The new Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Interreg NEXT Programme - similarly as its predecessors, the quadrilateral ENPI Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 and the quadrilateral ENI Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 - aims at serving the development of the Hungarian-Slovak-Romanian-Ukrainian border region and has a special commitment to catch up with the Ukrainian programme area.
The Programme area consists of the following 10 territorial units:
The potential project partners of the border region have demonstrated a great willingness to cooperate in the past, and over the years they have jointly acquired significant expertise in cbc project management. The challenge of the new Programme will be to take existing initiatives one step further, which will be helped by the streamlined procedures and simplified reimbursement rules planned for the 2021-2027 programming period.
Similarly, to the previous programming period, Hungary is hosting the Managing Authority of the Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine Interreg NEXT Programme. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, performing the Managing Authority function, is responsible for the planning and implementation of the Programme and is in close cooperation with the national and regional institutions of the participating countries and the Joint Secretariat hosted by the Széchenyi Programme Office.
Following an active programme planning period of three years, on 3rd of November, 2022, the content of the Programme developed for the 2021-2027 period was adopted at the 41st committee meeting of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe (NDICI-GE). The HUSKROUA Interreg NEXT Programme was the first among the Interreg NEXT Programmes submitted in the framework of NDICI-GE, and the first approved by the European Commission.
The Programme allocates 83 million EUR of EU funding from the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) as well as from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) sources for project ideas to be implemented in cooperation with partners from Member States and from Ukraine (the amount includes contribution to the Technical Assistance as well). The EU co-financing will be available mainly for the non-profit entities of the border region, as a main rule via open calls for proposals. On project level, the Union co-financing rate is maximum 90% of the total eligible expenditure and shall not exceed 90% on project and on partner-level.
The programme strategy, in line with orientation proposed by the European Commission (EC), has identified the following thematic fields which should be targeted, these have become the new Programme’s Priorities. The priorities are divided into specific objectives:
1. A resilient and green border region – 33 741 627,00 EUR of EU contribution
Objective 1.1: Climate change adaptation, risk prevention
Objective 1.2: Biodiversity and reduced pollution
2. A healthy and attractive border region – 36 741 627,00 EUR of EU contribution
Objective 2.1: Equal access to health care
Objective 2.2: Culture and tourism
3. A cooperating border region – 12 698 795,00 EUR of EU contribution
Objective 3.1: Harmonious neighbourly relations through cooperation
Objective 3.2: A safer and more secure Europe
The first open Call for proposals was published on 21th of September, 2023, with a total EU funding of 49 993 185 EUR.
85 applications for Small-Scale Projects (S) and Regular-Scale Projects without infrastructure budget line (RS) have been submitted via the INTERREG+ system until the deadline of 20th of February, 2024 requesting 65 634 250 EUR grant in total. As for the Regular-Scale Projects with infrastructure budget (RI) line and Large-Scale Projects (L), 76 applications have been submitted via the I+ system by the deadline on 14th of March, 2024 in total 129 550 121 EUR of EU contribution has been requested. Altogether this resulted in 195 184 371 EUR claim of EU contributions in total with 161 applications and 489 involved organizations.
The evaluation process has been ongoing since then, and ended with the Monitoring Committee’s decision-making meeting held on 29th of June, 2024 in Satu Mare, Romania. The preparation of the second Call for proposals begins after the conclusion of the contract period and the start of the implementation of the subsidized projects. The launch of the next Call is expected at Q4 of 2024 - Q1 of 2025.
Please find the approved Interreg Programme document and the documents of its Strategic Environmental Assessment on the official website of the Programme: https://next.huskroua-cbc.eu/
For further up-to-date information please also check the Programme’s Facebook profile where the most current information on the 2021-2027 programme are regularly shared: https://www.facebook.com/next.huskrouacbc.eu/
Archive: Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine ENI CBC Programme 2014-2020
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