New Interreg III Programme

The new EU program Interreg III B will be a very important program for cooperation between local and regional authorities in the Baltic Sea Region. However, one of the problems with Interreg III B has been the size of the projects. A medium size of approximately 5 million Euro is very much for projects that aim mostly at exchange of experience in various forms on the sub-national level.

UBC has argued for a new facility for small and medium sized projects ever since the last ones disappeared in 1998 and for a better co-ordination between Phare funding and other EU funding. The UBC President has taken up the matter in many CBSS meetings as well as in Brussels. Also other Baltic Sea Region organisations, especially BSSSC, have been active in this field.

As a part of the UBC activities, UBC took initiative to form a joint working group with representatives from UBC, BSSSC and CPMR/Baltic Sea Commission. The purpose was to create a platform for lobbying in Brussels for a facility for small and medium sized projects.

It looks as the voices from the Baltic Sea Region have been heard in Brussels. Friday 27 October the European Commission adopted a paper labelled "Phare 2000 review-Strengthening Preparations For Membership", Communication from Mr Verheugen. In the paper, Mr Verheugen introduces two new possibilities for small and medium sized co-operation projects between local and regional authorities. The first is connected to Interreg III, and the second is a new twinning scheme.

Interreg III B

Phare will finance accession country participation in Interreg III B-projects in the Baltic Sea Region. In other parts of the border between EU and the applicant countries, the funding will go to Interreg III A projects. This means that proper consideration has been taken to the maritime borders in our region.

The co-ordination between Phare and Interreg III will be better. About 10 % of the Phare budget will be allocated to cross-border projects. Phare will be able to finance also smaller projects, in addition to "normal sized" Interreg III projects (= more than 2 million Euro). Phare will co-finance cross-border projects where the Phare contribution is between 50 000 and 2 million Euro. In addition to that, there will be a facility in Phare CBC up to 50 000 Euro per project.

To conclude, there will be a program for small and medium sized co-operation projects in the framework of Interreg III B, and the financing of the eastern partners looks secured.

Latest information says that the call for projects will be published in September 2001. However, as in all programs, there are tremendous advantages for those who start preparations early. The whole projects should be ready by September, including budget, so you just have to fill in the forms when the call comes.

Phare Twinning "Light"

Mr Verheugen also announces an improved Phare Twinning facility. It will be intended for projects on institutions building in the framework of a twinning agreement between cities and regions. There are no details on the program yet.