Coordination group meeting – presentation of the First Call for Proposals under the Croatia-Serbia Interreg IPA Cooperation Programme 2014-2020
A meeting with the members of the coordination group for municipalities and towns of AP Vojvodina was held at the Chamber of Commerce of Vojvodine on 8th April 2016.
The main topic of the meeting was the presentation of the Call for Proposals under the Croatia-Serbia Interreg IPA Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 open at the moment, in which the basic elements of the call were presented: priorities to be funded by the programme, overall budget, allocation of funds per priority, project implementation period, as well as the documents necessary when submitting project proposals.
The First Call of the Croatia-Serbia Interreg IPA Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 opened on 15th March 2016 and the deadline for the submission of project proposal is 1st July 2016. When establishing the priorities of the Croatia-Serbia Interreg IPA Cooperation Programme 2014-2020, attention was paid to the common needs and challenges in the programme area, thus in accordance with that, the programme will finance four priorities (Improving the quality of public health and social services in the programme area, Protecting the environment and biodiversity, improving risk prevention and promoting sustainable energy and energy efficiency, Contributing to the development of tourism and preserving cultural and natural heritage, and Enhancing competitiveness and developing business environment). The First Call for Proposals will cover the Programme budget for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the total available budget is 15.009.809 EUR, out of which 12.758.338 EUR represents the EU funding (Programme amount) and the remaining 2.251.471 EUR represents the national co-financing. The EU will finance max. 85% of the total eligible expenditures and the applicants (beneficiaries) of the two participating countries shall provide min. 15% co-financing. In order to be eligible for a grant, the Applicant/Partner must meet all of the following criteria: be non-profit-making legal person/entity, established by public or private law for the purposes of public interest or specific purpose of meeting needs of general interest; be registered in respecting participating country (Croatia and/or Serbia); must have at least two partners, one from each participating country; Lead Applicant has to be registered at least 12 months prior to the deadline for submission of applications.
Siniša Lazić, Director of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina opened the meeting and invited the participants to continue and enhance the good cooperation, information dissemination and share of experience, so as for a more successful use of EU funds. He also emphasized that the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina would remain available for any kind of support and cooperation under the first call, as well as the future ones.
According to the assessment, the organisation of such meetings has been useful, especially at the time of new ongoing calls, so as to obtain due, full and accurate information.
One of the following steps will be a visit to local self-governments in Bačka and Srem, so as to grasp the opportunities of developing joint projects with the aim of a greater participation under the First Call for Proposals under the Croatia-Serbia Interreg IPA Cooperation Programme 2014-2020.
