Inforegio panorama. No 27, September 2008.
Date: 2009-06-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy
Subjects: EU financial instrument, cross-border cooperation, fund (EU), pre-accession aid, regional development, regional policy

en

inforegio

panorama

|  No 27  |  September 2008  |

Regional Policy and enlargement
Moving up a gear through 
pre-accession funding

Contents
Regional Policy and enlargement, 
moving up a gear through pre-accession funding        

Enabling candidate countries to develop through 
the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 
the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 

As European Enlargement continues apace, assistance given to candidate countries 
is becoming increasingly sophisticated. An overview of how original 
pre-accession assistance has taken on new dimensions.
Regional development: an important step towards 
EU membership for the Western Balkans 
EU membership for the Western Balkans 

December 2005: an important milestone for the former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia on its path to becoming a member of the European Union.

The cross-border component of the Instrument for Pre-Accession 
The cross-border component of the Instrument for Pre-Accession 

Over recent years, the importance of supporting and encouraging 
cross-border co-operation for Europe’s regions 
has been recognised more and more widely.

4
4

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8

Report: Building a cleaner future 
Report: Building a cleaner future 

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gis

300 km

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As Bulgaria reaches towards its future within the EU, funding under the structural policy 
for pre-accession is helping one town modernise its environmentally contaminating waste 
disposal and water systems. Panorama travels to Ruse, Bulgaria's largest port on the Danube.

From the ground: Championing economic growth in Croatia 
From the ground: Championing economic growth in Croatia 

From the ground: Forging ahead in Turkey –
a new approach to regional competitiveness 
a new approach to regional competitiveness 

ISPA in action: Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria 
ISPA in action: Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria 

From the ground: Getting ready for IPA – the accreditation process 
of the management and control systems in Croatia 

Neighbourhood programmes in action: Hungary, Romania, Serbia, 
CADSES, Adriatic New Neighbourhood Programme 
CADSES, Adriatic New Neighbourhood Programme 

From the ground: Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia – leading the way in cross-border co-operation 
of Macedonia – leading the way in cross-border co-operation 

Event: Communicating Cohesion Policy together – 
inaugural meeting of the INFORM network 
inaugural meeting of the INFORM network 

REGIO & Networks 
REGIO & Networks 

Online 
Online 

Photographs (pages): European Commission (3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 22, 24, 25), EAR (7), 
Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Croatia (15), Croatian National Tourist 
Board/Josip Madračević (16), Ministry of Industry and Trade, Turkey (17, 18), Ministry of the Sea, 
Transport and Infrastructure, Croatia (20), Bertrand Gardel/Hemis/Corbis (21), Reporters (23).

Cover: Trogir, Croatia. Photo: Serdar Yagci/iStockphoto 
Other contributors: Tipik S.A. 

Editor: Raphaël Goulet, European Commission, Regional Policy DG.

Th  is magazine is printed in English, French, German, Croat, Macedonian and Turkish
on recycled paper and is available in 22 languages of the European Union at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm 

Th  e opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not
necessarily reﬂ ect the views of the European Commission.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Preparing (potential) candidate countries 
for tomorrow 

Developing close relationships with countries seeking to join 
the  European  Union  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 
Th  e Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is a new 
facility aimed at assisting candidate countries and potential 
candidate countries in their eﬀ orts to better understand how 
the  Union  works  and  adapt  national  policies,  rules  and 
regulations in preparation for membership. 

Th  e IPA combines, under one umbrella, EU programmes and 
pre-accession  ﬁ nancial  instruments,  and  provides  more 
ﬂ exibility to beneﬁ ciary countries to tailor assistance to their 
needs  while  allowing  for  improved  coordination  with 
stakeholders,  Member  States  and  international  ﬁ nancial 
institutions.  

In this issue of Panorama, the spotlight is on two IPA components managed by the Directorate-
General for Regional Policy: cross-border co-operation and regional development. Th  e former 
seeks to promote co-operation between the authorities on each side of the borders shared 
by EU Member States and candidate/potential candidate countries. Th  e latter is designed 
to support investment in ﬁ elds such as infrastructure development in the same way that 
regions within the Union are supported under the European Regional Development Fund and 
Cohesion Fund. For the ﬁ rst time, pre-accession assistance has been planned and implemented 
in a more strategic way over several years, thereby ensuring a continuous and uninterrupted 
ﬂ ow of funds for core investment projects. IPA thus allows beneﬁ ciary countries to become 
acquainted with how such actions are implemented in the Union for the day when, as full 
members, they would beneﬁ t from the EU's Cohesion Policy.

In this edition of the Inforegio Panorama magazine, we highlight the diﬀ erent ways that 
beneﬁ ciary countries are managing and implementing projects ﬁ nanced by IPA and its 
predecessor ISPA, as seen through the eyes of the representatives of the countries themselves 
as well as experts from the Commission. I believe that this is an important mutual learning 
exercise both for existing Member States and the Union's future members.

Danuta Hübner
Commissioner for Regional Policy 

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 3  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Enabling candidate countries to develop 
through the Instrument for Pre-Accession 
Assistance 

As European Enlargement continues apace, assistance given to Candidate Countries is becoming 

increasingly sophisticated. In this article we look at how the original pre-accession assistance has taken 

on new dimensions.

Croatia, like all candidate countries, can use EU assistance for environmental projects.

Assistance  to  candidate  countries  through 
pre-accession  funding  moved  up  a  gear  from 
1 January 2007, when all the related EU programmes 
and finance initiatives were replaced by a single 
measure  –  the  Instrument  for  Pre-Accession 
Assistance  (IPA)1.  The  programmes  covered 
previously by Phare, Phare CBC, ISPA, SAPARD, 
CARDS and the financial instrument for Turkey 
delivered important benefits, but the process of 
managing  them  and  keeping  each  initiative  in 
step  with  the  others  has  become  simpler  for  all 
concerned. Not only this, but national authorities 
are much more closely involved and with a greater 
degree of responsibility for strategic planning and 

programming. IPA includes many new concepts, like 
multi-annual programming, strategic planning, or 
the empowerment of regional authorities and local 
bodies. This broader framework gives candidate 
countries much more scope to develop their own 
economies and institutions and therefore the skills 
of their entrepreneurs and administrators. 

Pushing the boundaries further

Pre-accession  assistance  has  previously  focused 
on  institutional  building  and  investment  in 
key  areas  of  Community  policies.  Investment 
was  implemented  through  the  Instrument  for 

(1)  Th  e legal basis for this assistance is Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006, adopted on 17 July 2006. More detailed implementing rules 

are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 of 12 June 2007. 

|  p. 4  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA), a project-
oriented instrument focusing mainly on investments in the 
areas of trans-European networks and the environment. 
With IPA, conventional boundaries have been crossed, 
so  that  infrastructure  investments  are  combined  with 
measures  to  enhance  competitiveness,  innovation  and 
employment creation. 

Th  e ﬁ ve components of IPA

Funds are allocated through five components: I Transition 
Assistance  and  Institution  Building;  II  Cross-Border 
Co-operation;  III  Regional  Development  (transport, 
environment  and  economic  development);  IV  Human 
Resources  Development  (strengthening  human  capital 
and combating exclusion); V Rural Development (rural 
development-type measures).

Components I and II are open to all beneficiary countries 
of the Western Balkans and Turkey. Components III, IV 
and V are open to candidate countries only (namely the 
Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Turkey and the former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Their design mirrors 
closely the management and programming principles of 
structural, cohesion and rural development funds. Thus, 
IPA allows beneficiary countries to participate at an early 
stage  in  managing  these  Community  Cohesion  Policy 
instruments. By gaining first-hand experience at running 
these  programmes,  they  will  be  well  placed  to  absorb 
future structural, cohesion and rural development funds 
once they become available to them.

candidate countries will benefit for the first time from 
financing to cover activities that are similar to activities 
financed in EU Member States and regions under Cohesion 
Policy  instruments.  A  significant  share  of  IPA  funds 
managed by the DGs for Regional Policy and Employment 
are allocated to Lisbon-type expenditure (roughly 15 to 
20 % of the overall programme allocation, depending on 
the country). 

A  good  example  is  the  Regional  Competitiveness 
Operational  Programme  in  Turkey,  where  the  bulk  of 
the  funding  is  dedicated  to  Lisbon-type  programme, 
(programme  budget  for  2007-09  €187  million  with  a 
75 %  Community  contribution).  Projects  which  will  be 
financed under the programme include the creation and 
upgrading of industrial infrastructure, facilitating access 
to finance, promoting R&D usage, developing innovation 
and technology, demand-driven consultancy services and 
networking.

Seeing the beneﬁ ts of IPA

So far, perhaps the most impressive results of IPA were 
achieved  during  the  preparation  of  the  Operational 
Programmes. While the Strategic Coherence Frameworks 
(which  are  similar  to  the  National  Strategic  Reference 
Frameworks prepared by Member States) were developed 
under the leadership of central government authorities, 
the  programmes  were  drawn  up  by  the  competent  line 
ministries in close consultation with regional authorities and 
stakeholders and civil society representatives. Alongside these 

IPA  

hland

Česká Repu lb ika

Slovensko

Magyarország

Moldova

România

Slovenija

Hrvatska

Bosna I
Hercegovina

Italia

България
Bulgaria

Srbija

Crna
Gora

Kosovo

under UNSCR 1244/99

Poranešna
Jugoslovenska
Republika
Makedonija

Shqipëria

Ελλαδα
Elláda

©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries

Potential candidate countries

Candidate countries

Türkiye

Κυπρος
Kypros
Kıbrıs

0

R E G I O gis

400 Km

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 5  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

core programming tasks, IPA also enabled national bodies to 
develop skills in ﬁ nancial management and control. 

In this relatively short period (programme preparations and 
negotiations took less than a year), essential preconditions 
and principles for successful implementation were agreed. 
These  include  programme  ownership,  concentrating 
assistance  on  core  sectors  and  disadvantaged  regions, 
and  ensuring  that  programmes  complemented  other 
funding instruments and promoted partnerships among 
stakeholders. Over time, the systems that are being set up 
under IPA will develop into invaluable assets for managing 
EU Cohesion Policy and its instruments later on.

A quick look at some of the projects financed under IPA 
Component  III  demonstrates  their  diversity  as  well  as 
their strategic importance. 

Supporting waste management in Turkey

Balikesir  Solid  Waste  Management  project  aims  at 
reducing the pollution of groundwater and environment 
in  Balikesir  and  surrounding  villages  and  to  increase 
reuse and recycling by establishing a Regional Solid Waste 
Management System for Balikesir, Bigadiç, İvrindi, Kepsut, 
Pamukçu,  Susurluk  and  Savaştepe,  in  accordance  with 
the acquis and the Turkish Legislation. The project will 
serve a population of approximately 444 000 inhabitants 

by the year 2035. The total estimated cost of the project is 
€14 million, including around €10 million of IPA support. 
Th  e project should be completed and in operation by 2011.

Croatian environmental projects 

Major infrastructure projects are being financed under 
the  Croatian  Environmental  Operational  Programme. 
Here new facilities are being financed for solid waste and 
waste water that fully respect relevant EU environmental 
standards. For instance, modern solid waste management 
centres are planned for the town of Split (Lecevica) where 
a landfill site, transfer stations, recycling and a mechanical 
and  biological  treatment  plant  are  to  be  constructed. 
The total project cost is estimated at €68 million.  New 
waste water treatment plants and upgrading of sewerage 
networks are also programmed for the towns of Slavonski 
Brod, Knin and Drnis. The total project costs are estimated 
at €27 million and €18 million respectively.  

Investment aid in candidate countries is only a fraction of the 
level of investment assistance available to Member States2, 
but it places a strong emphasis on building institutions and 
structures for the future. It gives business leaders and civil 
servants a crucial experience in devising and managing 
investment projects, preparing them for the time when they 
take on full control of Structural Fund programmes.

IPA funds are also available to potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(2)  Overall IPA allocation for the current ﬁ nancial framework 2007-13: €11.5 billion 2007-09, for example, Croatia receives on average €34 per capita 

per year of Community funds under IPA, while Bulgaria receives €110 per capita from Structural Fund programmes.

|  p. 6  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Regional development: an important step towards EU 
membership for the Western Balkans 

December 2005 marked an important milestone for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on its path to becoming 

a European Union (EU) member – the European Council awarded it the status of ‘candidate country’. This heralded 

the progress made by the country and opened new doors, giving it access to the ﬁ ve components of the instrument 

for pre-accession assistance. This has enabled the country to take an active role since 2007 in building its future as 

a stakeholder in regional policy. 

Victor da Fonseca 

Road construction activities in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

As a result of the Regional Development component of 
pre-accession assistance, a precursor to the Structural and 
Cohesion Funds, a strategy document has been developed 
by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This comes 
in addition to an operational programme that defines the 
needs and priorities of the country, following the example 
of the current 27 EU Member States.

This  strategic  planning  and  sectoral  programming 
has  given  national  authorities  the  opportunity  to  take 
responsibility  for  social  and  economic  development  in 
co-operation with civil society.

One  of  the  main  objectives  of  the  Regional  Development 
operational  programme  is  to  contribute  to  sustainable 
development and the regional integration of the country into 
the Western Balkans. Community aid will be concentrated 
initially on the transport and environment sectors – regional 
competitiveness is not expected to be incorporated until 2010.

Aside from putting in place administrative structures for 
managing and monitoring European funds, the national 
authorities  are  currently  managing  two  major  projects 
ﬁ nanced by the operational programme. Th  ese projects are 
a real test for the country as they involve the application of 
EU standards and practices on a large scale and in several 
domains – from environmental impact analyses to donor 
coordination.

The first major project concerns building a new motorway 
section between Demir Kapjia and Smokvica along the 
No 10 corridor. This will mean the completion of the trans-
European network between Salzburg and Thessalonica, 
opening the country up further, which is a requirement 
for regional integration. The project has a total budget 
of €155 million which is made up of contributions from 
the EU, Greece (in the form of a bilateral donation), the 
European Investment Bank (via a loan) and the state.

Th  e second project involves giving the 75 000 inhabitants of 
Prilep a reliable sewerage system and a waste water treatment 
facility. Its resources in terms of soft water and biodiversity 
make the country one of the principal natural reservoirs of the 
region. Heavy pollution caused by non-treated waste water, 
as well as non-treated urban and industrial water, is however 
a real threat for sustainable development and the quality of 
life for the inhabitants. Considerable investments on the 
part of the public sector will be necessary to be able to cope 
eﬃ  ciently in the coming years. Th  e cost of the ﬁ rst project is 
rising to nearly €20 million, co-ﬁ nanced by the EU to a total 
of €6 million, the rest covered by a national contribution.

Considering the progress made by the former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia over several years and despite the level of eﬀ ort 
that needs to be maintained, this period of pre-accession gives 
rise to real prospects for the country’s future in the European 
family and more speciﬁ cally in regional policy.

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 7  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

The cross-border component of the Instrument 
for Pre-Accession 

Over recent years, the importance of supporting and encouraging cross-border co-operation for Europe’s regions has been 

recognised more and more widely. Border regions suﬀ  er from a number of speciﬁ c disadvantages compared to more central 

regions. They are usually less well developed and often face geographical or demographic challenges; moreover, their 

economic sphere of inﬂ uence and development potential very often run into legal, administrative, economic and cultural 

barriers caused by the border itself. These factors are particularly acute along the European Union’s external borders.

Moray Gilland & Irina Nicolaescu

ČESKÁ
REPUBLIKA

DEUTSCHLAND

IPA cross-border co-operation programmes with EU Member State participation

MOLDOVA

SLOVENSKO

UKRAINA

ROSSIJA

ÖSTERREICH

MAGYARORSZÁG

SLOVENIJA

Hungary
- Croatia

Slovenia
- Croatia

HRVATSKA

Hungary
- Serbia

Romania
- Serbia

ROMÂNIA

BOSNA
I\HERCEGOVINA

ITALIA

Adriatic

SRBIJA

Bulgaria
- Serbia

БЪЛГАРИЯ
BULGARIA

CRNA
GORA

KOSOVO

under UNSCR 1244/99

Bulgaria
- Turkey

Bulgaria - The former
Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia

PJRM

Greece - The former
Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia

SHQIPËRIA

Greece
- Albania

ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
ELLÁDA

Greece - Turkey

©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
©  EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (NUTS regions)
Other  administrative boundaries : Global Administrative Unit Layers (Gaul), FAO
Other  administrative boundaries : Global Administrative Unit Layers (Gaul), FAO
Other  administrative boundaries : Global Administrative Unit Layers (Gaul), FAO

TÜRKIYE

Cyprus - Turkey

ΚΥΠΡΟΣ
KYPROS
KıBRıS

0

300 km

R E G I O gis

MALTA

Bulgaria - the former  Yugoslav 
Republic of  Macedonia

Greece - the former  Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia

Adriatic

Bulgaria - Serbia

Cyprus - Turkey

Hungary - Croatia

Romania - Serbia

Bulgaria - Turkey

Greece - Albania

Greece - Turkey

Hungary - Serbia

Slovenia - Croatia

Co-operation has long been a key component of EU Cohesion 
Policy, ﬁ rstly through the INTERREG Community Initiative, 
and now via the European Territorial Co-operation Objective. 
One of the Instrument for Pre-Accession’s main roles is to 
help ready candidate countries for implementing Cohesion 
Policy, hence the logic behind the IPA also having a cross-
border  dimension.  At  the  same  time,  using  the  IPA  to 
deliver cross-border co-operation in the new programming 
period is also designed to resolve some of the administrative 
diﬃ  culties that co-operation along the EU’s external borders 
has faced in the past. 

Strictly speaking, the IPA cross-border component supports 
three types of co-operation.  Firstly, it funds cross-border 
co-operation between Member States on the one hand and 

candidate or potential candidate countries on the other. 
Secondly, it supports cross-border co-operation between 
candidate and potential candidate countries themselves. 
Finally, the component may also support the involvement of 
candidate and potential candidate countries in transnational 
co-operation  programmes  under  the  Territorial  Co-
operation Objective, in particular the south-east Europe 
and Mediterranean programmes.

Th  is article focuses on the ﬁ rst of these elements, which will 
support up to 12 programmes between the Member States and 
(potential) candidate countries (see map). Most of these pro-
grammes are already up and running, and the ﬁ rst call for projects 
has already been completed for the Slovenia-Croatia programme 
 www.interreg-slohucro.com for more details).
(see(see www.interreg-slohucro.com for more details).
 www.interreg-slohucro.com

|  p. 8  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

from the countries concerned, is responsible for running the 
programme, supported by a Secretariat staﬀ ed from both 
sides of the border. Moreover, all projects must have partners 
from both sides of the border and will be selected jointly by 
the participating countries, not by the Commission.

In contrast to these fundamental changes to the organisation 
of cross-border co-operation, the content of the programmes 
may seem less radical since it builds on the successes of cross-
border co-operation elsewhere in Europe. Th  e programmes 
oﬀ er support for economic and tourism development, social 
and cultural links, environmental protection, transport 
development, and small-scale infrastructure. On one level 
therefore, the beneﬁ ts of these cross-border co-operation 
programmes seem obvious. Project partners from the border 
areas concerned will receive funds allowing them to work 
together with their neighbours and to run projects delivering 
results for the economic and social development of the local 
populations.

However, cross-border co-operation is not, and cannot be, 
simply about the local level.  By working together in their 
common border regions, countries can address challenges 
that transcend political borders. Flood prevention is one such 
area, where ﬂ ooding on one side of the border may have its 
root causes on the other side. In addition, some local-level 
projects may have links to national and European policy 
issues. In this context, projects related to the Roma people, 
or to shared river basins like the Danube and Tisza, could be 
developed in the IPA cross-border programmes and might 
have an inﬂ uence far beyond the local, cross-border area.

Finally, there is another layer of beneﬁ ts that should also 
be  taken  into  account  –  these  can  be  described  as  the 
institutional beneﬁ ts for the (potential) candidate countries. 
By participating in these programmes, the national and 
local authorities in these countries can gain experience in 
the implementation of Structural Funds-type programmes, 
including participation in Monitoring Committees, project 
selection procedures and the establishment of ﬁ nancial 
control and audit systems.

Conclusions

Th  e ﬁ rst quarter of 2009 will be a key period for the IPA cross-
border programmes. Most of the programmes will hold their 
oﬃ  cial launch events, along with Monitoring Committee 
meetings, in order to raise the proﬁ les of the programmes in 
the border regions and begin the process of attracting project 
submissions. It will be important to maintain visibility for 
all the programmes at this crucial stage.

Th  e IPA cross-border programmes form a strategic dimension 
within EU pre-accession assistance by providing a learning 
framework  for  (potential)  candidate  countries  in  their 
preparations for implementing EU Cohesion Policy.

The  IPA  cross-border  component  thus  represents  an 
expansion, both geographically and ﬁ nancially, of EU co-
operation policy into south-east Europe. Th  is brings further 
potential beneﬁ ts, but also an increased level of responsibility 
with a need for more ambition and proactive involvement 
from all actors in the programmes.

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 9  |

Two European zoos in Hungary and Serbia co-operate 
to enhance education and environmental protection.

Most of the programmes are relatively small, land-based 
programmes owing to the political geography of the region. 
Th  e (major) exception is the Adriatic programme, which 
will receive over €200 million up to 2013 and involves eight 
countries.

A new, more radical approach 
to Cross-border Co-operation

It is diﬃ  cult to underplay the radical nature of the cross-
border component of the IPA. Firstly, the funds for each 
programme are allocated per programme, not per country. 
Th  is resolves one of the major disadvantages with EU external 
border co-operation programmes in the past – the diﬃ  culties 
involved in coordinating diﬀ erent sources of funds inside 
and outside the Union.  

Secondly, the cross-border component is available to all 
candidate  and  potential  candidate  countries  –  unlike 
the  regional  development,  human  resources  and  rural 
development components of IPA, which are only available 
to candidate countries. Th  is is especially signiﬁ cant because 
of the high level of interest in cross-border co-operation 
across the region.  Th  e relatively small size of the countries 
means  that  signiﬁ cant  numbers  of  their  people  live  in 
border regions, and this can mean that border issues often 
feature high on the political agenda. Excluding them from 
cross-border co-operation would have been a very negative 
and  counterproductive  signal  to  send  out.  As  a  result, 
all the countries concerned will beneﬁ t from being part 
of  programmes  implemented  under  a  Structural  Funds 
approach even before they become candidate countries for 
accession to the Union.

Th  is  is  the  third  main  innovation  of  the  cross-border 
component  of  the  IPA.  In  line  with  the  aim  of  using 
these programmes to prepare for future Structural Funds 
implementation, the IPA cross-border programmes will 
mirror Structural Funds rules as closely as possible. Th  is 
means ﬁ rstly that the programmes are run on a multi-annual 
basis. A Monitoring Committee, comprising representatives 

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Building a cleaner future 

As Bulgaria reaches towards its future within the EU, funding under the structural policy for pre-accession 

is helping one town modernise its environmentally contaminating waste disposal and water systems. 

Panorama travels to Ruse, Bulgaria's largest port on the Danube (pop. 160 000), to look at how over 

€40.5 million of support from the EU is helping the town comply with standards in water supply and 

waste treatment and consign dangerous and obsolete infrastructure to the past. 

Waste water from one of the town's outﬂ ows being discharged into the Danube in Ruse, Bulgaria.

Waste water and wasted water – 
twin problems  

Th  e Danube ﬂ ows past the Bulgarian town of Ruse, 
bringing with it trade, visitors and cultural exchange – 
much as it has done since the Romans ﬁ rst settled 
here. When it ﬂ ows away from Ruse it takes not only 
barges and cruise ships with it – but also the entire 
town's untreated sewerage. From the vantage point 
of one of the town's outﬂ ows, discharging around 
240 000 litres a second, 'Blue Danube' seems to be 
a misnomer.

While untreated municipal and industrial sewerage 
gathers in collectors to be poured directly out into 
the river, 45 % of the town's clean water ﬂ ows out 
of  the  town’s  mains  due  to  leaks  in  the  obsolete 
pipes – making water supplies unreliable, expensive 
and dangerous, due to the risk of microbiological 
contamination.

When  water  does  ﬂ ow  from  the  domestic  tap,  it 
will have travelled through approximately 447 km 
of  fracturing,  crumbling  pipes,  64 %  of  which  are 
constructed from asbestos cement. "Our key problem is 
that the whole system was built in the 1970s and has not 
been upgraded since – it is simply worn out," explains 
Sava Savov – the manager of ViK, the town's regional 
water company: Water Supply and Sewerage Ltd.

All this is set to change by the end of 2010, when the 
results of Bulgaria's most extensive water project 
take eﬀ ect. Beneﬁ ting from 75 % EU co-ﬁ nancing, 
(€35.1  million)  under  the  EU's  Instrument  for 
Structural Policies for Pre-accession (ISPA), Ruse's 
Integrated  Water  Project  will  allow  the  town  to 
comply  with  two  key  EU  water  directives:  those 
governing  urban  Waste  Water  Treatment  and 
Drinking Water. It will deliver: new, more eﬃ  cient 
pumps;  10  replacement  hydrophores  ensuring 
constant supply to the town's high-rise buildings; 

|  p. 10  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
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Regional Policy and enlargement,   

20.5 km of replacement pipe for mains supply; renovation 
of the pipes most prone to leaking; an extended distribution 
network and a completely new sewerage system and treatment 
plant.

Turning waste into power

Now manager of ViK, ﬁ ve years ago Savov was the head of 
a technical unit trying to keep the town's failing sewerage 
system going: "I remember we had a blockage and I went down 
into the collector to clear it. It took two days of intensive work 
to clean it out and I was sick for a week – headaches, stomach 
ache – the lot. Th  e fumes from the untreated waste water 
are so toxic", he said, as we watched one of the town's 11 
collectors turn the Danube's waters brown as it discharged 
its contents.

Th  is continual ﬂ ow of untreated domestic and industrial 
sewerage will cause the town to fall foul of the EU's Directive 
on Urban Waste Water Treatment, which comes into force 
in 2010. To address this, one of the key elements of Ruse's 
Integrated Water Project will be the complete overhaul of 
the sewerage system. Eleven collectors will be rationalised 
into one central collector which will direct the waste into a 
state of the art treatment plant, putting an end to a centuries 
old practice of uncontrolled discharge. 

Th  e town's new waste water treatment plant, spread over 
42 000m2, with a further 100 000m2  set aside for future 
use, will have the capacity to process the pollution load 
for a population equivalent to 240 000. Th  is is a unit of 
measurement calculated on the basis of the waste water 
produced, on average, by one person per day and takes 
into account the projected population growth for 2030. 

Th  e plant is designed to meet EU standards in accordance 
with modern best practice and the current design is for an 
aeration plant with an anaerobic sludge digestion system.

Eight steps separate out the sewerage into treated water 
and sludge – these include mechanical processes, such 
as varying levels of ﬁ ltration and biological treatments 
involving the  balance between aeration, the use of anaerobic 
micro-organisms and the use of settling tanks. Ammonium 
will have been oxidised to form nitrate which will then 
be reduced into elementary nitrogen and the phosphorus 
precipitated  out.  By  the  time  the  process  is  complete, 
carbon, phosphates and nitrates will have been eliminated 
and clear, processed eﬄ  uent will ﬂ ow into the river while the 
remaining sludge will be collected and subjected to further 
treatment. Once air dried and subjected to four phases of 
anaerobic treatment, the sludge ends up in a digester tank 
where the resulting methane produced will be collected 
and stored in a 900 m2 gas holder. From there it will fuel 
a biogas power plant and heater oﬀ ering combined heat 
and power. 

Th  e Integrated Water Project runs from 2005-10, and the 
funds being invested will turn the waste that is currently 
degrading the Danube into an alternative power source.

Drinking water – uninterrupted supply 
of cleaner water  

But it is not only the environment which is set to beneﬁ t 
from the scope of the project – the population's health will be 
improved, drinking water resources preserved, jobs created 
and the ﬂ ood risk minimised.

Safe disposal – a domestic waste cell being ﬁ lled.

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 11  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
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Regional Policy and enlargement,   

technology. Th  e whole programme of construction works was 
laid out considering the weather conditions and the water 
table under the Danube, as well as the agricultural needs of 
the community since most of the pipeline is laid out in the 
ﬁ elds around Ruse.

Further up stream, at the town's water source, the ﬁ rst pumping 
station already has a new pump up and running. With a 
capacity of 500 litres a second and 25 % more energy eﬃ  cient, 
the pump is run on 6 000 volts – 75 % of the company's monthly 
€153 640 electricity bill is spent on supplying Ruse and the 
100 000 households that make up the urban conurbation.

"No  one  body  could  have  taken  on  an  operation  of  this 
size", said Savov, "what you are seeing here is the result of 
co-operation between the Ministry of Regional Development 
who have a directorate handling the ISPA funding process, 
the three consultancies helping the Municipality manage the 
project and then there's ViK itself – the water company. Once 
this is completed, the town will be free of supply problems 
and the dangers of contamination", he added. 

It is clear that having witnessed decades of underinvestment 
and the resulting struggle to hold the whole system together, 
Savov is personally touched by the developments and the 
help the town is getting: "You want to know how I feel at 
seeing all this change, such large-scale investment coming 
in? I feel, for the ﬁ rst time, truly European."

One, well constructed landﬁ ll replaces 
random ﬂ y-tips  

As  the  water  project  gets  fully  underway,  another  major 
infrastructure  project  is  being  signed  oﬀ .  Where  before 
there were no landﬁ ll sites that complied with EC regulations 
in the area, the new landﬁ ll site that covers Ruse and four 
other municipalities in the region, is now up and running. 
Th  e project received just over €5.5 million from ISPA and 
resulted in the closure of 18 tipping sites and subsequent 
improvement in the management and control of the area’s 
waste, speciﬁ cally: improved reuse and recycle ratios; more 
organised collections and transportation; environmentally 
aware disposal, preventing the leaching of contaminants into 
the water table and the Danube, and improved monitoring.  

With  a  total  capacity  of  2  337  000  m³  and  a  lifespan  of 
22 years, the site, 3 km outside Ruse, has three cells for 
non-hazardous, domestic waste giving a total capacity of 
1 819 726 m³ (and room for the construction of another two).
Th  ere are two more for inert waste, typically coming from the 
construction industry, with a total capacity of 121 955 m³. 
Two further cells have been especially constructed for the stor-
age of hazardous waste and have a total capacity of 1 500 m³.

Th  e hazardous waste cells stand empty and will do so for the 
foreseeable future, having been constructed with an eye on 
their potential use.  Th  ey are covered over and surrounded 
by a high, secure barrier and those set aside for other cells 
beneﬁ t from a complex drainage system which collects and 
neutralises liquid that comes from the rotting waste. In ﬂ y- 
tips, this environmentally dangerous liquid seeps straight 
into the ground, contaminating the land around and getting 

A new mains transmission pipeline will 
improve the supply of clean water once installed.

While  71 %  of  the  ﬁ nancing  will  go  to  modernising  the 
sewerage  system  and  building  the  treatment  plant,    the 
rest  will  be  set  aside  for  improving  the  supply  of  clean 
water. Outside the town, work has begun on replacing the 
20.5 km of mains pipes leading from the town's water source 
to its second pumping station – previously two trunk water 
supply pipelines, one part constructed in the mid 50s and made 
from asbestos cement and the other made from reinforced  
concrete built in the late 60s. Th  ese are in very poor condition, 
a factor worsened by lower water levels caused by leaks and 
inadequate pumps – the pipes are exposed to more friction 
when the levels of water inside them are low.

Out in the ﬁ eld, the contractor's resident engineer responsible 
for the construction of the new pipeline is Adam Harazim, 
who  explained  that  the  replacement  pipes,  double  the 
diameter and made of glass reinforced plastic, need to be 
handled with respect. "Th  e pipe's fragility increases with its 
diameter so we excavate for one pipe at a time, and stabilise 
it immediately with backﬁ ll. Th  e pipes’ quality is checked 
both at the factory, at delivery to the site and then twice after 
installation. Th  ere are inevitably minor irregularities and 
design mistakes which are rectiﬁ ed on site”, Harazim said.  

Th  e contract was awarded at the end of 2007 and 5 km out of 
20 have already been laid. "Th  e pipes are of diﬀ ering lengths 
and each stretch is computer modelled to make sure the ﬁ t 
is perfect", explained Mr Harazim.  

Alongside the pipeline will be around 60 concrete chambers 
for control valves, branch and outﬂ ow connections. Th  e line 
will need to be cased for four crossings under railway lines 
and roads – all this to be done using the most up-to-date 

|  p. 12  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
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Regional Policy and enlargement,   

into the water supply. At a well constructed landﬁ ll site, such 
as Ruse’s, what ultimately comes out of the system are cleaner 
solids, which then go back into the landﬁ ll, and harmless 
water which is discharged into the sewerage system. 

"But it’s not just about neutralising, it’s about utilising as well," 
said landﬁ ll manager Plamen Kanazizov, "We are setting up 
a full-scale recycling section to extract metal, glass, plastic 
and paper with two diﬀ erent systems to deal with domestic 
and construction waste." His advice to towns planning their 
waste disposal systems and landﬁ lls is clear: "It’s all about the 
lifespan of the site, eventually it will ﬁ ll, the battle is about 
doing everything possible to extend the site's use as far as you 
can through recycling the waste wherever possible."

Ruse – EU funding buys enough time 
for the town to put itself back on its feet  

Ruse, proud of its record for using EU funds transparently, is 
ﬁ nally enjoying economic growth, a turn around for a town 
which suﬀ ered from mass emigration in the mid 1980s due 
to nearby chloride emissions from Romania. "Everybody 
was leaving", said the town's mayor, Bojiday Yotov. "When 
the democratic changes came about in 1989, we inherited 
an economic mess. Almost everything in the city was dying 
and we suﬀ ered from one of the highest unemployment rates 
in Bulgaria." 

As one walks around Ruse, placards announcing projects 
that have been partially funded by earlier pre-accession 
instruments are in evidence – Phare money has gone into 
the small business sector and regional development and ISPA 
has been fundamental in getting the two, key infrastructure 
projects discussed, oﬀ  the ground.  

Although starting up while Bulgaria was still a candidate 
for accession, the projects continued as planned, after the 
country had become a member of the EU. It was not only the 
status of the country in its relation to the EU that underwent 
a  change  –  the  funding  instrument  changed  its  name, 
becoming  the  Instrument  for  Pre-Accession  Assistance 
(IPA). And with the name change came a diﬀ erent focus; it 
now combines infrastructure investment with measures to 
enhance competitiveness, innovation and job creation. 

It is certainly clear that EU funding has stopped Ruse's 
continued slide into economic stagnation, and emigration 
caused by a lack of hope – driven home by a crumbling 
infrastructure.  Th  e boost to morale such projects have 
bought the city have inspired the municipality to reconsider 
the future – for the mayor the source of prosperity is clear, 
“Our great strength has always been our location,” Yotov 
explains. A port and a major axis of communication, Ruse 
gradually attracted foreign and domestic investment and 
turned itself around. Now its unemployment rate is 3.15 % 
which is even lower than the capital, Soﬁ a.

"In 2006 as members of the Strasbourg club, I was impressed 
by the Mayor of Strasbourg who said that Ruse was set to be 
one of the fastest developing towns in Bulgaria and he was 
quite right," Yotov adds. Th  e town of 60 ships, as the Romans 
referred to

 it, saw 450 cruise ships dock at its port last year bringing with 
them a boom in tourism and oxygenating the economy. 

Whereas once Ruse was an industrial town, transport and 
logistics are currently the town's main focus: it is building 
the biggest industrial park in Bulgaria. Foreign investment 
is pouring in; a French hypermarket chain is set to open a 
branch in the town by the end of next year. A 5 000 seater 
sports and entertainment venue, a new ﬁ ve star hotel and 
trade centre are all under construction, fruits of Bulgaria's 
biggest Public Private Partnership project.

Th  e new sense of optimism can be seen on the streets. When 
asked about her feelings on the town’s future, 26 year-old  
interpreter Lachezara Raykova says: "I went to Veliko Tarnovo 
University to study English and interpretation in 2005 and 
I thought I'd come back for a few months after graduation, 
just to decide where to go next. I thought I'd have to move 
to Soﬁ a to get a job and develop personally." But, when she 
came back, she was pleasantly surprised, the town oﬀ ered 
far more than she had expected: "Here I am still. I have work, 
there is tourism, there are visitors. I have no intention of 
moving, I am happy here." 

And is there one thing she feels is still holding the country 
back?  She  replies  without  hesitation,  she  believes  there 
needs to be more respect for the law. If enough bright young 
professionals of her generation feel the same way, it will not 
just be Ruse's future that will ﬂ ourish. 

Dripping column used to extract ammonia 
from landﬁ ll liquid. 

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 13  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

EU money is improving life for the residents of Ruse.

Facts and ﬁ gures

Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession 
(ISPA)

• 

Ran between 2000 and 2006 with a budget of more 
than €1 billion per year.

• 

300 infrastructure projects (environment and trans-
port) for 10 beneﬁ ciary countries between 2000 and 
2003:  Bulgaria,  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Hungary, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Romania,  Slovakia  and 
Slovenia.

• 

2004-06:  Bulgaria  and  Romania  are  beneficiary 
countries of ISPA, Croatia since 1 January 2005. 

• 

Based on the same principles as the Cohesion Fund.

• 

Aimed to familiarise candidate countries with the EU 
as regards procedures, policies and funding principles.    

Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 

• 

Providing ﬁ nancial aid to candidate countries (Croatia, 
Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) 
and to potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo under UN 
Security Council Resolution 1244) since 1 January 2007.

• 

Finances Transition Assistance, Institution Building 
and Cross-border Co-operation in candidate countries 
and potential candidate countries. Also supports Re-
gional Development, Human Resources Development 
and Rural Development in candidate countries.

• 

Replaces the 2000-06 programmes Phare, ISPA, Sapard, 
CARDS and the pre-accession ﬁ nancial assistance for 
Turkey.

• 

Budget in 2008 of more than €1 billion.

• 

Completion of pre-2007 programmes and projects by 2010.

|  p. 14  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Championing economic growth in Croatia

Update on the Croatian  Regional 
Competitiveness Operational Programme 
2007-09 

Many  challenges  and  discoveries  lie  on  the  road  to  EU  Accession.  The  economic  and  structural 

developments that accession economies have to achieve put them all on a steep learning curve, but 

this process generates economic strengths that stand the test of time. The Republic of Croatia is a good 

example of a candidate country facing up to  the challenges of accession. Croatia started the accession 

negotiations in October 2005 and, providing all pre-accession criteria are met, is hoping to complete 

the process by the end of 2009.

Sanja Fišer, Head of Section & Ivana Goricki, Adviser Department for Preparation and Implementation 
of EU Programmes and Projects Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Croatia

Business Innovation Support Centre during the construction phase in the city of Nova Gradiška, 
Croatia, ﬁ nanced by the CARDS programme.

From 1990 onwards, Croatia took major steps to 
adapt to a functioning market economy. Th  is was 
a great starting point, but there was still a long way 
to go to meet EU economic targets. Income levels 
lagged too far below the EU average and growth rates 
were variable. Socio-economic diﬃ  culties remain an 
issue, along with new environmental standards to 
meet. To tackle these issues and other challenges, 
Croatia is beneﬁ tting from the ﬁ nancial assistance 
provided under the Instrument for Pre-Accession 
Assistance (IPA). Th  e IPA programme, available since 
the beginning of 2007, consists of ﬁ ve components. 
For Croatia, it is the third component (IIIC) covering 
regional development and competitiveness which is 
particularly crucial and projects worth €35.35 million 
are scheduled for 2007-09.  

At  the  heart  of  this  regional  investment  is  the 
Regional Competitiveness Operational Programme 
(RCOP) 2007-09. Th  e aim of the RCOP is to  build 
social and economic cohesion within the country, 
and develop institutions that can cope with multi-
annual  investment  programmes  and  the  future 
management of the Structural Funds. Th  ree divisions 
within the Croatian Ministry of Economy, Labour and 
Entrepreneurship are responsible for implementing 
the programme. 

A closer look at the Regional 
Competitiveness Programme

Th  ree priorities govern the RCOP. Two of them relate 
to investment and horizontal measures to bring the 

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 15  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
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Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Croatia's natural beauty is a potential source of economic riches.

Croatian economy more into line with the EU and the third 
covers project management issues. 

Th  e legacy of the 1990s

Th  e war in the 1990s inevitably caused severe infrastructure 
damage and, on top of this, the 1990s saw the downfall of the 
large state-owned enterprises. Th  e legacy of this enormous 
upheaval has been that many parts of the country are lagging 
behind the economic standard they need to achieve, with 
poor growth among SMEs. Th  ese areas need much better 
business support systems, such as business zones, incubators, 
technology transfer centres and other targeted services, to 
stimulate business growth and foreign investment. Th  ere is 
also great potential for tourism-related infrastructure in these 
regions. Some of these measures have already started under 
previous EU assistance, when the CARDS programme ﬁ nanced 
a series of projects and paved the way for a grant scheme for 
business related infrastructure under Phare in 2005.

Investment Priorities

Th  e ﬁ rst investment priority therefore focuses on building 
infrastructure  in  10  of  the  least  developed  counties, 
combined with human resources investments to strengthen 
the underlying business environment. 

In this last phase of pre-accession, Croatian SMEs are generally 
still ﬁ nding it diﬃ  cult to maintain competitiveness. Unless 
this is dealt with now, such weaknesses could repeatedly crop 
up in the brave new world of the Single European Market. 
So, the second priority under the RCOP is all about ensuring 
eﬀ ective business support at all levels, creating a positive 

|  p. 16  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

investment climate. Th  ese goals will be met more easily and 
quickly by improving national administrative eﬃ  ciency at the 
same time, encouraging cluster development and establishing  
e-business centres throughout the country. 

A further dimension of this priority is focusing on technology 
transfer and creating the right infrastructure and services to 
bring new products to the marketplace. Here public institutions 
are having to get to grips with entrepreneurial skills and 
managing intellectual property issues. One such project is 
the creation of a Biosciences technology commercialisation 
and incubation centre (BioCenter). Th  is exciting development 
will provide wide-ranging infrastructure for technology and 
knowledge-based products and SMEs. BioCenter, which 
will be located on Zagreb university campus, will also play 
an important role in bringing the University closer to the 
market. It will act as a direct facilitator of university/industry 
co-operation and prepare scientists and students for careers 
as entrepreneurs or in industry.

Th  e End Game

Once implementation on the ground takes oﬀ , the RCOP 
will provide overall coordination for many projects that 
continue  to  transform  the  Croatian  economy  and  its 
integration into the EU Single Market. Every part of the 
economy has to pull together to achieve this if ﬁ nancing 
through IPA is to be eﬀ ective. Ultimately, these goals can 
only be achieved through a combination of national and EU 
initiatives, where all available sources of funding are used 
to maximum eﬀ ect. 

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Forging ahead in Turkey  

A new approach to regional competitiveness 

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yavuz CABBAR, Head of Operating Structure at the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade, 

explains how the economy is developing through the 2007-2010 Operational Programme of the IPA.

Th  e key sectors and regions

Th  e programme focuses on developing SMEs operating 
in manufacturing and tourism, the information society, 
research and development and innovation. Geographically, 
the Programme concentrates on the regions where 
income per capita is below 75 % of the Turkish national 

TR21

TR10

TR81

^

TR82

TR42

^

TR83

TR22

TR41

TR51

TR33

TR31

TR32

TR61

TR52

^

TR72

^

TR63

TR71

^

TR62

TR90

^

TRA1

^

^

TRA2

TRB1

^

^

^

^

TRC2

TRC3

^

TRB2

^

TRC1

^

© EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries

NUTS II regions having an income per capita above 75 % 
of the Turkish average

NUTS II regions having an income per capita below 75 % 
of the Turkish average

15 Growth Centres

average (12 NUTS1 II Regions). Within these regions, there 
is a strong focus on the 15 Growth Centres which have 
been identiﬁ ed in the Strategic Coherence Framework. 
A map of the Programme area is given below.

Regions supported under the RCOP

Th  ree key priorities apply to every programme:

Priority 1: Improving the business environment

Projects under this priority involve creating a better 
business environment, to increasing the number of 
new enterprises, enhancing the productivity and 
competitiveness of the existing enterprises increasing 
employment opportunities. 

Priority 2: Building business capacity 
and entrepreneurship 

Th  e aim here is to improve company eﬃ  ciency and  
value-added, while enhancing their entrepreneurial 
capacity and increasing employment and overall 
regional competitiveness. Th  is will encourage SMEs 
to adopt a more entrepreneurial culture and help 
them to take advantage of external support for sound 
ventures, with planning that addresses present and 
future business needs. 

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yavuz Cabbar, 
Head of Operating Structure at the Turkish 
Ministry of Industry and Trade.

EU  accession  is  a  big  step  to  take,  requiring 
numerous economic and structural changes. Th  e 
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance aims to 
support candidate and potential candidate countries 
in  their  preparations  for  accession,  including 
creating a framework for managing programmes 
ﬁ nanced  by  the  Structural  and  Cohesion  Funds. 
Th  ere are ﬁ ve components within the IPA and as 
a candidate country, Turkey will beneﬁ t from all of 
them. Th  e Regional Competitiveness Operational 
Programme (RCOP) is one of the basic documents 
for implementing the IPA in Turkey. 

Keeping the big picture in mind

Th  e aim of the support within the framework of 
the RCOP is to increase the competitiveness of the 
Turkish  economy  to  converge  with  the  economy 
of the EU and to reduce regional socio-economic 
disparities. Th  e  principle  is  clear,  but  the  task  is 
huge, so limited resources have to be very speciﬁ cally 
targeted for maximum impact. A limited number of 
sectors, regions and priorities are selected and all 
programmes are set up on closely deﬁ ned parameters 
with ongoing monitoring of results. 

(1)  Final decisions on the NUTS regions are only taken upon accession of each individual candidate country.

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 17  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Modernised industrial zone in Arsin, a coastal town east of Trabzon, Turkey.

Priority 3: Technical Assistance

Technical  Assistance  is  provided  to  ensure  effective 
implementation of the programme and eﬃ  cient use of the 
IPA resources. Th  is means improving the administrative 
capacity of the Operating Structure and the other institutions 
involved in implementing the RCOP. Th  e total budget of the 
RCOP is €187 million with a 75 % EU contribution.

Concentration Strategy of the RCOP: 
Competitiveness Map

An econometric model was used to show how competitiveness 
varies between regions and, from this, the Competitiveness 
Map of Turkey was developed. 

Within  the  NUTS  II  level,  the  econometric  model  uses 
42  diﬀ erent  indicators  classiﬁ ed  under  10  main  themes 
(demographic, employment, education, health, industry, 
agriculture, ﬁ nancial, infrastructure, tourism, and other 
prosperity indicators). It then attributes a competitiveness 
index for each region by applying a coeﬃ  cient to each one. 
Th  e result is a map showing diﬀ ering levels of competitiveness 
between regions. Th  is is then colour coded into ﬁ ve groups, 
where  the  lightest  shade  represents  the  lowest  level  of 
competitiveness.

Th  e programmes themselves have been developed for speciﬁ c 
groups of regions, through further analysis of this map and 

|  p. 18  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

its components, which revealed regional economic and social 
characteristics and the potential for growth.

Competitiveness Map of Turkey

TR21

TR10

TR81

TR82

TR42

TR83

TR90

TR22

TR41

TR51

TRA2

TRA1

TR33

TR31

TR32

TR61

TR72

TRB1

TR71

TRB2

TR52

TR63

TRC2

TRC3

TR62

TRC1

© EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries

Basic infrastructure, entrepreneurship and start-up consultancy 
and ﬁ nancial supports, interregional and interinstitutional 
partnership, tourism

Basic infrastructure, entrepreneurship and start-up supports 
and consultancy, diversiﬁ ed ﬁ nancial support mechanism, 
interregional and regional partnership, inter-sectoral synergy, tourism

Training on export, productivity and product development, 
institutionalisation and ICT usage, technology transfer and upgrading, 
certiﬁ cation and standardisation, credit guarantee system, tourism 

Clustering, new technologies, venture capital and credit guarantee 
system, certiﬁ cation and standardisation R&D and ICT usage, IPR 

R&D, Innovation, ICT infrastructure, international and interregional 
synergy and partnership and IPR

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Group of Target Regions in terms of Intervention

Kastamonu

Sinop

Çankırı

Çorum

Samsun

Amasya

Ordu

Giresun

Trabzon

Rize

Tokat

GümüşhaneBayburt

Erzurum

Yozgat

Sivas

Erzincan

Tunceli

Bingöl

Muş

Artvin

Ardahan

Kars

Iğdır

Ağrı

Kayseri

Malatya

Elazığ

Batman

Diyarbakır

Kahramanmaraş

Adıyaman

Osmaniye

Şanlıurfa

Mardin

Bitlis

Siirt

Şırnak

Van

Hakkari

Gaziantep
Kilis

Hatay

© EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries

Low

High

Medium

On the next graphic, the Competitiveness Map has been 
modiﬁ ed to show solely the target regions of the RCOP and 
three groups of regions with a similar level of competitiveness. 
Speciﬁ c measures can then be clearly targeted to each group.

international  competition.  Added  to  this,  there  will  be 
consultancy services available for increasing productivity 
and export capacity, improving R&D, innovation and ICT 
infrastructure. 

Th  e Right Approach For Th  e Right Region

Where competitiveness is low, projects will concentrate 
heavily on promoting basic infrastructure, entrepreneurship 
and start-up, consultancy and ﬁ nancial support, together 
with  interregional  and  interinstitutional  partnership 
activities. Tourism projects will be a further tool for boosting 
businesses.

Th  ese areas will also beneﬁ t from better networking between 
projects  and  businesses,  to  share  common  marketing 
strategies or production processes, for example. 

In regions with medium levels of competitiveness, projects 
will focus on building institutional structures, business 
consultancy services, product development and creating 
partnerships  within  regions  and  between  them.  Where 
partnerships between sectors show potential for business 
growth,  these  will  be  encouraged  if  they  are  not  anti-
competitive. Tourism projects will again be a tool for business 
development.

In  regions  with  high  competitiveness,  the  measures 
are targeted at increasing added value, and coping with 

A vast amount of detailed preparation has gone into drafting 
the RCOP and its implementation. It has been diﬃ  cult, but 
all the pieces are now in place for some exciting economic 
developments, as well as providing the tools for evaluating 
future projects under the IPA.

More information:
http://ipa.stb.gov.tr  

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 19  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

ISPA in action in Croatia: upgrading 38 km of railway from Vinkovci to Tovarnik.

ISPA in Croatia

ISPA in Romania

Vinkovci to Tovarnik to State Border 
Railway Rehabilitation

Integrated Waste Management in Bacău 
Municipality and Surrounding Areas

Total cost: €90 913 000
EU contribution: €28 789 180  

Total cost: €20 500 000
EU contribution: €15 000 000 

Th  e Croatian Railway Rehabilitation project is upgrading 
38 km of railway from Vinkovci to Tovarnik and the state 
border with Serbia. Th  e railway track is part of Corridor X 
of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which 
runs from Salzburg in Austria to Th  essalonica in Greece. 
Th  e investments will rehabilitate and improve the double 
track railway infrastructure, electriﬁ cation, signalling, level 
crossings, telecommunications and stations along the way. 
After the estimated work completion date of December 2009, 
the railway section will see an increased line speed (from 
120  km/h  to  160  km/h)  and  be  fully  compliant  with 
international technical standards. In addition to the extra 
line capacity, the upgrading will result in increased passenger 
and freight rail traﬃ  c in Corridor X and reduce journey times, 
accident risks, operating costs and maintenance costs.

Central Finance and Contracting Unit, 
Ministry of Finance, Zagreb
cfcu@mﬁ n.hr

Improvements to public health and safety conditions and 
reductions in air, water and soil pollution are some of the 
beneﬁ ts to be gained from the construction of an integrated 
waste management system in the Romanian municipality of 
Bačau and 18 surrounding communes. Th  e investments notably 
concern solid waste collection and disposal of waste. Th  e plans 
include the development of a new landﬁ ll site above the existing 
ground level covering a total area of 32 ha, as well as the selective 
collection of dry recyclable waste, organic waste for composting 
and waste residuals. Th  e existing municipality landﬁ ll and 
village  dumpsites  will  be  closed.  The  integrated  waste 
management system – estimated completion date December 
2010 – will fully comply with the relevant requirements of EU 
and national waste management legislation.        

Central Finance and Contracting Unit, 
Ministry for Public Finance, Bucharest
carmenrosu@cfcu.ro

ISPA in Romania

.ro   

ISPA in Bulgaria

Road network: construction of a ring 
road to bypass the town of Sibiu

Total cost: €100 787 050
EU contribution: €67 890 750

Th  e construction of a 14.8 km ring road around the town of 
Sibiu will remove the traﬃ  c bottleneck on the 55 km road 
section  between  Sebes  and  Sibiu  on  highway  No  7. Th  is 
highway constitutes the northern branch of Corridor IV of 
the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) running 
from the Hungarian border to Sibiu then on to to Bucharest, 
connecting with national highway No 1 at the exit from Sibiu. 
Th  e ring road is compliant with Trans-European Motorway 
standards, will enable speeds of up to 100 km/h, and will 
reduce journey times for transit by around 50 % by 2020. 
Th  e investments will also improve traﬃ  c safety and reduce 
air and noise pollution. In addition, savings on carriageway 
maintenance and reductions in operating costs of user vehicles 
could result in an economic return rate of around 20 %.

Construction of Cross-border, Road/
Rail Bridge over the Danube River 
at Vidin-Calafat

Total cost: €234 245 036
EU contribution: €70 000 000

Th  is project involves the construction of a new combined road 
and rail bridge over the Danube River between Vidin in Bulgaria 
and Calafat in Romania, located on Corridor IV of the Trans-
European Transport Network (TEN-T). With a span of 180 m 
and total length up to 1 440 m in the case of the road (2 480 m in 
the case of the railway), the cross-border bridge will contribute 
to the growth in road and rail traﬃ  c in Romania and Bulgaria 
and the integration of the Bulgarian road and rail networks 
with the TEN-T. Th  e link will also facilitate further increases 
in traﬃ  c and trade between south-eastern Europe and Turkey 
and central Europe. In addition, the investments will help to 
generate economic growth, employment and time savings for 
long distance road traﬃ  c, and also reduce operating costs.       

National road network administration, Bucharest
ispa@andnet.ro  

Ministry of Transport and Communications, Soﬁ a
http://www.mtc.government.bg/ 

|  p. 20  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Getting ready for IPA – the accreditation process 
of the management and control systems in Croatia

Nicola Aimi, DG Regional Policy

In 2005 Croatia was informed of the intention of the EU to launch IPA and thus replace the existing 

pre-accession assistance programmes from 2007. Since then, Croatia has been actively preparing for 

management and implementation of funds within IPA. Throughout the whole process, intensive and 

close co-operation was established with the relevant services of the European Commission. Advisory 

missions were carried out to provide assistance to the Croatian authorities in building up the necessary 

institutional, management and control capacities. 

• 

assigning responsibilities at institutional and indiv-
idual level taking into account the need for adequate 
segregation of duties (in particular as regards internal 
audit and external audit functions).

Overall,  these  challenges  have  been  successfully 
tackled. 

Th  e Commission services reviewed the accreditation 
package and carried out a veriﬁ cation audit on the 
spot at the end of May 2008 in order to reach a ﬁ nal 
decision on the conferral of management powers. 
Th  e  objective  was  to  obtain  assurance  on  the 
preparedness of various key players (departments 
in six diﬀ erent ministries and several implementing 
agencies). Th  e veriﬁ cation audit conﬁ rmed that good 
progress had been made.

Th  e conclusion of the veriﬁ cation audit is that the 
overall system for the management and control of 
IPA program is compliant with the requirements. 
When compared to the situation at the time of the 
advisory missions in 2007, signiﬁ cant improvements 
have been made in the areas of staﬀ  planning and 
recruitment, establishment of legal framework at 
all levels, preparation of detailed internal rules of 
procedures and veriﬁ cation procedures.

However, there is still a need for improvement as 
regards the set up and functioning of the internal 
audit and external audit functions. Th  e national 
authorities  are  fully  aware  of  these  remaining 
shortcomings and have shown a clear commitment 
to take the necessary action in this respect. Th  e 
Commission services have closely monitored the 
implementation of this action. 

In November, the Commission granted the conferral 
of  management  powers  for  IPA  component  III 
(Regional Development) to the Croatian authorities. 
Th  e  IPA  regional  development  programmes  in 
Croatia can now really get started. 

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 21  |

Croatia is no stranger to the euro and soon 
Zagreb will be managing its own IPA funds. 

During 2007, all IPA-related activities in Croatia were 
intensiﬁ ed. Th  e ﬁ rst step to be completed by the Croatian 
authorities towards decentralised management, where 
implementation tasks are delegated by the Commission 
to third countries, was the accreditation process. Th  e 
accreditation process was aimed at verifying that the 
designated institutions had set up their management 
and control systems in accordance with the established 
rules. Th  e accreditation package was submitted to the 
Commission services in April 2008.

Th  e main challenges that the Croatian authorities 
had to face in their progress towards accreditation 
were the following:

• 

• 

procedures  for  accreditation  and  conferral  of 
management of EU funds under decentralised sys-
tems are new,
the EU’s strict requirements in relation to designing 
and implementing sound ﬁ nancial management 
systems,

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Neighbourhood programmes help improve digital literacy.

Neighbourhood Programme 
Hungary – Serbia 2004-06

CADSES 
Neighbourhood Programme

Improvement in digital literacy 
of pre-service and in-service teachers

Total cost: €68 266
EU contribution: €61 439 

EMBRACE II – Embracing 
socio-economic development 
in disadvantageous areas through 
information and knowledge society

Th  is project has established a Centre for Research on New 
Technologies in Education (CeRNeT) that is operational 
in both the Faculty of Education, University of Novi Sad 
in  Sombor  (Serbia)  and  Eötvös  Jószef  College  in  Baja 
(Hungary). Th  e CeRNetT seeks to improve knowledge of 
digital literacy among teachers, thereby contributing to the 
use of new technologies in primary and higher education 
as well as the development of the Information Society in 
both Serbia and Hungary. Cross-border partnership and 
co-operation activities include the organisation of online 
and oﬄ  ine training courses on digital literacy for teachers 
and the development of an Educational Web Portal. Th  ese 
co-operation initiatives will boost both research activities 
and staﬀ  and student mobility across the border.

Adriatic New Neighbourhood 
Programme 2004-06

ASVILOC – Integration actions of local 
economic development agencies 
to promote the region and Adriatic 
cross-border SMEsBridge over 
the Danube River at Vidin-Calafat

Total cost: €88 733 
EU contribution: €79 859

In  the  context  of  the  INTERREG  III  A  cross-border 
Adriatic  New  Neighbourhood  Programme  (2000-06), 
the ASVILOC project brought together local economic 
development agencies, local public bodies and SMEs from 
Italy, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. 
Th  e project aimed at creating and supporting co-operation 
between  SMEs  and  their  syndicates,  thereby  fostering 
socio-economic renewal and stimulating the integration of 
cross-border regions in terms of innovation, co-operation, 
internationalisation, company modernisation and staﬀ  
turnover.  In  addition,  the  cross-border  co-operation 
sought to increase the role and capacity building of the 
local economic development agencies in the countries 
taking part.

Total cost: €88 733 
EU contribution: €79 859

A virtual network for small and medium-sized enterprises 
(SMEs) was initially created under the EMBRACE project. 
Under  the  CADSES  INTERREG  III  B  Neighbourhood 
Programme (2000-06), the EMBRACE II project has sought 
to expand the scope of EMBRACE by adding eight local 
contact points to the existing network’s organisation. It has 
also introduced tailor made services for SMEs to increase 
awareness of the beneﬁ ts of using ICT tools and applications. 
In addition, a virtual SME Pilot Observatory has been created 
to collect, process and produce data on local entrepreneurship 
and socio-economic development. Th  ese data will be used to 
formulate future policy proposals and recommendations and 
to demonstrate the link between ICT use and socio-economic 
development.  Th  e  CADSES  area  encompasses  regions 
belonging to 18 EU Member States, candidate countries 
and potential candidate countries and was one of the largest 
transnational co-operation areas in the 2000-06 period.

Neighbourhood Programme 
Romania – Serbia 2004-06

Creating conditions for expanding 
tourism in the region of Homolje

Total cost: €122 320 
EU contribution: €105 470 

Th  e region of Homolje (municipalities of Žagubica, Petrovac 
na Mlavi and Malo Crniće) is cooperating with partners from 
Romania (municipalities of Sokolovac and Karas Severin 
County) to improve and expand tourism on both sides of the 
Serbian-Romanian border. Th  e cross-border co-operation 
project is primarily focused on developing and using common 
tourist promotion activities in rural and ecotourism. Other 
potentially attractive tourist destinations include cultural 
monuments such as the diﬀ erent monasteries located in 
Homolje. Organising events with its Romanian counterparts 
provides Homolje with an opportunity to boost its tourist 
potential, generate economic growth and gain knowledge on 
how to eﬀ ectively promote tourist activities in the region.

|  p. 22  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia – leading the way in cross-border 
co-operation

Co-operation in the remote mountain regions near the Bulgarian-FYROM border 
has already been successful.

Cross-border  co-operation  (CBC)  projects  have 
proved their worth over a long period and a new 
generation of projects is now taking shape under 
the provisions of the Instrument for Pre-accession 
Assistance (IPA) 2007-13. 

Th  e ﬁ rst programme to be approved by the European 
Commission  on  14  December  2007  was  between 
Bulgaria  and  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia. Its proactive approach reﬂ ects the joint 
work of the teams in the partnering countries, excellent 
coordination and the determination to overcome all the 
challenges along the way.

Th  e programme is partly a logical continuation of 
existing relations developed through the EU External 
Border Initiative in 2003 and continued through the 
Neighbourhood Programme. At the same time, it is 

evidence of a new stage in maintaining closer links 
between the two countries.

CBC projects are based on a big vision for building 
wider European co-operation and integration which 
will  in  turn  achieve  sustainable  development  in 
border regions. Th  e main priorities are economic 
development, social cohesion and improving the 
quality  of  life.  By  reducing  regional  imbalances 
people  beneﬁ t  on  both  sides  of  a  border  and  the 
regions become stronger overall.

Key facts and ﬁ gures

Th  is big vision is backed by a programme budget of 
€7  756  038  including  €6  592  632  EU  funding  and 
€1 163 406 national co-ﬁ nancing from both countries.

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 23  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

A snapshot of the Neighbourhood 
Programme

A  wide  variety  of  projects  were  successfully 
implemented under the Neighbourhood Programme. 
Here are just a couple of examples among many.

An  integrated  project  ‘No  Borders  Required’  ran 
between the municipalities of Simitly and Karbintsi. 
Joint  activities  were  introduced  in  the  sphere  of 
health protection and improving the quality of life 
of  young  people  in  the  cross-border  region.  It  is  a 
lasting  example  of  integrated  work  carried  out  by 
both local authorities.

Another project called ‘The Mountains Are Joining 
Hands’  delivered  sustainable  benefits  through 
new  ways  of  managing  and  developing  natural, 
cultural and historic resources. It ran between the 
municipalities  of Dupnitsa and Kriva Palanka and 
upgraded the complementary project of RILA and 
Kochani.

Th  e programme aims to improve living standards through 
wider participation in economic and social activities and 
increase incomes in areas that are often very remote. Th  e 
programme  will  also  be  supporting  projects  in  cross-
border economies, where new investment holds the key 
to  growth  in  priority  sectors  that  beneﬁ t  all  the  local 
communities. In a nutshell, the partner countries expect 
their  collaborative  projects  to  generate  new  economic 
activities and diversiﬁ cation in the whole economic area. 
Th  e area covered by the CBC programme is 18 736 km2, 
with a population of 1 065 605 inhabitants along both sides 
of the border. 

Th  e potential beneﬁ ciaries are districts, municipalities, 
education and research institutions, chambers of commerce, 
central  administrations,  and  all  those  associated  with 
these bodies. Th  e funding available will allow established 
partnerships and permanent networks to be strengthened, 
new  ones  created  and  more  emphasis  given  to  joint 
initiatives. Aside from the formality of the measures, it’s 
encouraging to think of real people coming together from 
diﬀ erent organisations and communities with common 
goals to achieve.

No future without sustainability

Economic gains by themselves would be hollow if they did 
not also ensure sustainable growth and the preservation 
and development of natural and cultural resources, which 
constitute key assets in this border region. Sustainable 
projects have a particularly bright future in the tourism 
sector, where new business opportunities can also oﬀ er 
sound green credentials.

All set for the future

On 13 March 2008 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria the ﬁ rst Joint 
Monitoring  Committee  meeting  was  held.  Fifty-three 
participants  attended  the  event,  ranging  from  local  to 
national authorities involved in the programme to socio-
economic partners and potential project applicants. 

Th  e real start of the programme – the ﬁ rst call for proposals 
– will be launched during the last quarter of 2008, when 
applicants will be able to send their project proposals to 
the programme secretariat in Kyustendil. 

Th  e success of the projects, and ultimately of the programme, 
is in the hands of local people and depends greatly on the 
will of professionals to do things together and have a joint 
vision of their future.

Economic development, social cohesion and improving the quality of life are the main priorities of cross-border co-operation projects.

|  p. 24  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Communicating Cohesion Policy together – 
inaugural meeting of the INFORM network

On  17  June  2008,  120  communication  oﬃ    cers  from  each  Member  State  and  several  Territorial 

Co-operation and networking programmes met for the ﬁ  rst time in the context of the INFORM network1

coordinated by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy. The network, 

open to communication oﬃ    cers responsible for information and publicity on the ERDF and Cohesion 

Fund, aims to foster the exchange of good ideas, learning from the experiences of others and creating 

common tools, where needed. 

One hundred and twenty communication oﬃ  cers from the 27 Member States met on 17 June 2008 in Brussels 
of the ﬁ rst meeting of the INFORM network.

Th  e  network’s  composition  is  twofold:  the  core 
group comprises one representative per Member 
State,  usually  from  the  central  body  responsible 
for coordinating ERDF/Cohesion Policy. Th  e core 
group’s key tasks will involve conveying information 
about  publicity  and  communication  activities  in 
the  Member  States  as  well  as  sharing  the  latest 
communication tools and exchanging information 
gathered  from  meetings  held  with  the  national 
networks of communication oﬃ  cers in each country. 
INFORM’s core members will also be invited to attend 
networking groups addressing speciﬁ c topics.

Less formally, the network may also be expanded 
to  include  all  communication  oﬃ  cers  who  are 
responsible  for  developing  and  implementing 
communication plans and interested in sharing their 
experiences. In total, the network is expected to have 
over 300 participants. Representatives from other 
network platforms (e.g. INTERACT, INTERREG IV 
C, EPSON, URBACT II) are also being invited to play 
an active part. To facilitate everyday communication 
between INFORM’s members, an internet forum has 
been set up2.

(1)  Plans to set up the INFORM network were announced in Panorama 21:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/panorama/pdf/mag21/mag21_en.pdf 

(2)  Th  e forum is for people involved in communication actions on Cohesion Policy. To register, please visit:

http://forums.ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/inform/  

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 25  |

Regional Policy and enlargement,   
Regional Policy and enlargement,      moving up a gear through pre-accession funding 
Regional Policy and enlargement,   

Th  e meeting’s purpose was for members to get to know 
each other and discuss current and future actions. One 
representative per Member State – a member of the INFORM 
core group – presented the latest accomplishments in one 
of the following ﬁ elds: current eﬀ orts to publish data on 
the ﬁ nal beneﬁ ciaries of projects; organisation of launch 
events for new Regional Policy programmes; new publicity 
products,  e.g.  TV  advertisements.  David  Yormesor  (DG 
Regional Policy) told participants about the setting up of 
a speciﬁ c network for UK communication oﬃ  cers under 
the initiative of the Commission Representation to the UK. 
All presentations, testifying to the broad variety of actions 
undertaken and the prevailing atmosphere of enthusiasm 
and ideas, are available online3. 

Ronald Hall (Director, Directorate-General for Regional 
Policy) stressed how conveying the beneﬁ ts and impacts of 
EU Cohesion Policy should not be viewed as a supplementary 
activity, but rather as an integral part of programme delivery. 
He added that improving communications in the current 
climate of a disconnection between Europe and its citizens 
is both a political and legal necessity. Since Cohesion Policy 
accounts for nearly one third of EU budget expenditure, 
it is crucial to highlight its achievements and the value it 
generates for ordinary Europeans. 

Mr Hall highlighted the new requirement to publish a list 
of  project  beneﬁ ciaries  showing  the  amount  of  EU  and 
other public funding allocated. Th  is ties in with the ongoing 
drive to improve transparency in the Union and, critically, 
to raise the proﬁ le of EU-funded projects. A new tool was 
also unveiled: a clickable map leading to national or regional 
websites providing lists of beneﬁ ciaries. Currently most EU 
countries are marked in grey, which means they have yet to 
disclose beneﬁ ciaries. Mr Hall stressed that our aim should 
be to have all countries coloured green on the map by the 
end of 20084.

In the afternoon INFORM members had the opportunity to 
scrutinise and discuss selected aspects of communication 
during three parallel workshops. 

1.  Production of a communication guide 
by DG REGIO and INFORM members

Th  e workshop aimed to kick-start preparations for a new 
version of the communication guide or handbook. Th  e tool, 
to be ready by the end of 2008, will provide practical advice 
on interpreting regulatory requirements plus a selection of 
information products illustrating various elements relating 
to communication. Although communication oﬃ  cers within 
programmes are its main target group, project promoters 
might also ﬁ nd parts of it useful. Each chapter in the guide 
will combine a theoretical introduction with a practical 
selection  of  existing  practices  compiled  from  INFORM 
members. Each chapter will also have a leading author, who 
may then select co-authors. 

2.  How to measure the impact of your actions?

Th  e aim of this workshop was to share experiences and discuss 
evaluation issues, e.g. opinion surveys. Two presentations – 
French experience, presented by Marie Gariazzo (IFOP Study 
Director), Yves-Marie Cann (IFOP poll expert), and Bertrand 
Millet (Communication Oﬃ  cer, national ERDF technical 
assistance programme), and Eurobarometer survey on the 
European citizens' perception of Regional Policy, presented by 
European citizens' perception of Regional Policy
European citizens' perception of Regional Policy, presented by 
Wolfgang Petzold (DG Regional Policy) – were followed by a 
discussion. Participants agreed that measuring the impact of 
EU activities and also the eﬀ ectiveness of publicity measures 
via public surveys is one of the most objective methods5. Th  e 
surveys, accompanied by analysis, also draw lessons for the 
more eﬃ  cient promotion of EU structural interventions.

3.  Communicating projects – how to present 

them attractively to the media and the public

Th  e workshop set out to collect ideas and experiences on the 
most eﬀ ective and interesting ways of presenting projects in 
order to generate media attention and public interest. It began 
with a presentation by Anna Bugalska (Ministry for Regional 
Development,  Poland)  of  the  campain  "Poland  Growing 
Beautiful! Th  e ‘Seven miracles of EU funds’ competition", which 
provided the basis for discussion and raised various questions. 
In  conclusion,  some  members  stressed  that  successful 
project promotion needs a ‘human face’ with a ‘human story’. 
Emotions (sentimental or humorous) also have a role to play. 
Th  e use of personalities in getting the message across is vital as 
they can convey a strong message more easily to the public.

Conclusions from the meeting

Raphael Goulet (Head of Unit, DG Regional Policy) thanked 
everyone present for their active involvement. He stressed 
that the format of the meeting had stemmed from the fact 
that it was the ﬁ rst such event and the organisers’ belief 
that it should brieﬂ y introduce all Member States and the 
networking programmes. Following the comments received 
during the day, future meetings will evolve towards a 1.5/2-
day format, providing more time for networking and in-depth 
discussions among INFORM members. Greater prominence 
will be given to Territorial Co-operation programmes. 

Th  e next meeting is scheduled for late November. As part 
of  the  Open  Days6  (6-9  October  2008),  there  will  also 
be  two  related  seminars  dedicated  to  information  and 
communication, providing another opportunity to meet 
up for anyone interested in the topic. 

(3) http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/country/commu/inform_meeting07062008_en.cfm
(4) Th  e map is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/country/commu/beneﬁ ciaries/index_en.htm
(5)  Th  e full report, including detailed conclusions from the workshops, is available here: 

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/country/commu/docevent/17062008_meeting_report.pdf

(6) Open Days website: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2008/index.cfm

|  p. 26  | inforegio | panorama | No 27 |

REGIO & networks

OPEN DAYS 2008
Brussels played host to ‘OPEN DAYS 2008 – European Week of Regions and Cities’ from 
6 to 9 October 2008, the sixth such annual event of its kind. Under the theme ‘Regions 
and cities in a challenging world’, around 5 000 delegates took part in 143 specialist 
seminars that focused on innovation, regional responses to climate change, exchange of 
best practices in regional development, and the future of EU Cohesion Policy. Aimed at 
EU and regional policymakers, experts and representatives of banking, business and civil 
society groups, a record 216 regions and 32 countries signed up as partners for the event. 
Under the heading ‘Europe in my region’, the 32 countries hosted 235 local Open Days 
events throughout October.

On 6 October, the French Minister for Agriculture Michel Barnier addressed the opening 
session of the Open Days alongside European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, 
Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Committee of the Regions President 
Luc Van den Brande. Th  e oﬃ  cial website http://www.opendays.europa.eu/ contains the 
online programme of the conference, daily video highlights, as well as details regarding 
the broad range of seminars and workshops. 

Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion  
On 6 October the European Commission presented a Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion. 
Territorial Cohesion is about the balanced and harmonious development of a territorially 
diversiﬁ ed EU, achieved by transforming the inherent features of diversity into an asset to 
be used for ensuring sustainable economic growth. Entitled ‘Turning territorial diversity 
into strength’, the Green Paper seeks to launch a public debate on Territorial Cohesion and 
its implications for EU Regional Policy and for co-operation, coordination, networking, 
partnership and connections between Europe’s regions.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/consultation/terco/consultation_en.htm 

Guide to cost-beneﬁ t analysis
DG REGIO's Evaluation Unit has published a new version of the ‘Guide to cost-beneﬁ t 
analysis of investment projects’. Th  e guide is particularly targeted at those working on 
‘major projects’ co-ﬁ nanced by EU funds. It provides useful methodological guidance to 
those promoting projects and also oﬀ ers a common appraisal language for practitioners 
in the many countries involved in EU Cohesion Policy. 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoﬃ  c/working/sf2000_en.htm 

Conferences on the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy
In December 2007 the European Council invited the Commission to present a strategy 
for the Baltic Sea region by June 2009, in view of the environmental challenges and other 
issues that the Baltic Sea faces. In September 2008 two conferences took place as part of 
the preparatory cycle of the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy: a round-table on accessibility 
and attractiveness issues in the strategy (part of the annual conference of the Baltic Sea 
States Sub-regional Co-operation (BSSSC) network held from 18 to 19 September in Kaunas, 
Lithuania) and a stakeholder conference held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 30 September.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/baltic/index_en.htm 
http://www.bsssc.com/ 
http://www.balticseastrategy.se/

REGIO agenda
Date

Event

24 October 2008

Committee of the Regions Subsidiarity Conference 
http://subsidiarity.cor.europa.eu/ 

30-31 October 2008

Conference on Territorial Cohesion and the future of Cohesion 
Policy; Committee of the Regions in co-operation with the French 
Presidency of the EU 
http://www.ue2008.fr/PFUE/lang/en/accueil 

Place

Paris (F)

Paris (F)

Latest 
publications

Working for the Regions – 
EU Regional Policy 2007-13

http://ec.europa.eu/
regional_policy/sources/
docgener/presenta/work-
ing2008/work_en.pdf
Th  e ins and outs of 
European Regional Policy. 
Available in 22 languages.

Country factsheets

The Netherlands

Results of the negotiations of Cohesion Policy 
strategies and programmes 2007–13

DE

onal programme which is co-fi nanced 
by the European Social Fund (ESF) and 
four regional programmes co-fi nanced 

Fund (ERDF). Under the European Terri-

try will participate in four cross-border 

tional co-operation programmes and 

mes among all Member States .

COHESION POLICY ADDRESSES 
TODAY’S PROBLEMS AND 
FUTURE CHALLENGES

The Dutch regional disparities are rela-
tively  minimal  and  even  the  poorer 
Dutch regions are good economic per-

countries. The resulting challenge for 

orient the policy towards the growth 
potential of all regions, and not towards 

In the 2007-13 programmes, this will be 
achieved by strengthening innovation 
and entrepreneurship, enhancing the 
attractiveness of regions and investing 
in the socio-economic viability of cities. 
One major change from the previous 
programming period is that the entire 

whereas in the 2000-06 period the pro-
gramming area was a patchwork of re-
latively small areas. This is expected to 
lead to broader and more integrated 

INTRODUCTION
In the 2007-13 period, the main challen-
ge for The Netherlands is to achieve a 
higher level of labour participation and 
productivity  growth.  Therefore,  the 
Dutch  National  Strategic  Reference 
Framework (NSRF) for 2007-13 is placing 
a strong emphasis on innovation, incre-
ased labour supply, increased adaptabi-
lity and investments in human capital. 
The negotiation process between the 
European Commission and the Dutch 

on innovation, a reduction in the num-
ber of programmes to reduce fragmen-

of more regional perspective into the 

was also discussed and resulted in an 

North region. 

NSRF are being implemented through 
fi ve Operational Programmes; one nati-

Kohäsionspolitik

An overview of the 
national investment priori-
ties, ﬁ nancial allocations 
and expected impacts of 
Cohesion Policy in the 27 
Members States. Available 
in English, French, German 
and the language(s) of the 
Member State. 
http://ec.europa.eu/region-
al_policy/sources/docge-
ner/informat/info_en.htm

Fifth Interim Report on Economic 
and Social Cohesion
Growing regions, growing Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/
regional_policy/sources/
docoﬃ  c/oﬃ  cial/reports/
interim5/com_2008_371_
en.pdf 
Available in 22 languages.

EN

Growing Regions,
growing Europe

Fifth progress report on economic and 
social cohesion

Communication from the Commission 

June 2008

Cohesion Policy 2007–13
Commentaries and oﬃ  cial texts

http://ec.europa.eu/
regional_policy/sources/
docoﬃ  c/oﬃ  cial/regulation/
pdf/2007/public ations/
guide2007_en.pdf
Available in 19 languages.

EN

Cohesion Policy  
2007-2013

Commentaries and Official Texts

• European Regional Development Fund
• European Social Fund
• Cohesion Fund
• European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation
• Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

Guide  

January 2007

13 November 2008

Round-table on environmental issues in the EU Baltic Sea Region 
Strategy

Gdansk (PL)

30 November- 
2 December 2008

9 December 2008 

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, stakeholder conference 

Round-table on the safety and security issues in the EU Baltic Sea 
Region Strategy

Copenhagen (DK) 
and Malmö (SE)

Helsinki (FI)

Th  e complete text of EU laws, 
proposals and oﬃ  cial documents 
are available online at 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm. 

| inforegio | panorama | No 27 |  p. 27  |

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http://www.ccre.org/

In  its  capacity  of  representing  50  national  associations,  towns, 
municipalities and regions from 37 countries, the Council of European 
Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) regularly exchanges experience at 
local and regional level throughout Europe. On 9 September, the CEMR 
organised the ‘Local Governments Day’ with the participation of the 
United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), the International Water 
Association (IWA) and the International Association of Waterworks 
in the Danube Catchment Area (IWAD). Th  e one-day conference dealt 
with the challenges and changing circumstances local and regional 
governments must face in the organisation of water services, bringing 
together experts and speakers on the high-level management of water 
quality from a large number of countries and organisations.

http://www.interact-eu.net/ 

Th  e INTERACT Programme has recently launched a new website with 
updated and reorganised content. Th  e site contains a full overview of 
European Territorial Co-operation during the programming period of 
2007-13 and is centred on the main themes covered by INTERACT. 
Together with the URBACT II Programme and the European Spatial 
Planning Observation Network (ESPON), the INTERACT Programme 
is  one  of  the  three  network  programmes  part  of  the  interregional 
co-operation component of the European Territorial Co-operation Objec-
tive. Its main aim is to promote and support the proper management of 
the European Territorial Co-operation programmes of 2007-13. 

http://www.growthcommission.org/ 

Developing countries can achieve sustainable and equitable growth 
if they are able to proﬁ t fully by the world economy and they have 
committed leadership. Th  ese are some of the ﬁ ndings of the ‘Growth 
Report’ published by the Commission on Growth and Development 
set up under the aegis of the World Bank. Th  e document analyses 
13 post-war high-growth economies and outlines factors that may 
explain their success. Th  e Commission on Growth and Development, 
chaired by Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, was founded in 2006 and 
brings together 21 practitioners from government, business and poli-
cymaking sectors, mostly from the developing world.

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/international/index_en.htm

The Inforegio website contains a new section on international affairs, 
in view of the ever-growing interest in EU Regional Policy outside 
the European Union. In 2006 and 2007 the European Commission’s 
Directorate-General  for  Regional  Policy  signed  Memoranda  of 
Understanding with Brazil, China and the Russian Federation to set up 
Structured Dialogues on Regional Policy. The Structured Dialogues seek 
to promote mutual understanding, bilateral co-operation, information 
exchange and best practices regarding the setting up and implementation 
of Regional Policy. Features of EU Regional Policy that are of interest to 
third countries and international organisations such as MERCOSUR 
include the targeting of financial resources between Member States and 
regions, geographical and strategic objectives as well as the different 
dimensions of the implementation system.  

‘Working for the Regions – EU Regional Policy 2007-13’
Th  e brochure ‘Working for the Regions – EU Regional Policy 2007-13’ is available in all Community languages. 
Th  is 36-page publication explains how EU regional policy works and how it supports, for example, transport, 
innovation, environmental development and urban development in Europe's regions and cities. Co-operation 
between regions, the evaluation of programmes, as well as audit, control and publicity requirements are other 
aspects covered in the publication. Figures show how much money (from the EU funds) will be spent in the 27 
EU Member States and on what in years to come.   
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/presenta/pres_en.htm

Unit B1 — Communication, Information, Relations with third countries
Raphaël Goulet
Avenue de Tervuren 41, B-1040 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 29-66003
E-mail: regio-info@ec.europa.eu 
Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm 

ISSN 1608-389X

© European Communities, 2008
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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