Joint Monitoring Committee meeting will take place on the 15th of July 2016

Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting under the Interreg - IPA CBC Bulgaria-Serbia Programme will take place on the 15^th of July 2016 at the town of Bozhurishte, Bulgaria. The forum will be chaired by Ms. Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, and co – chaired by Ms. Sanda Simic, Assistant Director of Serbian European Integration Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The main objective of the JMC meeting is to review and select the first projects recommended for funding under the Programme which have achieved best technical assessment score.

The First Call for Proposals has been announced on August 17^th, 2015, with a deadline for submission of project proposals – January 18^th, 2016, and provided the possibility for appliying under the three Programme’s priority axes – (Priority Axis 1 – “Sustainable tourism”, Priority Axis 2 – “Youths” and Priority Axis 3 – “Environment”).  The available financial resources of the First Call for project proposals amounted to 12 687 304,24 Euro. A total number of 388 project proposals were submitted within the deadline, exceeding the total number of project proposals submitted under the whole 2007-2013 programming period, which is a demonstration of the exceptional interest of the public.

The eligible beneficiaries under the Programme are all legal entities established in the eligible cross border region between Bulgaria and Serbia, which are non-profit making organizations. Тhe eligible area in Republic of Bulgaria covers the districts Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Sofia, Pernik and Kyustendil  and in Republic of Serbia - the districts Bor, Zajecar, Nisava, Toplica,  Pirot, Jablanica and Pcinja. 

After approval of the Administrative and Eligibility check, taken at the JMC meeting in Nis on April 21^st, 2016, a total number of 285 project proposals were admitted to technical and quality assessment by both Bulgarian and Serbian independent experts.

The implementation of the new subsidy contracts under the Programme is expected to contribute for a strengthened cooperation between the two countries in their common aim to stimulate the balanced and sustainable development of the Bulgaria-Serbia border region in the new programming period.

We bring your attention to the fact that the total amount of the Programmes’ budget is 34 102 256 euro, from which 85% are co-financed by the European Union through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II  (IPA II), and the remaining 15% represent national co - financing.