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ANNUAL MEETING ofISPA PARTNERS - 2003

From ISPA to COHESION and STRUCTURAL FUNDS

European UnionRegional Policy

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2003 – a special year

This year’s meeting takes placein a particularly interesting period of time. With theCopenhagen Council ofDecember 2002, a major mile-stone on the way to enlargingthe European Union has beenreached. Thus the relevance andimportance of the pre-accessioninstrument ISPA in preparing thenew Member States for theEuropean Cohesion Policy hasbecome more evident than everbefore.

At the same time, the firstwave of Ispa projects is nowunder implementation. Theseprojects are becoming physicallyvisible and operational for thebenefit of the people. They alsoprovide for the public adminis-tration in the new MemberStates the first own experienceswith the implementation oflarge-scale infrastructure pro-jects under circumstances thatare very similar to the instru-ments for the EuropeanCohesion Policy – in particular to the Cohesion Fund.

The aim of the meeting is toprovide for an exchange ofexperiences and to jointly discuss the challenges aheadboth for implementing ISPA aswell as for the transition to the Cohesion Fund and theStructural Funds. Therefore, the meeting will bring togetherrepresentatives from the responsible authorities inCandidate Countries involved in the ISPA process and in thepreparation for Cohesion andStructural Funds, from theCommission and from financialinstitutions (EIB, EBRD).

The challenges ahead:

For ISPA and the future Cohesion Fund

➢ Coherent Transport and Environment reference frameworks;

➢ Preparation of projects ready-for-implementation;

➢ Get EDIS running;➢ Transparent, accountable procurement

practices;➢ Transition from FIDIC/PRAG to national

procurement rules;➢ Sound financial management;➢ Prevention of irregularities, detection

and recovery of occurred irregularities.

For Structural Funds

➢ Completion of the programming documents;

➢ Establishing the programming complement and the ‘art.-5 report’;

➢ Appraisal and agreements on the programming documents;

➢ Focusing on the right priorities;➢ Implementation of Chapter 21

commitments;➢ Building administrative capacity;➢ Delegation of tasks, determination of

potential intermediate bodies;➢ State aid schemes:

a particular treatment;➢ Application for funding;➢ Co-financing;➢ Monitoring of implementation;➢ Financial management;➢ Auditing of expenses.

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The need for Cohesion Policy – Regional differences

The Cohesion Fund and Structural Funds commitment appropriationsagreed in Copenhagen (1999 prices)

Copenhagen allocation table 2004-2006 (extract) in million euro, 1999 prices

Country Cohesion Fund Structural Funds IC Total (*)

middle range Objectif 1 Objectif 2 Objectif 3 Interreg Equal

CY 48,2 0,0 24,9 19,5 3,8 1,6 101,0CZ 836,3 1286,4 63,3 52,2 60,9 28,4 2327,5EE 276,1 328,6 0,0 0,0 9,4 3,6 617,7HU 994,1 1765,4 0,0 0,0 60,9 26,8 2847,2LT 543,5 792,1 0,0 0,0 19,9 10,5 1366,0LV 461,1 554,2 0,0 0,0 13,5 7,1 1035,9MT 19,6 55,9 0,0 0,0 2,1 1,1 78,7PL 3733,3 7320,7 0,0 0,0 196,1 118,5 11368,6SI 168,6 210,1 0,0 0,0 21,0 5,7 405,4SK 509,7 920,9 33,0 39,9 36,8 19,7 1560,0

7590,5 13234,3 121,2 111,6 424,4 223,0 21746,4

Guyane (F)

Guadeloupe Martinique Réunion

Canarias (E)

Açores (P)

Madeira

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MT: 1999Source: Eurostat

(*) the total includes € 3 million of IFOP assistance to CY and € 38,4 million of horizontal technical assistance

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9 April 2003

08.30-09.45 Arrival and registration

09.45-10.30 Welcome addressesMichel Barnier - Member of the European CommissionVladis Dombrovskis - Minister of Finance, Latvia

IntroductionLluis Riera - DG Regional Policy

1st Session From ISPA to the Cohesion FundChair: Friedemann Allgayer - DG Regional Policy

10.30-13.00 Cohesion Fund procedures and transition arrangementsColin Walker - DG Regional Policy

Programming for the Cohesion Fund and link to the Structural FundsAngela Martinez Sarasola - DG Regional Policy

Coffee Break

Environmental issues and Cohesion PolicySoledad Blanco - DG Environment

Discussion

13.00-14.30 Lunch

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2nd Session The road to Structural FundsChair: Sven Kjellström - DG Employment and Social Affaires

14.30-16.15 Policy issues

Complementary GuidelinesEric von Breska - DG Regional Policy

Rural Development in Structural FundsJohn Lougheed - DG Agriculture

Employment policyGeorges Kintzele - DG Employment and Social Affaires

Competition and State AidCarlos Tenreiro - DG Competition

Discussion

16.15-16.30 Coffee Break

Financial Management and ControlChair: Nicholas Martyn - DG Regional Policy

16.30-18.15 EDIS – the final phaseMartin Beck - DG Regional Policy

Preparations for EDIS in EstoniaRaivo Sulg - Ministry of Finance, Estonia

Preparation for post-accession management of Community Funds: ISPA lessons, progress reviewNicholas Martyn - DG Regional Policy

Implications of the N+2 rule for Structural FundsMichael Hill - DG Regional Policy

Discussion, panel members:Francis Rawlinson, Jacques Poncet - DG Regional Policy

18.30 Cocktail

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10 April 2003

3th Session Reinforcement of Institutional CapacityChair: Jean-Charles Leygues - DG Regional Policy

09.00-11.00 Follow-up of negotiation commitmentsMatthias Ruete - DG Enlargement

Building administrative capacityPascal Boijmans - DG Regional Policy

Scottish eapproach for managing Structural FundsLaurie Russel - Strathclyde European Partnership

Discussion

11.00-11.15 Coffee Break

4th Session Co-financing of Structural Funds and the Cohesion FundChair: Erich Unterwurzacher - DG Regional Policy

11.15-13.00 Co-financing in the framework of Structural FundsEddy Hartog - DG Regional Policy

EIB’s approach to co-financingMr. Emanuel Maravic and Patrice GéraudEuropean Investment Bank

EBRD’s approach to co-financingGavin Anderson and Alain PillouxEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Strengthening the project pipelineBrendan Smyth - DG Regional Policy

Discussion

13.00-13.15 Closing RemarksLluis Riera - DG Regional Policy

13.15 Buffet

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The Ispa instrument

Share per sector

2000-2002: committed per sector

Environment Transport Flood relief Decentralisation

Perc

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geShare of estimated* Ispa co-financing for projects decided by theCommission in 2000-2002

* estimated: the real total co-financing is only known after the approval of the last final report.

Share of estimated total EU contribution for projects signed in 2000-02

Bulgaria Czech Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Slovakia SloveniaRepublic

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For more information:

Lluis Riera DirectorSecretariat: tel: (32)(2)296 5068

fax: (32)(2)296 1096

Unit F1: ISPA co-ordination activities, Bulgaria, Romania

Erich Unterwurzacher Head of UnitSecretariat: tel: (32)(2)299 3964

fax: (32)(2)296 1096

Unit F2: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Friedemann Allgayer Head of UnitSecretariat: tel: (32)(2)299 4389

fax: (32)(2)296 5184

Unit F3: Czech Republic and Slovakia NN

Unit F4: Cyprus, Hungary, Malta and Slovenia.

Jean-Marie Seyler Head of UnitSecretariat: tel: (32)(2)295 3425

fax: (32)(2)295 1174

The e-mail address is as follows:firstname.lastname@cec.eu.int

Organised by the Directorate General for Regional Policyand the Joint Interpreting and Conference Service