The Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Programme
Three generations of programmes already! The ENI Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020 continues and builds on the cooperation developed within the framework of the Neighbourhood Programme supported by INTERREG IIIA / TACIS CBC 2004–2006 followed by the ENPI Cross-border Cooperation 2007-2013.
Looking at the previous period, the programme funding was allocated to 117 projects. Sectors such as social infrastructure, healthcare, education, tourism, protection of cultural heritage, security and border-crossings’ infrastructure could benefit from these actions in the border areas of the countries concerned.
In the current period, the Programme has the largest budget among the land border ENI CBC programmes. The partner countries have decided to continue the work initiated before and go even further. The € 170 million EU funding available to projects will focus in particular on protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage of border areas, on infrastructural accessibility of the regions, on the improvement of border-crossings’ infrastructure, and on procedures and services as well as development of healthcare and public security services.
The last Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting organised in Bialystok, Poland, on the topic of security, closed the results of the first call for proposals launched in 2016. Previous JMC meetings were respectively organised in 2017 in October for the objective of heritage, and in December for accessibility and borders. In total, 113,05 million euros are now allocated to cross border projects in the fields of heritage (29,5%), accessibility (31,5 %), security (21%) and borders (18%). The last call, targeting micro projects will be launched on 1st August and remain open until 31 October. Besides calls, Large Infrastructure Projects, with an allocation of over 52 million euros, are on the way to be approved by the European Commission via direct award procedure.
Overall, projects funded within the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Programme are non profit actions and contribute to the improvement of quality of life of inhabitants of eastern Poland and western Ukraine and Belarus. “Each project demonstrates strong cross-border elements, not only through established partnership between institutions from these three countries, but also thanks to the results of the activities and their positive impact on the border territory” highlights Anna Kluczyk, communication manager in the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Programme.
In May and June, the programme will celebrate its 15th anniversary through 15 events in the three countries. A series of concerts in each programme’s region will be open to everyone. The celebrations will also give visibility to the results of the projects that have been supported so far. On 19 June, the symbolic city of Lviv will host the closing conference of this intensive moment. A nice way to enjoy spring for all the people living in the border areas between Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.
For more information on the programme, consult the website and the programme Facebook page
www.pbu2020.eu & www.facebook.com/PBU2020