The Managing Authority (MA) for the Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – the Romanian Ministry of Public Works, Development and Administration (MPWDA), the National Authority (NA) – the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) and the Joint Secretariat (JS) of the Programme- Regional Office for Cross-Border Cooperation for Romania-Bulgaria Border, organized today, December 15, 2020, online, the 12th meeting of Monitoring Committee for Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme, coordinated by the Secretary of State, Florin Creţ.
The discussions were focused on the Programme status. 2020 was a year full of challenges, considering also the COVID-19 pandemic, but due measures were taken by the Programme bodies in order to continue the development of the border area.
In 2020, the Managing Authority succeeded to finalize the contracting process at the Programme level. A number of 172 projects, with a total value of over 275 million Eur, were financed by the Programme.
It is to appreciate the fact that in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the Programme structures and project beneficiaries made significant efforts so that the absorption target set for 2020, of 34 milion Eur, was achieved and even exceeded.
As well, in 2020 Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme had a direct contribution to the measures taken to combat the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, by financing projects whose main objective is:
- Interventions in health sector, including the equipment of the hospitals in the border region
- Reducing of the risks in emergency situations
- Developing of integrated tourism products, an area seriously affected by the current pandemic
In order to offer support for our beneficiaries, to all our projects were given the possibility to ask for a suspension period of implementation during the pandemic. However, most of our project beneficiaries decided to continue their activities in the safety conditions imposed by the pandemic, so that the process of developing our Romanian-Bulgarian border has continued. From all 67 projects in implementation in 2020, only 3 projects requested a suspension period due the pandemic context.
Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme is implemented digitally, through its own electronic system, the eMS. Starting with the submission of project applications, contracts signing and continuing with all additional documents necessary for the implementation of a project, the electronic version may be used, including the electronic signature. The payments made to Romanian beneficiaries are being constantly published on the MPWPA website at: https://www.mlpda.ro/pages/plati.
Not least, the Monitoring Committee has approved today the communication activities to be carried out next year by the Programme bodies.
During 2020, Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme has demonstrated once again that we can cooperate successfully across the borders, despite of linguistic, administrative, political and social barriers, motivated by common values, even in extreme conditions. As well, the performances reached rank our programme among the best Interreg programmes in European Union.
