorities, management and financial sources; proposed by Member State or region; finally decided by the Commission 3 Programme management and project selection by Member States and regions; “shared management“ 4 Strategic guidelines, programmingand management

9. National Strategic Reference Framework • one of the key parts of the strategic approach, strengthens the links between cohesion policy and the Lisbon agenda • it is not a management tool, relates to political priorities and includes key elements concerning implementation • establish a clear and coherent policy response to help achieve the Community objectives: consistent with National Reform Programmes and responds to the CSG • applies to the Convergence Objective and to the Regional competitiveness and employment Objective. It may also, if a Member State so wishes, apply to the European Territorial Cooperation Objective

10. National Strategic Reference Framework - preparation • prepared by the MS after consulting the relevant partners and in dialogue with the Commission • the partners and other stakeholders that have been involved in its preparation should be mentioned and stated what steps have been taken to facilitate wide involvement, in particular: • how the involvement of all stakeholders complies with the principles of transparency; the process of identification of the relevant partners should be made public and be clear, • what the responsibilities of stakeholders and the scope of their participation are, • how the work is organised so as to make for the widest possible participation of all stakeholders. This would mean that appropriate communication channels are established between all parties involved in the preparation of the NSRF, that the relevant documents are submitted sufficiently in advance, and that non-technical language is used, etc.

11. National Strategic Reference Framework - analysis • consistent with the National Reform Programmes • highlight socio-economic development disparities • SWOT analysis for identifying the strategic choices • analysis of the specific territorial needs • ex-ante evaluation may be used, including an assessment of assistance provided previously • statistics, indicators and other data established at Community level

12. National Strategic Reference Framework – strategy (1) • identifies strategic priorities & objectives to be implemented by the OPs • recommendation to include: • overall objective(s) of the strategy, • identification, justification and description of a limited number of thematic and territorial priorities (that would allow the overall objectives of the NSRF to be achieved and would form the basis for OPs), • territorial priorities (their relevance and consistency justified on the basis of the territorial needs identified in the analysis), including actions relating to urban areas, the diversification of rural economies and areas dependent on fisheries, • quantified targets for socio-economic development, against which OP targets are set, • the response given to the findings of the ex-ante evaluation of the NSRF, if carried out.

13. National Strategic Reference Framework – strategy (2) • consistency between cohesion policy and the relevant Community, national, sectoral and regional policies, in particular the National Rural Development Strategy and the National Strategic Plan for Fisheries • implementation of strategic priorities in the framework of sustainable development and environmental protection and enhancement • equality between men and women and integration of the gender perspective, and compliance with the principle of non-discrimination, with special regard to accessibility for people with disabilities and to the full economic and social participation of ethnic minorities

14. National Strategic Reference Framework • a description of how the expenditure for the Regional competitiveness and employment Objective will contribute to the European Union priorities of promoting competitiveness and creating jobs, including meeting the objectives of the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (“Lisbon earmarking”): • 75% of expenditure for the Regional competitiveness and employment Objective, taken as an average over the entire programming period, • categories are defined in Annex IV (the Commission and each MS may decide to complement in an appropriate manner the list of categories). • the list of operational programmes based on strategic choices • indicative annual allocation from each fund by programme • may also contain, where relevant: • the procedure for coordination between Community cohesion policy and the relevant national, sectoral and regional policies of the Member State, • information on the mechanisms for ensuring coordination between OPs themselves and between these and the EAFRD, the EFF (guiding principles for the demarcation line) and the interventions of the EIB and of other existing financial instruments.

15. Adaptability of workers and firms Social inclusion Capacity building Technical assistance What do we spend the money on? European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund (€271 billion) European Social Fund (€76 billion) Employment Environment Transport Human capital Research/Innovation Information society Tourism Social infrastructure Culture Energy Institutional capacity

16. NSRF – negotiation and adoption procedure • NSRF is prepared by the Member State in dialogue with the Commission (before formal submission dialogue starts on an informal basis) • NSRF is transmitted to the Commission which can make observations within 3 months • Admissibility check (check whether NSRF contains all the information required under the provisions of the regulations) • Quality control (whether it follows a logical line of reasoning based on an analysis of the situation, leading to strategic choices and then to OP with appropriate financial allocations) • the Commission establishes a draft Position Paper • the Commission takes note of the NSRF and the priority themes chosen by the Member State and makes decision on the list of OPs and indicative allocation by Fund • scheme-NSRF.doc

17. Operational programme • … “document submitted by a Member State and adopted by the Commission setting out a development strategy with a coherent set of priorities to be carried out with the aid of a Fund” • each operational programme shall be drawn up by the Member State or any authority designated by the Member State, in cooperation with the partners • operational programmes submitted under the Regional competitiveness and employment Objective shall be drawn up at NUTS level 1 or NUTS level 2, in accordance with the institutional system specific to the Member State • operational programmes shall receive financing from only one Fund, however cross-financing between ESF- and ERDF- type actions (10 % of Community funding for each priority axis*)

18. Operational programme – content (1) Analysis of the area or sector in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the strategy chosen to respond • basis of the programme’s strategy, • constitute a diagnosis of the situation, identify the main challenges and obstacles and highlight any strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, • take account of the objectives of EU cohesion and employment policy and provide a sound analysis of the particular issues in the national/regional/territorial/sectoral context. Justification of the strategy and priorities chosen • build on the analysis, and consistent with the strategy set out in the CSG, NSRF and National Reform Programme, • describe the global and specific objectives of the operational programme, with quantifiable indicators, and identify the main priorities for action, • justification for the thematic, geographical and financial concentration, • a summary description of the main findings of the ex-ante evaluation on the planned impacts of the OP strategic and specific objectives and priorities.

19. Operational programme – content (2) Information on the priority axes and their specific targets (and indicators) • outline how the objectives set out in the strategy are to be achieved • objectives of the priority axis, but also provides sufficient information on the intervention areas and main activities to be implemented under the priority axes (target groups/sectors/areas) • quantified targets and indicators • information on complementarity (criteria of demarcation) with the EAFRD and the EFF • elements helping to define the number of priority axes: • each programme’s specific objectives corresponds to an OP priority axis, • one priority axis should correspond to one priority as identified by the corresponding Fund-specific Regulation, • containing operations which are related and have specific measurable goals, • financial management at the level of the priority axis.

20. Operational programme – content (3) Indicative breakdown by categories at programme level • OP provides an indicative figure (ex ante), expressed as a percentage of total expenditure under the programme, for its contribution to the EU priorities of promoting competitiveness and creating jobs • earmarking targets at 75% of expenditure for the Regional competitiveness and employment Objective, taken as an average over the entire programming period • financial allocation to categories contributing to the Lisbon targets should be in line with the information provided in the NSRF as regards the contribution of OPs to the earmarking exercise

21. Operational programme – content (4) Implementing provisions • designation of the authorities and bodies: MA, CA, AA, body responsible for making the payments to the beneficiaries and body responsible for receiving the payments from the Commission • description of the monitoring and evaluation system • definition of the procedures for mobilisation and circulation of the financial flows (the contribution of the various partners to the financing of the OP, procedure for dealing with interest generated) • elements concerning information and publicity • description of the procedures agreed for the exchange of computerised data

22. Operational programme – content (5) Financing plans (two tables) • at the level of the OP the total financial appropriation envisaged for the contribution of the fund broken down by year (not by priority axis) • at the level of the priority axis the amount of the total financial appropriation of the community contribution, the national counterpart and the rate of contribution of the funds for the whole programming period (not by year) Indicative list of major projects Sustainable urban development, for ERDF OP, where appropriate List of cities chosen for addressing urban issues and actions for interregional cooperation

23. Appraisal and adoption of the OP • a proposal for an OP is submitted to the Commission containing all the components • 1) admissibility check to verify conformity of an OP with legislative requirements • 2) quality check to see how far the OP would contribute to the goals and priorities of the NRSF and the CSG • if, OP does not contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the NSRF and the CSG, the Commission may invite the Member State to provide all necessary additional information and, where appropriate, to revise the proposed programme accordingly (within 2 months) • the Commission shall adopt each operational programme as soon as possible but no later than 4 months following its formal submission • since the NSRF is the basis for the OPs, an agreement and the Commission decision on the NSRF must precede the Commission decision on each OP. However, the Commission’s decision on the adoption of the OP can be taken at the same time as the decision on the NSRF

24. Modifications at the request of the MS or at the initiative of the Commission The circumstances rather than the typology of programme changes: following significant socio-economic changes in order to take greater or different account of major changes in Community, national or regional priorities in light of the evaluation of Article 48(3) following implementation difficulties => any change in the text of the OP or in the Commission decision on the OP requires a formal modifying decision (not later than 3 months after its formal submission) and comes into effect upon the adoption of the modifying decision introduction of a new expenditure => new eligibility date modifications of the OP without modification of the decision approving the NSRF Modification of OPs

25. Technical assistance • traditional national schemes, pre-accession instruments • technical assistance programme • assistance in preparing project documents, meeting EIA requirements, and public procurement • JASPERS (EU) • Available for beneficiaries of (major) projects • Assistance in preparing project application

26. Major challenges – reported by the Member States Lack of strategic approach • projects are chosen according to their readiness & political priorities, • limited or no strategic approach, • delays in collecting necessary permits (EIA, etc), prolonged public consultations, need for changes of design, protests by the public. Management and control issues • more responsibility with the MS, coordination of administrative bodies, various policies and programmes, • overregulated implementation system (additional national rules), • environmental impact assessment (EIA and SEA), public procurement issues, state aid, • significant cost overruns, often linked to exchange rate, • economic constraints (budgetary constraints, inflationary tendencies), • unprecedented challenge for spending (n+2 rule). Administrative capacity • limited knowledge and experience with EU rules, • staff turnover, • unstable legal framework, frequent changes.

27. Rate of implementation

28. Successful programmes • stable legal environment is a necessary – but not a sufficient – condition for smooth project preparation and implementation • most time is lost – and can be gained – at the preparation stage • strategic planning & co-ordination crucial • quickadoption of projects is only possible when applications are of high quality and mature • clearguidelines are indispensable • comprehensive, proactive, and flexible approach is required: • undertake broad partnership consultations • build a strong pipeline of ready-to-go projects • simplify system where possible • learn from best practices • sufficient administrative capacity

29. Thank you for your attention. Inforegio website: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.cfm