Growing Together:
International Conference on
Cohesion Policy
Session I: The Priorities of EU Regional Policy in
the Next Period 2014 – 2020 Reflections on
Candidate Countries
Serbian European Integration Office
Ognjen Miric
Deputy Director, Coordinator for EU Funds
March 2013
Agenda
• Serbia state of play: IPA and regional
development policy
• Readiness of candidate countries for Cohesion
Policy (Chapter 22)
• Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 priorities and their
relevance for Serbia
• How to ensure concentration of priorities
• Conclusions
IPA state of play in Serbia
• Programming 2007-2013 has been finalised - €1.4 bill
• All programming documents for IPA III-V have been
prepared but not approved due to ’’late’’ CC status
• All structures and procedures in place. Conferral of
management powers expected by end of 2013
• Impact evaluation of IPA and other international
assistance has been launched by NIPAC Office
• Programming of IPA 2014-2020 has been launched
• Main issues: maturity of projects and further need to
increase institutional capacities
Serbia’s regional development policy
• Two out of five regions have administrative powers
• Law on regional development (2009): needs to be changed
• Shift from territorial based approach to sector approach
(2013): needs to be operationalised
• New Regional Development Strategies are under
preparation
• Regional councils are not operational
• Regional development agencies needs to be profiled and
when it comes to IPA management only involved in project
preparation
What does it mean ready
for Cohesion Policy
• Legal framework
• Institutional framework
– Institutional set up with clear roles, responsibilities and mutual
relationships defined, encouraging efficient coordination
• Administrative capacity
– In planning, project identification, preparation and implementation
• Programming
– Strategic planning (from strategy to project level)
• Monitoring and evaluation
– Monitoring, (ex-ante, mid-term, ex-post) evaluation, MIS
• Financial management and control
– Decentralised management requirements, co-financing
2012 Progress Report findings, Chapter 22
Main issues
per CC
Iceland (has
started
preparations)
Legal
framework
Macedonia
(limited
progress)
Montenegro
(some
progress)
Serbia
(progress)
Turkey
(some
progress)
Multi-annual
programme
budgeting
Multi-annual
programming
and co-financing
Preparations are
at an early stage
Has been little
progress
Some progress
Institutional
framework
Institutions
identified
Considerable
improvements
are needed
Preparations are
advancing
There has been
progress, but
parallel systems
Some progress
Administrativ
e capacity
Training plan to
be implemented
The training plan
was only
partially
implemented
Preparations are
at an early stage
Progress can be
reported
Some progress,
further increasing
the institutional
capacity is needed
Programming
Under
development
Preparation of
mature projects
is difficult
Moderately
advanced, but
maturity of
projects is issue
Some progress,
but lack of
strategically
developed
investment plans
Some progress,
risks for the
absorption of
funds remain
Monitoring &
evaluation
Under
development
Preparations are
advancing
At an early stage
Some progress
Some progress,
evaluation capacity
Fin. manag.
and control
In line with EU
best practices
Some progress
was made
At an early stage
Good progress
Some progress
Chapter 22, Croatia experience
Negotiation process November 2009 – April 2011
Opening benchmarks
Closing benchmarks
Development of an Action Plan for
Meeting EU Cohesion Policy
requirements
Prove a satisfactory functioning of the decentralized
implementation system
Prove an adequate and mature project pipeline
Prove a satisfactory level of implementation of IPA
funding
Submit an advanced and comprehensive draft of its
National Strategic Framework
Adopt an institutional set up for the implementation
of the EU Cohesion Policy
Adopt individual Organizational Development
Strategies
Submit a detail plan and timetable with regard to the
setting up of a monitoring and evaluation system
What all this means
• One of the main aims of IPA is to prepare
candidate countries for Cohesion Policy and
prepare an efficient system for post accession
• According to 2012 Progress Report candidate
countries need to do more
• Compared to Croatia, candidate countries
might need to do (even) better
Europe 2020
• Cohesion Policy is concentrating on the Europe 2020
Strategy’s priorities of smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth
• Candidate countries should not simply copy Europe
2020 priorities and targets
• Europe 2020 priorities are candidate countries
priorities, but ‘’our specificities’’ (macro-economic
stability, underdeveloped infrastructure,
technological dependence, high unemployment etc.)
require specific approach and proper concentration
Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
thematic objectives 1/1
Thematic objectives
Relevance for Serbia IPA II
Research & innovation
Yes. Focusing on cooperation between
business and research communities
Information and communication
technologies (ICT)
Yes, but in short-term pending due to
unclear strategic and institutional
framework.
Competitiveness of Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs)
Yes. Improving business environment, including
business infrastructure and financial support (if
possible) to agriculture producers and export
oriented SMEs.
Shift towards a low-carbon economy
Yes, but not likely to happen. Should be
covered by environment and energy obj.
Climate change adaptation & risk
prevention and management
Climate change strategy is missing (could
be cross-cutting issue). Risk prev./manag.
in justifiable cases.
Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
thematic objectives 1/2
Environmental protection & resource
efficiency
Yes, but prioritisation needs to be applied
between waste, water, air quality, energy
efficiency and renewables
Sustainable transport & removing
Yes, especially railway Corridor X and the
bottlenecks in key network infrastructures Danube (Corridor VII).
Employment & supporting labour mobility Yes, especially youth unemployment.
Social inclusion & combating poverty
Yes, especially community-based services
with proven impact.
Education, skills & lifelong learning
Yes, increasing its quality, relevance and
inclusiveness and especially linking it to
labour market needs.
Institutional capacity building & efficient
public administrations
Yes, sector reforms and acquis.
Programming Framework
2014-2020
Cohesion Policy programming
Common Strategic
Framework
Partnership
Contract
Operational
Programmes
IPA II programming
Common Strategic
Framework
Country Strategy
Paper
Sector Support
Programmes
Concentration matters
• Compliance with strategies
• Sector approach (better coordination)
• Correlation between priorities from deferent sectors
(transport and economy, energy and environment, transport
and R&D, economy and R&D etc.)
• Relevance and expected impact of projects (specific criteria
for each type of projects: e.g. transport, energy, environment,
business and social infrastructure)
• Maturity of projects
• Sufficient absorption capacities, including managerial skills
and knowledge about the project subject on the side of
beneficiaries
We should not forget the reality
• The equipment provided is not in use and priority eGovernment services are not yet operational
• The Beneficiary has been lacking capacity from the beginning
but the situation has worsened following the post-elections
reorganisation
• Sustainability of R&D facility is questionable when national
R&D investments are 0.5%GDP
• To start construction of intermodal terminal legal property
issues needs to be resolved
• Regional landfill is not in use after construction by 3 out of 9
municipalities
Conclusions
• Candidate countries need to do more to be ready for
Cohesion Policy
• Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 thematic objectives are
relevant for candidate countries but specificities of
each country should be taken into consideration
• It is up to each country to establish its own system
for management of EU (in agreement with EC) and
national funds
• Concentration and maturity of projects with proven
impact are crucial (no-regret projects)
Thank you for your attention
omiric@seio.gov.rs