19 June 2015, Sofia Sharing solutions for better regional policies From INTERREG IVC to INTERREG EUROPE INTERREG EUROPE National Contact Point DG Territorial Cooperation Management Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works

2 ‘Learning by sharing’ Local / regional authorities exchange the experience with others in Europe facing similar challenges in order to improve their practices / policies INTERREG IVC ( ) Public authorities Bodies governed by public law EU 27 Norway Switzerland

3 Main achievements (as of 2014) 90% of EU NUTS 2 regions covered Objective: EU wide exchange of experience / capacity building 7,935 staff with increased capacity 467 ‘spin-off activities’ Objective: Identification / sharing / transfer of good practices 6,475 good practices identified 554 successfully transferred Overall objective: Improvement of regional and local policies 1,943 policies addressed 460 policies improved See illustrations of results in the programme Annual Report! INTERREG IVC

4 7.3 m inhabitants 1.42 % IVC population 517 partners in 400 project applications with 4 BG lead partners 25% approved (vs. 15% programme average approval rate) 62 projects = 74 partners 1 lead partner 30.4 % of total projects Bulgaria in INTERREG IVC

5 ProjectPolicy improved EuroPROCBulgarian Public Procurement Law I-SPEED National Law on Tourism; 3 community programmes for tourism development for Shumen, Gabrovo and Vratsa INOLINK Integrated Plan for Reconstruction and Urban Development of Varna. MMOVE Razlog Municipal Development Plan (e.g. on bicycle paths) PIMMS TRANSFER Sofia Municipality - parking policy (payment by SMS), reducing urban traffic in the city centre PRoMPt New Forest Law takes reforestation recommendations into account REGIOCLIMA3rd Bulgarian National Action Plan for Climate Change RSC Regional Climate Confident Index included in the Bulgarian monitoring system of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works SUGARMunicipality of Vratsa urban freight transport policy Examples of policies improved Bulgaria in INTERREG IVC

6 “In the beginning, the ESF ‘Development’ programme was designed only to tackle unemployment after mass redundancies in enterprises. The foreseen budget was EUR 75 million. Thanks to ESF6 CIA, we were able to redesign the programme and include preferential treatment to people age 50+. It helped a lot, as it gave us a good idea how people in these target groups could be included in trainings.” Vasil Asenov, Bulgarian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Bulgaria in INTERREG IVC Examples of policies improved

7 The INTERREG IVC story: an online report showcasing seven years of interregional cooperation

8 INTERREG IVC Good Practice Database Inspiration for you at a click of a mouse! 1268

9 INTERREG IVC Thematic programme capitalisation 12 sets of reports, brochures & policy papers Find out lessons learnt and suggestions for the future All available at:

10 Download the full reports from: Capitalisation reports

11 Vast majority of projects successful Richness & variety of the achievements Results take time No magic recipe but key success factors: o Addressing a real need shared by the partners o Involvement of the policy makers o Quality of the interregional learning process INTERREG IVC Achievements Conclusions

12 Interregional cooperation programme INTERREG EUROPE approved by EC on

13 € INTERREG EUROPE EUR 359 m EU Cohesion policy Policy learning among public authorities to improve performance of policies & programmes for regional development, in particular Structural Funds programmes Goal 1: Investment for growth & jobs (G&J) EUR 340 billion Goal 2: European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) EUR 10.2 billion INTERREG EUROPE

14 EU28 + Norway & Switzerland Eligible area INTERREG EUROPE Managing Authority Conseil Régional Nord - Pas de Calais France

15 Thematic focus 4 priority axes …S3 innovation infrastructure innovation chains… …energy efficiency renewable energies sustainable transport… …creation, development, growth of SMEs… …natural heritage cultural heritage resources efficiency… Research and innovation SME competitiveness Low-carbon economy Environment and resource efficiency INTERREG EUROPE

16 2 actions supported Policy Learning Platforms Interregional Cooperation Projects INTERREG EUROPE

17 Budget per action Programme total ERDF budget: MEUR 359 o ERDF budget for platforms: MEUR 15.3 (max) o ERDF budget for projects: MEUR equally shared over 4 priority axes (MEUR 84) INTERREG EUROPE

18 Online collaborative tool + Expert team A. Policy Learning Platforms A service provided per theme via: Research and innovation SME competitiveness Low-carbon economy Environment and resource efficiency What is it?

19 Objective: To contribute to policy learning across EU in particular on Structural Funds implementation Better exploiting projects’ results Opening up programme results to anyone interested INTERREG IVC capitalisation S3 platform Seville Origin Objective

20 Example of services Advise regional stakeholders and running projects Organise and facilitate peer reviews among regions Organise and facilitate thematic workshops Analyse and disseminate the content of projects through dedicated events & publications Facilitate knowledge sharing and networking among regions on the collaborative tool Assist/support programme stakeholders in the creation of interregional smart specialisation partnerships for building critical mass and developing joint roadmaps for their industries A. Policy Learning Platforms

21 Examples of possible policy learning platform actions The Competitiveness of SMEs platform Publication of recommendations for regional SME development programmes based on an analysis of successful experiences from different projects and from Growth and Jobs programmes. Seminars for regional authorities on the design of SME-friendly policies, including the design of public procurement processes and the reduction of administrative burdens and barriers facing SMEs. Peer reviews among regional development agencies and education institutes on the subject of regional entrepreneurship development programmes in different European regions.

22 Users Two access levels  Public information for all users  Restricted area for registered users for extra services Other stakeholders relevant to the topics Bodies involved in policy implementation relevant to the four programme themes Bodies involved in management and implementation of Growth & Jobs and European Territorial Cooperation programmes A. Policy Learning Platforms

23 Implementation Sub-contracting arrangement Through procurement procedure Launched in the course of 2016 Target groups Stakeholders involved in the implementation of Growth & Jobs or cooperation programmes Other stakeholders relevant to the topics A. Policy Learning Platforms

24 Objective ….to improve the effectiveness of the policies of the regions involved in the project (in particular their Investment for Growth and Jobs goal programmes) Partners from different countries working together on a shared regional policy issue (within the thematic fields of the programme)… Project main features Definition B. Interregional Cooperation Projects

25 1.Improving Structural Funds 2.Public administrations as main target group 3.Mobilising stakeholders 4.Capturing results All features derive from the result oriented approach Four features of INTERREG EUROPE projects B. Interregional Cooperation Projects

26 Improving Structural Funds Why? rationale Objective set in the ETC Regulation (EU) No 1299/ Article 2(3)(a) for interregional cooperation: ‘to reinforce the effectiveness of cohesion policy’ ‘identification and dissemination of good practices with a view to their transfer principally to operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal but also, where relevant to cooperation programmes’

27 Support new projects Change programme governance Change programme structure How do you improve policies? Improving Structural Funds

28 Why? Rationale INTERREG EUROPE: dedicated to improving policy instruments Public administrations: organisations responsible for policy design and implementation Public administrations: core target group of INTERREG EUROPE Public administrations as main target groups

29 Participation of public administration: pre requisite e.g. When Structural Funds programme addressed, Managing Authorities (MA) / Intermediate Bodies (IB) should be involved If organisation responsible for the policy instrument addressed is not a partner, it should provide a letter of support: a commitment to fully support and closely follow the project implementation How is it reflected at project level? Public administrations as main target groups

30 Who should get involved? Find tried and tested measures to implement in your programme Share and implement good practices coming from across Europe Get involved with your policymaker and contribute to better policy implementation Managing Authorities Regional/local authorities Agencies, institutes, private non-profit bodies B. Interregional Cooperation Projects

31 Project partnership: from at least 3 countries, of which at least 2 partners from EU Member States Public bodies (the main target group) (e.g. local, regional, national authorities) Bodies governed by public law (Directive 2004/18/EC) Private non profit bodies B. Interregional Cooperation Projects Confirmation of the eligibility status: National contact points (NCP) NCP in Bulgaria DG Territorial Cooperation Management, MRDPW Who is eligible?

32 B. Interregional Cooperation Projects Policy exchange of experience (1 to 3 years) ending with production of 1 action plan per region Monitoring of action plan implementation (2 years) + possible pilot actions Phase 1 Phase 2 1.Implementation in 2 phases 2.Creation of local ‘stakeholder groups’ - one per policy instrument addressed + involve all organisations linked to policy process + reduce administrative/legal obstacles Maximum duration: 5 years

33 Stakeholder groups Creation of stakeholder groups: -1 group per partner region -Members: organisations competent in the field tackled by the project (e.g. for innovation: research centres, universities, agencies, SMEs) body in charge of policy instrument addressed (in case this body is not a partner) -Involved in the interregional learning process B. Interregional Cooperation Projects

34 Mobilising stakeholders Why? Rationale 3. Regional stakeholders learning 2. Organisational learning 4. External / EU level learning 1. Individual learning 4 levels of learning in interregional cooperation Key success factor to interregional learning: to go beyond individual / organisational learning

35 ERDF Co-financing rates National co- financing in Bulgaria According to legal status or location 85% ERDF15% state co-financing by MRDPW Public or public equivalent from EU 75% ERDF15% state co-financing by MRDPW 10% own co-financing Private non-profit from EU 50% Norwegian funding Public, public equivalent and private non-profit from Norway Swiss fundingPublic, public equivalent and private non-profit from Switzerland B. Interregional Cooperation Projects

36 2 interrelated actions Policy Learning Platforms Open to all regions Interregional cooperation projects Enrich Contribute Project 1Project 2Project 3 Capturing results

37 INTERREG IVCINTERREG EUROPE Rationale Regional development policies Regional development policies, principally SF programmes AreaEU-27, NO+CHEU-28, NO+CH Eligibility Public & public law bodies No private Public & public law bodies Private non-profit bodies Co-financing75%-85% (country) 85% public or equivalent 75% private non-profit Actions 1-phase project + CAP 2-phase project + PLP

38 Next step 22 June July 2015Open on 22 June 2015 and closes on 31 July 2015 No thematic restrictions: call open to all Investment priorities No specific requirement in terms of geographical coverage One third ERDF budget available: EUR 28 million per priority axis Application procedure: on-line system hard copies to Joint Secretariat by 31 July 2015 Provisional timing: 2 nd call – December 2015 or beginning of st call for proposals for Interregional Cooperation Projects INTERREG EUROPE

39 Support to project applicants Tools PARTNER SEARCH TOOL PROJECT IDEA DATABASE PROGRAMME FEEDBACK

40 Partner search Join our community ≈ 950 people and growing Search for potential partners PARTNER SEARCH TOOL

41 PROJECT IDEA DATABASE -Share you own project idea -4 colours = 4 themes -Contact to idea owner (click on +) After joining INTERREG EUROPE community -Partners involved and partners searched for are indicated ! Ideas are NOT validated by JS ! Project ideas

42 SOCIAL MEDIA Partner search & project idea sharing also via our social media channels twitter.com/interregeuropewww.facebook.com/interregeurope LinkedIn groups on partner search & project ideas 4 thematic sub-groups

43 PROGRAMME FEEDBACK Need our feedback on your project idea? Go to our website Get the project idea feedback form Send it filled in back to us by Get our comments and answers to your questions

44 interreg4c.eu/interreg-europe interregeurope.eu facebook.com/interregeurope twitter.com/interregeurope changing-regions.eu For more information, please, follow us on: mrrb.government.bg

45 National Contact Point Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works "Territorial Cooperation Management" Directorate General mrrb.government.bg Marius Mladenov Desislava Mihaylova Irina Rangelova Gergana Ivanova Nely Ivanova Liza Kamenova

46 Thank you for your attention!