Thirty eight projects of the second standard call for proposals have been adopted by the ENPI Med (cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean Programme) Joint Monitoring Committee during its eight meeting which took place in Larnaca, Cyprus, on 17th June.
Launched in December 2011, the last call under the 2007-2013 Programme witnessed high competition, as highlighted by the following figures: a total value of € 1.4 billion ENPI contribution requested by 1095 submitted proposals against € 56.5 million available budget and less than 4% of projects finally selected.
Besides confirming the relevance at Mediterranean level of topics such as the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, waste and water management, innovation processes and territorial planning, the approved 38 projects shed some light on new thematic areas. These include for instance the boost to green technologies in industries, the optimization of port logistics, the facilitation of goods circulation, the support to job creation or the improvement of the mobility of young people, professionals and entrepreneurs.
The proposals, worth € 63.1 million (€ 56.8 million ENPI contribution), address the 4 Programme Priorities and 10 related Measures. According to the decision of the Joint Monitoring Committee, 6 projects of Priority 1, 10 of Priority 2, 4 of Priority 3 and 18 of Priority 4 have been admitted for funding. Measures 2.1 "Prevention and reduction of risk factors for the environment and enhancement of natural common heritage" and 4.3 "Improvement of the governance processes at local level" are the top performing ones with respectively 9 and 10 projects adopted.
Among the 291 organisations part of the 38 projects, around 46% come from Mediterranean Partner Countries and 52% from EU Countries while 2% are international organisations. The balanced participation of Mediterranean territories underscores two of the most important guiding principles of the Programme, i.e. common benefits and co-ownership.
The 38 new standard projects add to 56 running operations, meaning that the Programme is now supporting a total of 94 projects for an amount of € 203 million (€ 181 ENPI contribution). The use of the remaining € 1.3 million will be decided by the Joint Monitoring Committee in the coming months although this amount does not allow to finance additional projects.
Selected projects will swiftly enter the negotiation process with the Joint Managing Authority. The first grant contracts should be signed starting from September onwards.
