The programme will support cooperation projects with EUR 34,801,503.00 which are available from the European Regional Development Fund and the IPA III Fund.

The new Programme represents the continuation of the successful cooperation between the two countries in 2014-2020 period.

The Programme mission, beside strengthening the social, economic and territorial development of the cross-border area, is to encourage and support cross-border cooperation to make the area more resilient to common challenges. These challenges include among others economic transition processes, climate change, and the long-term socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Programme will help to address main regional imbalances and contribute to reducing disparities in the development of the involved regions and will increase the capacity of the programme area to recover from the economic crisis.

Strategic Programme objective is sustainable development of programme area through smart, green and socially innovative projects through the implementation of joint projects that will be supported within the framework of three selected EU policy objectives: Smarter Europe, Greener Europe and More social Europe.

The Programme results will contribute to the achievement of the goals set by the European Green Plan, which are emphasized by the United Nations Programme on Sustainable Development until 2030. The Programme is directly linked to the European Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and the European Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR).

This Programme is also in line with the general objective of IPA III, which is to support beneficiaries in adopting and implementing the political, institutional, legal, administrative, social, and economic reforms required by these beneficiaries in order to be in line with the values of the Union.

The Programme envisaged 4 key priorities for the upcoming period, that can also be seen as a sort of continuation of the previous programme with certain new elements and characteristics desired in the new financial framework. The programme will therefore focus on a limited set of objectives and policy areas, i.e., concentrate on those thematic key areas where joint actions have the potential for the biggest impact:

  • Priority Axis 1- Cooperating for smarter programme area
  • Priority Axis 2- Cooperating for greener and climate change resilient programme area
  • Priority Axis 3- Cooperating for healthier and more inclusive programme area
  • Priority Axis 4- Cooperating for more sustainable and socially innovative tourism and culture

The selected Priority Axes reflect the needs and challenges of the Programme area. Each Priority Axis consists of at least one specific objective, which represents a positive change that the Programme aims to achieve in the cross-border area.

The Programme area is identical to the one from the previous programme period 2014-2020 and includes 4 counties in Croatia: Osijek-Baranja, Vukovar-Srijem, Brod-Posavina, Požega-Slavonia and 5 districts in Serbia: Northern Bačka, Western Bačka, Southern Bačka, Srem and Mačva, which represents a total of 25,505.00 km² of territory and over 2.1 mil. inhabitants.

A map of the Programme area

 

WHO MANAGES THE PROGRAMME?

Monitoring Committee – MC
MC is responsible for the review of overall effectiveness, quality and coherence of the implementation of all actions towards meeting the Programme objectives in line with Article 30 of the Interreg Regulation. The members of the MC represent the participating countries thus ensuring a transparent approach in monitoring the Programme implementation. The MC Rules of Procedures document, in which all the rights and obligations of MC members are stated, was adopted at the 1st MC meeting. The members of the MC are appointed from institutions listed in the following table.

Managing Authority – MA
MA is responsible for managing the Programme with a view to delivering the objectives of the Programme. MA is responsible for the effective and efficient implementation of the Programme in line with sound financial management, as well as for the application of proper regulations and rules concerning its implementation. Inter alia, the MA is responsible for launching the Calls for Proposals and contracting the operations. MA is the Sector for Managing Interreg Cooperation Programmes placed in the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation within the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia.

Joint Secretariat – JS
JS assists the MA and MC in carrying out their functions. JS undertakes the day-to-day implementation and provides support to the applicants in project development phase and beneficiaries in project implementation phase. JS is placed within the Sector for Managing Interreg Cooperation Programmes in the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia. Besides Joint Secretariat headquarter based in Zagreb, branch office is set in Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia in order to ensure smooth and efficient Programme implementation.

National Authorities – NA
NAs of the participating countries, Sector for coordination of European Territorial Cooperation programmes and Macro-Regional strategies within the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia and Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia, are responsible for setting up and ensuring efficient functioning of the respective national control systems. Furthermore, NAs are responsible for ensuring implementation of the decisions taken by the MC.

Audit Authority – AA
Audit Authority is responsible for independent audits of management and control system of the Programme, audit of accounts as well as for the audits of operations at the level of beneficiaries. The duties of the Audit Authority are performed by the Agency for the Audit of European Union Programmes Implementation System.

Body responsible for accounting function
Certifying Authority as known in 2014-2020 is discontinued and replaced by the concept of “accounting function”. These duties are performed by the Directorate for Finance and Information Telecommunication Systems within the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds. In that sense the accounting body shall be responsible for drawing up and submitting payment applications to the Commission; drawing up and submitting the accounts confirming completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts and keeping electronic records of all the elements of the accounts, including payment applications; converting the amounts of expenditure incurred in another currency into euro by using the monthly accounting exchange rate of the Commission in the month during which the expenditure is registered in the accounting systems of the body responsible for accounting.

HOW IT ALL STARTED?

Cohesion Policy legislative package
In May 2018, the European Commission presented proposal regulations laying down future legal framework of the Cohesion Policy in the financial perspective 2021-2027. Proposed legislative package includes regulations relevant for European Territorial Cooperation programmes (“Interreg”) in next financial perspective.
Cohesion Policy legislative package for financial perspective 2021-2027 entered into force on 1 July 2021. Regulations are applicable from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027.
The legislative package important for the Programme includes the following regulations:

  • Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021, laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (Common Provisions Regulation – CPR);
  • Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund and Corrigendum to Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund (Official Journal of the European Union L 231 of 30 June 2021) (ERDF Regulation);
  • Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on specific provisions for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) supported by the European Regional Development Fund and external financing instruments (Interreg Regulation);
  • Regulation (EU) 2021/1529 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 September 2021 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance (IPA III).

Please find the legislative package here.

Programming process
The process of partner involvement and preparation of the Programme was coordinated by the MA as well as the Programming Task Force (PTF) in charge for the preparation of the Interreg VI-A IPA programme Croatia – Serbia.
The PTF consisted of the national/regional/local representatives of both participating countries. This ensured that the regional/local level was actively involved in the programming process. All PTF members were actively involved in the decision-making process and preparation of all programme documents.
The programming process included:
– PTF meetings and worshops;
– Territorial and socio-economic analysis of the Programme area;
– Public consultations for the preparation of the Interreg Programme 2021-2027;
– Selection of policy objectives and specific objectives for the Interreg Programme 2021-2027;
– Strategic Environmental Assessment;
– drafting the Interreg Programme 2021-2027 document.

After the official approval of the Programme on 18 May 2022 by the PTF, the Programme was officially submitted to the European Commission.

Programme approval
On 3 November 2022 the European Commission approved the Interreg VI-A IPA Croatia – Serbia (version 1.1).

All documentation about the Programme is available here.