Press release of the chairman of the BSR Interreg III B Steering Committee,  Danish Ministry of the Environment, Copenhagen, 30 May 2002:

 

Steering Committee of the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B Programme
approved 21 new transnational projects

 

On 29 May 2002, the joint Steering Committee approved 21 new projects in Copenhagen to receive funding from the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B programme following the second call for project applications.  Eleven countries around the Baltic Sea participate in the programme. Representatives from the four EU Member States, in co-operation with representatives from Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Belarus were present in Copenhagen on 28^th and 29^th May 2002 to decide upon which of the 58 eligible applications submitted were to be selected.

The projects approved will focus on development of tourism in the region, sustainable development of transport corridors and macro-regions as well as business development and promotion of SMEs and ICT. Each project comprises partners from at least three different countries. The total ERDF contribution for the 21 projects approved is approx. EUR 22 million. Norway, participating with own funds, committed. EUR 2 million to projects with Norwegian lead partners. The project owners are primarily national, regional and local authorities, but also the private sector and NGOs participate in the activities funded by the programme.

Among the 21 approved projects, 19 have partners form the EU accession countries in the Baltic Sea Region as well as from Russia and Belarus. Some of these projects have also received positive recommendation for approval from the EU Phare CBC and Tacis CBC programmes. Others are still waiting for the Phare application calls to be opened. 

The BSR INTERREG III B programme's total budget is EUR 97,1 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to be allocated until end 2006. After the first and second application round, approximately one third of this budget has now been committed.

The second application round was closed on 28 March 2002. All 58 eligible applications received were assessed by an international team of experts for spatial planning, regional development and finances, managed by the Joint Secretariat responsible for summarising the discussions and drafting recommendations to the Steering Committee. The assessment results were also discussed by national sub-committees in each country advising the Steering Committee members on final decision making.

The next call for applications will be launched in September 2002, and closed on 1 October 2002. The next funding decisions will be made by the Steering Committee on 16/17 December 2002.

More details and the list of projects will be published after 2 June 2002. For more information, please contact the Danish Ministry of Environment, chairing the Steering Committee in 2002,  Ms Helle Fischer, phone +45 3392 5988; or the BSR INTERREG III B Joint Secretariat, Ms Anne Krag Svendsen, phone +49 163 600 5291.