Interreg - RoHu

Coming soon: Info Days and Partner Search Forum
During June 19-23, 2017, the JS organises a series of Info Day events and a Partner Search Forum, in connection with the second round of Calls launched. The schedule of the events is the following:

Info Days in Romania and Hungary

Timișoara, 19.06.2017
Satu Mare, 20.06.2017
Nyíregyháza, 21.06.2017
Békéscsaba, 22.06.2017

At the Info Days, you will:
+ get informed regarding potential sources of funding
+ get familiar with the particularities of the active Calls + learn about the eMS system
+ ask questions and receive answers

Partner Search Forum in Szeged, Hungary, 23.06.2017

At the Partner Search, you will:
+ learn about the particularities of cross border cooperation projects
+ bring in your expertise, and meet partners to develop new projects

Have a look at the draft Agenda of the events! Click here for more information and register here!

Submission deadline for the 1st round of CfPs prolonged until June 30, 2017

The submission period for the first round of Calls for proposals (1st Open and 1st Restricted CfP), launched in December 2016, has been recently extended, until 30.06.2017, 16:00 (EET).

With the two calls opened last year, more than 36,500,000 EUR (ERDF), increased with the relevant Romanian and Hungarian state co-financing became available for investments in the water sector, natural heritage, risk prevention and disaster management and last but not least, for strategic projects aiming to improve sustainable cross-border mobility and to remove bottlenecks.

Corrigenda no. 4 for the two CfPs have been published together with the updated versions of the Application packages and are now available for download on the Call for Proposals section of our webpage. For details, please visit the programme website.
The programme structures thank all project applicants who already submitted their proposals and wish good luck to those who are still in the preparation phase

New opportunities for project funding: 2nd Open Call and 2nd Restricted Call

This spring, the Programme has launched its second round of Calls for proposals, for both normal and strategic projects.
The 2nd Open Call, for normal projects, has opened the Investment priorities 6/b (water sector), 7/c (bicycle roads) and 11/b (cooperation between institutions and citizens).
The ERDF amount available for this Open Call is 9,711,372 EUR.

Application phase: May 22, 2017, 8.00 until August 31, 2017, 16:00 (EET).

For more information, please visit our website.

The 2nd Restricted Call, for strategic projects, has opened the Investment priority 9/a (heath infrastructure).
The ERDF amount available for this Restricted Call is 40,945,000.00 EUR
Application phase: June 21, 2017, 8.00 until September 20, 2017, 16:00 (EET).

For more information, please read the official announcement.

Important steps in Programme implementation

At present, the Audit Authority is assessing the conformity of the Description of Management and Control System (DMCS) against the designation criteria in the EC Regulation 1303/2013, Annex XIII. Following the audit mission, performed in both Romania and Hungary, to the programme bodies, (MA, NA, JS, IPs and FLCs) the designation process, which is an essential step for receiving EU funds, is going to be finalised.

Another important process is on-going. Assessors are requested! Please spread the word! The JS has already initiated the public procurement procedure regarding external services for the quality assessment of the projects under the 1st round of CfPs (both Restricted and Open).

Do you know that certain activities eligible within our Programme may fall under the State aid incidence? Thus, projects within the 2nd Restricted Call and those to be submitted for the 3rd round of CfPs will undergo State aid assessment. The Programme bodies, after consultation with relevant authorities in both countries, identified the possible incidence of State aid in the context of the Programme and developed a methodology for assessing project activities form State aid viewpoint. Furthermore, two State aid schemes are under finalization: The State aid scheme under GBER and The de minims aid scheme.

Regarding State aid, the following situations may occur:

activities that are state aid free,
activities that are to be financed under State aid GBER scheme (some activities under Ip 6/c and 8/b),
activities falling under de minimis scheme and
activities that imply the entrustment of an SGEI (some activities under 9/a – for RO applicants only) or the entrustment of an SGEI under EU regulation 1370/2007 (some activities under 7/c).

More information regarding State aid in the context of our Programme can be found in the dedicated section of the relevant Guide for applicants.
Please be advised that projects submitted under the 1st round of CfPs as well as those in the framework of the 2nd Open Call will not be assessed from the State aid viewpoint.

Facts and figures on project generation activities

As you may already know, different needs emerge through a programme’s implementation lifetime, due to its natural evolution. Since most of the Programme’s funds are to be allocated during the first years of implementation, immediately after the launching of the first round of CfPs, the JS started to put great emphasis on attracting high quality applications, with the aim to ensure effective programme implementation.
In this regard, a series of events had been organised or attended by the JS, and continuous help desk was ensured for applicants, with focus on providing information about the ROHU Programme, investment priorities, opened calls, funding available, eligibility requirements, contact details, preparation and submission of quality projects, support in finding partners, success stories as examples of cooperation etc.

Here are some figures related to the above-mentioned activities, which had been implemented in the first 5 months of 2017:

428 participants at the Info Days (1st round of CfPs), in Arad, Oradea, Debrecen and Szeged;
99 attendants in our Partner Search, in Timisoara;
86 people in our eMS help desk sessions;
248 participants in project generation sessions, organized by the JS;
275 people in project generation sessions hosted by different institutions who invited us;
50 potential applicants visiting BRECO premises for Help Desk.

Introducing our Info Points in Hungary

In this issue of our Newsletter, we thought it would be useful to briefly describe the roles and responsibilities of the newly established Info Point offices (IPs) in Hungary and how they can be contacted. Proximity is an important prerequisite for developing close contacts with the applicants in the border area, in a simple and effective way. Having this in mind, even from the programming period, IP offices were planned to be opened in each of the Hungarian counties, with the aim to complement the activities of the JS at local level. The IPs provide update information and professional help to applicants and beneficiaries and contribute in the accomplishment of the JS delegated tasks for implementing the Programme. We are happy to announce that starting from March 2017, we have three new colleagues and the IP offices in Nyíregyháza, Békéscsaba and Szeged are functional. In case you have the intention to participate in the programme, or you need advice concerning your project ideas, we strongly encourage you to contact the IPs. Our colleagues will offer you assistance and advice in putting your ideas in practice.

Their contact details are the following:

Information Point in Nyíregyháza
Viktor FEKETE
+36/30-355-0434
fekete.viktor@szechenyiprogramiroda.hu

Information Point in Békéscsaba
Matilda SZÁSZNÉ TYUKODI
+36/30-431-5409
tyukodi.matilda@szechenyiprogramiroda.hu

Information Point in Szeged
Radmila MENDEBABA
+36/30-181-3433
radmila.mendebaba@szechenyiprogramiroda.hu

MANY SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS AND KEEP ON COOPERATING EVERYONE!