On February 14, 2023, Interreg NEXT Romania-Ukraine Programme was officially launched in Bucharest. The event aimed at informing the stakeholders about the new funds available for the development of the border communities of the two participating countries.
Interreg NEXT Programme has a budget of 54 million Euro, plus the national co-financing. The financing can be accessed by projects that benefit to the communities in Satu Mare, Maramureș, Botoșani, Suceava and Tulcea in Romania and Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpatska, Chernivtsi, and Odesa in Ukraine.
The programme will finance projects in the field of health, education, tourism and culture, adaptation to climate change and border management. Medical and education units will be modernised and endowed with equipment, touristic sites will be restored and border management will be improved. Furthermore, the staff in these fields can benefit of joint training and exchange of experience. Information and awareness campaigns can be organised for the population in the area, for prevention and reaction in case of disaster.
In order to be financed, a project has to have at least one partner from each participating state, and the details about eligibility rules will be published on the programme web site, www.ro-ua.net .
Representatives of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, of the European Commission, of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers in Ukraine were present at the launching event, together with officials from the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest, from the central and local public authorities in Romania.
On the same date, the first reunion of the Monitoring Committee of Interreg NEXT Programme was held in hybrid format. Delegations of both countries represented in the programme decided on the cooperation mechanisms of the committee, the decision making process during the whole implementation period, until 2029.
The Managing Authority introduced to the representatives of the two countries proposals on the main features of the call for proposals to be launched, the evaluation of applications received, for an efficient implementation of the programme.
Considering the constraints of the European regulations applicable to the cooperation programmes during 2021-2027, the authorities managing the programme will make all efforts to reduce projects evaluation and contracting period, simplify requests for beneficiaries, so that the European funds can be spent efficiently and in a proper time framework, to the benefit of the local communities.