1. PRE-ACCESSION PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IN CROATIA
Martina Mihić
Central Office for Coordination of EU funds (CODEF) / Department for EU Programmes in the Field of Capacity Building for EU Accession

2. EU ASSISTANCE EXPERIENCE SO FAR...
Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilization - CARDS
- technical and financial assistance to countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP)
national CARDS component - from is € 262 million (114 projects)
regional CARDS component - allocation € 119 million
Absorption rate:
2001 – 96.4%
2002 – 96.1%
2003 (projections) – around 98.4%
Many of CARDS projects are still to be implemented
from 2005 PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD
allocation for 3 accession related programmes:
is € 105 million in 2005 and € 140 million in 2006 = € 245 million in
Two types of assistance:
Technical assistance: consulting, twinning
Investments: supplies, works

3. FROM 2007- SINGLE INSTRUMENT FOR PRE-ACCESSION ASSISTANCE (IPA)
New financial instrument ( ) to better prepare future Member States for EU Cohesion policy and Structural Funds
5 components:
IB and transition assistance
Cross-border cooperation
Regional development
Human resources
Rural development

4. IPA ALLOCATION ( / M€)
2007
2008
2009
2010
IB and transitional assistance 1
49,6
45,4
45,6
39,5 2
CBC
9,7
14,7
15,9
16,2 3
Regional development
44,6
47,6
49,7
56,8 4
Human resources
11,1
12,7
14,2
15,7 5
Rural development
25,5
25,6
25,8
26,0
TOTAL
138,5
146,0
151,2
154,2
589,9

5. STATE OF AFFAIRS: PROGRAMMING IPA – IB AND TRANSITION ASSISTANCE
28 PROJECT PROPOSALS submitted in April (total allocation for IPA –transition assistance and institutional building - 49,6 m€.)
Formal approval of the projects by IPA Management Committee
Financing Agreement to be signed by end 2007.

6. BASIC CRITERIA FOR PRE-ACCESSION PROJECTS ARE:
Projects must be acquis-related! Project proposals in line with priorities in light of EU accession process
National co-financing of investments
Project maturity (readiness to implement the project)
Absorption capacity of the beneficiary institutions
Minimum amount 2 m€

7. RESPONSIBLE BODIES FOR COORDINATION OF EU FUNDS IN CROATIA
CODEF - CENTRAL OFFICE FOR STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AND COORDINATION OF EU FUNDS:
Coordination of Programming
Priority and Project Identification
Coordination of Project Formulation
Quality control of Project Fiches
Monitoring
FINAL BENEFICIARY
Technical issues of programme implementation is in full responsibility of the authorities responsible for implementing each individual programme
SPO - Senior Programming Officer responsible for project design and implementation,
supported by PIUs.

8. CENTRAL FINANCING AND CONTRACTING UNIT (CFCU) - MINISTRY OF FINANCE
CFCU DIS - Decentralized Implementation System accredited in February 2006;
CFCU have the responsibility over the:
Financial reporting side of the procurement of services, supplies, and works in the contexts of DECENTRALIZED EC assistance programmes in the RoC.
Payments
Accounting
Contracting

9. TASKS AHEAD REGARDING SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECTS:
Ensure adequate number of civil servants for the EU programmes management
Provide continuous training for preparation, implementation and monitoring of projects
Retention policy: prevent trained personnel from leaving the service
To improve horizontal co-operation between programme stakeholders
To timely ensure co-financing of programmes from the national budget