1ST CALL FOR STRATEGIC PROJECT PROPOSALS INTERREG IPA II CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME “GREECE–ALBANIA 2014-2020”

Deadline: May 16, 2016  
CALL EXPIRED

1. Context

The Interreg IPA II Cross-border Cooperation Programme “Greece –Albania 2014-2020” is a cross border co-operation Programme co-financed by the European Union under the Instrument for Pre- accession Assistance II (IPA II).

The Instrument for Pre–accession Assistance for the period from 2014 to 2020 (‘IPA II’) shall support the beneficiaries listed in Annex I of the Regulation (EU) No.231/2014 in adopting and implementing the political, institutional, legal, administrative, social and economic reforms required by those beneficiaries in order to comply with the Union's values and to progressively align to the Union's rules, standards, policies and practices, with a view to Union membership. Through such support, IPA II shall contribute to stability, security and prosperity in the beneficiaries listed in Annex I of the Regulation (EU) No.231/2014.

Within this framework, the Interreg IPA II Cross-border Cooperation Programme “Greece – Albania 2014-2020” consists of three Priority Axes and four Thematic Priorities, which are:

Priority Axis 1: Promotion of the environment sustainable transport & public infrastructure Priority Axis 2: Boosting the local economy
Priority Axis 3: Technical Assistance

Priority Axis 1 will be implemented via two thematic priorities focusing on:

1. Thematic Priority (c): Promoting sustainable transport, information and communication networks and services and investing in cross-border water, waste and energy systems and facilities

2. Thematic Priority (b): Protecting the environment & promoting climate change adaptation & mitigation, risk prevention & management

Priority Axis 2 will be implemented via two thematic priorities focusing on:

1. Thematic Priority (d): Encouraging tourism and cultural and natural heritage
2. Thematic Priority (g): Enhancing competitiveness, the business environment and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, trade and investment through, inter

alia, promotion and support to entrepreneurship, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, and development of local cross-border markets and internationalisation

The overall strategy of Interreg IPA II cross-border cooperation programme “Greece - Albania 2014- 2020” is: “to find the balance between sustainable regional development and enhancement of cross-border cooperation among local population & regional institutions, in accordance with EU & national policies, in order to address common challenges through joint interventions”

The Programme’s budget allocated for the period 2014-2020 is 42.312.029,00€. This amount consists of 35.965.222,00€ EU contribution and 6.346.807,00€ national contributions. The national counterpart rate for both Greece and Albania is 15%. For the 1st Call for Strategic Projects proposals, for the project beneficiaries from Albania, the 15% of the national counterpart will be covered by the beneficiaries own contribution.

Suspension clause

This Call for proposals is subject to the signing of the Multiannual Financing Agreement between the European Commission, Managing Authority and Albania (for Albanian beneficiaries) and to the signing of the Ministerial Decision on Management and Control System (for Greek beneficiaries).

2. Documents of reference

Before submitting any project proposal, applicants are invited to consult the Cooperation Programme approved by the European Commission (Decision C(2015) 5482 of 30 -07-2015), Regulation (EU) No.231/2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No.447/2014 (implementing Regulation (EU) No.231/2014). Applicants are also invited to study carefully the Programme and Project Manual.

These documents are available on the Managing Authority’s website at http://www.interreg.gr, on the Programme’s website at http://www.greece-albania.eu and on the website of the Ministry of European Integration of Albania www.integrimi.gov.al.

3. Strategic Projects

A Strategic Project aims to achieve a significant and long lasting change and improvement on the whole or large parts of the eligible Programme area. Strategic Projects will set the groundwork upon which common territorial structures for sustainable development can be created, resulting to new innovative employment activities.

The basic attributes of the Strategic Projects are the following:

1. They are strongly connected with the national and regional policy framework, with the EU policies, as well as with the essential standards identified in the Cooperation Programme

2. They are thematically focused, and tackle issues that cannot be sufficiently dealt with, by individual regions or by ordinary cross-border projects

3. They engage a significant proportion of the Programme’s budget

4. They provide clear added value and create territorial economic dynamics

5. There is always strong involvement of higher level national authorities -stakeholders

In order to facilitate the development and assessment whether a project is strategic, it is needed for the following three dimensions to be recognized:

A. Policy / Programme dimension
Be Coherent with the Programme strategy and with European, national and regional policies

B. Geographical dimension

Have real impact on the cooperation area

Bring tangible and visible results

Be sustainable

C. Action dimension

Built strong partnerships Capitalise on experiences
Be innovative
Be “holistic”/ interdisciplinary Communicate