ENI CBC IN MOTION: November 2018
Growth is everywhere in the ENI CBC community, be it the number of new projects contracted, large infrastructure projects approved, financing agreements ratified or the programmes joined the EC Day initiative. The list is quite extensive but we promise to cover every single detail in our traditional monthly overview.
Autumn break-through
October witnessed a remarkable growth of the new projects contracted. 79 new projects were launched by 6 ENI CBC programmes, mounting to the total of 133 projects currently running. Four projects were contracted by Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus, eight by Kolarctic, eight by South-East Finland – Russia and outstanding 37 by Karelia! Five new projects are on account of Poland-Belarus-Ukraine, while Black Sea Basin added 17 new contracts to its list. The running projects contribute to various thematic objectives, ranging from promotion of local culture and preservation of historical heritage to environmental protection.
More positive news on the status of the Large Infrastructure Projects (LIPs) too. From the time of our last bulletin 15 new LIPs from Latvia-Russia, Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus and Romania-Ukraine received the approval by the EC and started the contracting procedures. Meanwhile, 11 projects – one by Kolarctic and ten by Poland-Belarus-Ukraine – are already contracted.
Projects wanted
The possibilities to receive funding across ENI CBC are also growing. Three open calls for proposals offer programme funds to support new initiatives in such areas as business and entrepreneurship, environmental protection, education and research, border management and border security, mobility and migration management.
The third call for proposals is open until 21 December under the Kolarctic programme. The total budget of this call amounts to €9,3 million and will support projects contributing to the four thematic objectives of the programme. In this call for proposals the Managing Authority and the Branch Offices in Norway, the Russian Federation and Sweden are providing tailored support to the potential applicants via round table discussions and individual consultations.
Black Sea Basin launched its second call for proposals on 1 October with the deadline on 31 January 2019. €24,5 million of EU funding are allocated to the two thematic objectives: (1) promote business and entrepreneurship within the Black Sea Basin and (2) promote coordination of environmental protection and joint reduction of marine litter in the Black Sea Basin. An extensive information campaign is supporting potential applicants through capacity building workshops and partner search fora which are taking place in six participating countries from September to November.
Fifth round of a call by South-East Finland – Russia CBC invites the potential applicants to submit their project ideas until 27 March 2019. This call sets some specific criteria to the projects, such as a maximum duration of 30 months and particular emphasis on increasing institutional capacity of the public authorities. Lead applicant workshops dedicated to this call will be organised in on the programme territory in January and February 2019.
Closed calls at a glance
A careful reading of the calls closed last month reveals some growing tendencies too. This is a case of the number of concept notes received by Karelia in the first step of its 6th call for proposals closed on 15 October. 61 concept notes far outnumber the applications submitted to the previous calls and request €24,5 million, which exceeds almost four times the available budget. They are almost evenly distributed among the programme priorities: 23 were submitted to Attractive cultural environment, 19 each received Growing cross-border business cooperation and Clean and comfortable region to live. In terms of geographical distribution, Finnish lead applicants forge ahead with 40 concept notes submitted. Evaluation will take place in December and the successful applicants will be invited to submit their full applications to the second step of the call which will last from 8 January till 12 March 2019.
Just a few days ago ended the second call for proposals by Poland-Belarus-Ukraine (deadline was on 31 October), and we will certainly bring more details about it in our next bulletin.
Programmes on the move
Talking about the programmes’ progress, we cannot but mention such specific for the ENI CBC community milestone as signature of the Financing Agreements with Partner Countries. This process culminated last month in a total of 25 agreements finalised and will be completed by the end of this year with ratification of agreements within Estonia-Russia and Lithuania-Russia Programmes.
Another growing tendency in the ENI CBC community is joining the EC Day campaign. This year a record participation of 12 programmes resulted in the organisation of 12 events in 8 countries reaching more than 5 000 citizens. And who said that celebration can’t go together with capitalisation? Here you are! Children’s festival “Cross-Border Cooperation – Meeting Point of Cultures” jointly organised by Latvia-Russia, South-East Finland – Russia and Estonia-Russia in Gatchina (Russia) on 30 September is an excellent trend to follow!
Such good trends seem to be an excellent motivation to look positively ahead. And we promise to bring you equally remarkable news in our next bulletin. Keep yourself informed by subscribing to ENI CBC updates and follow us on our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.