Programme news

The interest of applicants to receive feedback from the Joint Secretariat to project ideas is very high. By now the consultation times for the first call are already fully booked. The JS will try its best to provide feedback to new project ideas submitted by 16 January 2015.

European Commission approved Interreg Baltic Sea Region Cooperation Programme.

The Joint Secretariat/Managing Authority offices are closed during Christmas and New Year break from 20 December till 4 January. We will be back in office on 5 January 2015.

Interreg Baltic Sea Region is launching its first call for applications for Priority 1 “Capacity for innovation”, Priority 2 “Management of natural resources” and Priority 3 “Sustainable transport”. The step 1 (Concept Note) of the call is open from 2 December 2014 till 2 February 2015. Please go to interreg-baltic.eu/how-to-apply/1st-call-for-applications.html for further details and instructions.

We are looking for a project officer and finance officer at the Joint Secretariat (JS) of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme – closure date: 12 January 2015.

1st call for support to Priority Area Coordinators and Horizontal Action Leaders of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is open (priority 4).

Hints and clues for applicants – things you need to know to prepare a successful application to Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Register this week.

Things you need to know to prepare a successful application to Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Get in touch with more than 300 other people interested in Interreg Baltic Sea Region projects on LinkedIn.

Things you need to know to prepare a successful application to Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Find the next event in your country to learn about Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Hints and clues for applicants – things you need to know to prepare a successful application to Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Belarus and Russia are one step closer to join Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Register by end of this week.

Registration closed for Programme conference in Warsaw on 26-27 Nov and Lead Applicant seminar in Riga on 3-4 Dec.

Interreg Baltic Sea Region invites you to get fresh information at the first “Lead Applicant Seminar” on 3-4 December 2014 in Riga, Latvia.

Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein (IB.SH) accepts bids for an electronic Monitoring System for the EU funding programme Interreg Baltic Sea Region submitted by 7 November 2014.

Practical steps were taken at the Programming Task Force meeting in Krakow.

Interreg Baltic Sea Region has taken another leap forward and is now under approval in Brussels.

You can now find the key information on the Programme website. The JS is ready to give feedback on specific project ideas.

Launching transnational cooperation for 2014-2020 is on the agenda this autumn. We’d like to look at the achievements and explore the future funding opportunities during the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference on 26-27 November 2014 in Warsaw, Poland.

The new cooperation programmes of European Territorial Cooperation are soon ready to start. If you are planning to take part with a new project in upcoming calls in the Baltic Sea or the Central Europe programmes you may be interested in the following event. To foster core partnerships between partners from both countries, the German and Polish national representatives in the programme committees of the INTERREG B strand, together with the Contact Points, organise a networking event on 14th October 2014 in Berlin.

Together with the Central Baltic and the South Baltic Programmes, the Baltic Sea Region Programme organised a joint workshop “Interreg funding opportunities for 2014-2020” at the Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region held in Turku/FI, 3-4 June. The workshop gave brief orientation for potential project partners about funding available in the Baltic Sea region in the near future.

Cooperation for 2014-2020 is taking off. We’d like to look at the achievements and explore the future funding opportunities during the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference on 26-27 November 2014 in Warsaw, Poland.

The Annual Implementation Report 2013 for the Baltic Sea Region Programme was submitted to the European Commission. The approval is expected by mid-August.

Read the Executive Summary (2 pages) for facts & figures and to find out about what happened in the Baltic Sea Region Programme during 2013.

After the Joint Programming Committee approved the Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 on 14 May, we updated the section “Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020” on the website. The approved Cooperation Programme, final ex-ante evaluation and environmental report are now available for download. You will find a brief info about the thematic priorities and useful facts.

After more than two years of intense work, the Joint Programming Committee approved the Cooperation Programme on 14 May, 2014, in Warsaw.

„Europe is about each of us“ was the motto of an information campaign run by the Management Authority of the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

The Managing Authority of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013, Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein, invites you to submit a tender to carry out the analysis of projects in 2007-2013 and setting baselines and targets for indicators in 2014-2020.

Substantial progress has been made in preparing the Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 for the Baltic Sea Region. The Programming Task Force of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020 met (for the sixth time) in Berlin on 10-11 April 2014 to examine the final changes in the Cooperation Programme before it is presented to the Joint Programming Committee for approval (on 14 May in Warsaw).

The draft Operational Programme and the related draft Environmental Report for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020 were open for public commenting from 31 January to 28 March 2014.

The EUSBSR Seed Money Facility calls for new project ideas in PA Crime and PA Internal Market by April 2014.

The Programming Task Force of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020 met for the fifth time in Berlin on 27-28 February 2014. By now substantial progress has been made towards the future Baltic Sea Region Programme. It is expected that the Operational Programme (OP) will be approved by the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) in May 2014 and submitted to the EU Commission during summer.

The Operational Programme and the Environmental Report for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020 are drafted. Check the documents and give your comments by 28 March 2014! For details read the Explanatory Note and download the files.

Minister of European Affairs Spoorendonk appreciates cooperation with IB.SH

The JTS office in Rostock looks for a German/English speaking office assistant (4 hours daily/ p.m.). Closure date for applications is 13 December 2013. Click here to read the full announcement (in German).

• Well on the way towards the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020
• Approval procedure of the Operational Programme
• Seed Money Facility: interest at record high
• Review: Trans European Transport Network policy TEN-T Days 2013
• Baltic Impulse: cluster of the "water" projects

Click here to read the newsletter.

During the second decision round (April-September 2013), the Seed Money Secretariat received 68 eligible applications, requesting 3.40 million EUR funding from the Seed Money Facility. The applications cover a wide range of topics contributing to the majority of the Priority Areas and Horizontal Actions of the Action Plan of the of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The Priority Area Crime is an exception: there are no Seed Money projects addressing its topics so far.

Thru November-December 2013 the Seed Money Committee will decide which projects are to receive funding.

For more about the Seed Money Facility for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region go to seed.eusbsr.eu.

On 21 September 2013 and surrounding days, the European citizens will celebrate cooperation over the borders. Find out about the events that will be happening near you and major achievements (flagship stories) at www.ecday.eu.

Nine stories from projects tackeling eutrophication & hazardous substances - to be found in the new BSR brochure "Baltic Impulse".

The 4th Annual Forum of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) "Baltic Sea, Baltic Growth, Baltic Environment" will be held on 11-12 November 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The event will be hosted by the European Commission jointly with the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and INTERACT Point Turku.

The event "Baltic Sea, Baltic Growth, Baltic Environment" will focus on the environmental challenges faced by the Baltic Sea region and the potential to turn these challenges into opportunities for economic growth, competitiveness and job creation.

Registration will open in the second half of August.

The Seed Money secretariat will offer face-to-face consultations and support to the potential applicants and project idea owners during the seed money consultation day in Berlin on 4 September, 2013.

• BalticBiogasBus and Transbaltic go for extension stage
• Cornerstones for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020 set
• Timetable for preparing 2014-2020 period

The report for 2012 was approved by the Monitoring Committee and submitted to the European Commission on 25 June - approval expected in September. Click here to download the Executive Summary. The full report will be online once it is approved by the Commission.

We are looking for a Project Officer at the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) office in Rostock/Germany to support our Project Team in monitoring and supervising transnational cooperation projects. The job is a full-time position. Starts as soon as possible, ends 31 December 2015. For more details please check the job advertisement.

Downloads:

• Job advertisement
• Application sheet

At its meeting in Tallinn on 11-12 June the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) discussed and decided on several central issues in preparation for the period 2014-2020.

Two "transport" projects will implement additional activities months in 2013/2014. The Monitoring Committee (MC) approved More BalticBiogasBus and TransBaltic EXT.

Lead partners, project managers and financial managers from 15 projects and secretariat staff met in Riga on 14-15 May 2013 at the workshop for finalising projects.

Filling in the final progress report, financial issues, formulating indicators, communication and experience in reporting were on the agenda. In the closure phase project managers are concentrating on administrative issues. The project implementation has to be closed by then. It is important that all project changes have to be done before the implementation period ends and the closure phase starts.

The highlights of the March 2013 issue of the Baltic Sea Region Programme newsletter:

• Sowing the seeds: Get ready for 2014+
• Programme in progress: Objectives for 2014-2020
• Thumbs up? Thumbs down? What our stakeholders think about the JTS
• Check out the outputs! Online library launched
• New faces - new forces: Changes in JTS staff

We would like to present to you some results from three online surveys directed at stakeholders and practitioners of the Baltic Sea Region Programme at the end of 2012. In total 4,500 surveys had been sent out and 867 have been returned, resulting in a response rate of 19.3%. Read the summary report or find detailed results in the overview presentations.

The Seed Money information day in Berlin attracted more than 150 participants from the Baltic Sea Region and beyond. The participants were informed about the facility and received guidance on how to apply. In addition, a number of individual consultations were offered by the staff of the Seed Money Facility Secretariat.

On 8 February 2013 the European Council reached agreement on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), which lays down the EU's budgetary priorities for the years 2014-2020. The approval of the budget by the European Parliament is still pending.

Partners from Belarus as well as some lead partners received training on the main Programme rules and national requirements for project implementation in Belarus. The main focus was on the registration and calculation of the personnel costs, as this issue causes a lot of questions from the partners from Belarus.

Seed money is a grant that will help you prepare a project proposal for one of the EU or national funding sources. The seed money information day will take in Berlin on 21 February. Registration is closed, as we have reached the maximum number of participants.

The highlights of the December issue of the Baltic Sea Region Programme newsletter:

• Five projects will receive grants for extension stage
• Next steps in the preparation for 2014-2020
• Seed money facility to start in February 2013
• Interview with Britta Schmigotzki, Project Manager
• Interview with Corinna Günther, Certifying Authority

Legislation for 2014-2020

The European Commission, European Parliament and the European Council continue discussing regulations for 2014-2020. Nothing is agreed before all is agreed. The Joint Programming Committee (JPC) for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-202 is closely following the development, especially the ETC regulation.

Five projects received green light from the Monitoring Committee to start extension stage activities: ABOWE, Longlife Invest, Best Agers Lighthouses, Baltic Compact and PlasTEP+. Some of the approved projects will have technical corrections. After all issues and corrections are clarified the projects will receive grant contracts. The extension projects will implement investments and test solutions developed during their "main" stage.

The Monitoring Committee of the "Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013" met in Riga on 27 November 2012. The next meeting in planned for June 2013 in Estonia.

Each year, the German national sub-committee organises an information seminar for German first level controllers and project partners. This time around 50 participants attended the seminar on 8 November 2012 in Lüneburg (Germany).

The participants received information on the German first level control (FLC) system from Dr Kaarina Williams, member of the Monitoring Committee. Afterwards, the JTS presented general Programme rules, including lessons learned during the past years of project monitoring. Furthermore, the JTS introduced the topic of project closure to the participants. In the afternoon, Mr Rainer Wiechert (Audit Authority) reported on results from second level audit. Ms Katja Pollow (First level controller, EU-Consult KP/BDO AG) closed the meeting with her presentation on best practices in FLC.

Downloads:

• Agenda - in German
• German FLC system, Kaarina Williams (Monitoring Committee) - in German
• Eligibility of costs, JTS
• Finalisation of projects, JTS
• Second Level Audit, Rainer Wiechert (Audit Authority) - in German
• Best Practices in FLC, Katja Pollow (EU-Consult KP) - in German

On Monday, 22.10.2012, the first online survey of the Baltic Sea Region Programme was closed. In total 316 project representatives answered to the questions about financial reporting and first level control. We would like to thank all respondents for taking time to answer to the questions.

The results will be published on this website after the closure of the third online survey, which is in early 2013.

In the meantime, we are looking forward to receiving your feedback to our second online survey on application and monitoring system, which is currently available under https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D3ZM7XQ.

Your Joint Technical Secretariat Team

The Baltic Sea Region Programme is preparing for the next programme period. In this respect we have developed a series of three questionnaires:

• 1st survey on financial reporting and first level control addressed to project representatives dealing with financial issues in BSR projects (finalised).
• 2nd survey on activity reporting addressed to project representatives dealing with the content wise management, work plan and indicators of BSR projects (on-going).
• 3rd survey on the project management toolkit addressed to all project representatives who worked with the project management toolkit (from 19.11.2012 until 16.12.2012).

Now it is time to receive your feedback on some aspects of the Programme's application and monitoring system.

With this e-mail we would like to invite you to participate in the 2nd survey on application form, reporting, website and support provided by the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS). This survey will be open until 18.11.2012.

Please follow the link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D3ZM7XQ to start the questionnaire.

Thank you very much for your cooperation. The results will be published on this website after the completion of all three surveys.

Joint Technical Secretariat Team

The latest issue of our newsletter comes as a special review of the Baltic Sea Region Programme conference in Lillestrøm, Norway, on 19-20 September. It features impressions from the event as well as voices from speakers and participants. We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in making this conference a success!

You can find the conference review here

The workshop "Consolidating our investment: How to secure maximum benefit from cooperation projects" took place on 9 October 2012 in Centre Borschette and consisted of two parts: a) discussing what clustering of projects actually is and b) thinking of the future potentials. The overall conclusion is that we need clustering in the future as it turned out to be a very useful instrument adding strategic dimension to the projects' work.

Invited speakers: Mr Jim Millard, Mr Wolfgang Lexer, Mr Matt Nichols (Chair), Ms Paula Biveson, Mr Pim Bonne, Mr Antonio Ruiz de Casas, Ms Katarina Nordmark. The workshop was organised by the North Sea Region programme and the European Commission (DG Regio E2) in cooperation with the Alpine Space and the Baltic Sea Region Programmes.

The 10th European Week of Regions and Cities takes place in Brussels on 8-11 October 2012. During Open Days cities and regions present good practices from cohesion policy programmes across Europe.

Several projects from the Baltic Sea region are participating in workshops and exhibition. You can follow meetings on-line and find out more about the participants and discussed topics at http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2012/index.cfm.

Watch the video summary of the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012 on 19 September in Lilleström/Norway.

The event was part of the European Cooperation Day 2012 celebrated all over Europe: almost 40 countries are hosting public events during the week of 17-23 September. The 20th BSSSC Annual Conference ran back to back in the same venue. More at the conference website www.bsssc.no.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme is preparing for the next programme period 2014-2020. In order to involve partners in the process we have prepared a series of on-line questionnaires dealing with different topics.

Hereby we would like to invite project representatives dealing with the financial management of projects to take part in the first survey and provide feedback to questions related to financial reporting. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. To get started, please follow the link https://de.surveymonkey.com/s/GQ7WJC5.

The questionnaires will run in three steps:

• 1st survey on financial reporting and first level control: open from 25.09.2012 to 21.10.2012 and addressed to project representatives dealing with financial issues in the Baltic Sea Region Programme projects.
• 2nd survey on activity reporting: open from 22.10.2012 to 18.11.2012 and addressed to project representatives dealing with the content wise management, work plan and indicators.
• 3rd survey on the project management toolkit: open from 19.11.2012 to 16.12.2012 and addressed to all project representatives who worked with the project management toolkit.

Thank you!
Your Joint Technical Secretariat Team

Around 400 participants joined the launch of the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012 on 19 September in Lilleström/Norway.

We would like to welcome you to the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012 in Lilleström (Oslo region), Norway on 19-20 September 2012. The  agenda and the list of participants are available at www.bsssc.no.

The event is part of the European Cooperation Day 2012. European Cooperation will be celebrated all over Europe: almost 40 countries will host public events that will take place during the week of 17-23 September.

At the Programme Conference we will see what difference transnational cooperation can make when successful projects continue working as thematic clusters (energy, innovation, transport and water). We will also look into the future of the European Territorial Cooperation 2014-2020. Will the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Baltic Sea Region Programme go hand in hand? We will discuss the relationship between the Strategy and the Programme’s priorities.

On behalf of the conference hosts: Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Eastern Norway County Network and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

On 21 September, European Cooperation will be celebrated all over Europe and in neighbouring countries!

Almost 40 countries will come together to celebrate cooperation and bridge-building between local communities across borders. Public events will take place during the week of 17-23 September all over Europe. Besides the fun, this will also be an opportunity to discover all the improvements local initiatives have brought to all aspects of your daily life: from creating jobs, to improving health care services, and the protection of environment, transport or energy. Info about events and much more at www.ecday.eu.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012, 19-20 Sept in Lillestrröm/Norway, is part of the European Cooperation Day 2012. More at www.bsssc.no.

Anew issue of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) newsletter has been released. The content of the September 2012 issue includes the Third Annual Forum of the EUSBSR, a Priority Area 12 success story, an interview with the coordinator for Priority Area 12 Tourism and an article on the final report on EUSBSR communication needs.

Downloads:

• Newsletter September 2012, EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

Achievements of transnational cooperation as well as planning the next programme period 2014-2020 are on the agenda of the Baltic Sea Region Programme during the year 2012.

At the Programme Conference in Lilleström (Oslo Region), we will see what difference transnational cooperation can make when successful projects continue working as thematic clusters (energy, innovation, transport and water). We will also look into the future of the European Territorial Cooperation 2014-2020. Will the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Baltic Sea Region Programme go hand in hand? We will discuss the relationship between the Strategy and the Programme’s priorities.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012 will run back to back with the 20th Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) Annual Conference, 17-19 September 2012, in the same venue.

For registration, programme and practical information go to www.bsssc.no. Registration deadline is 31 August.

The European Union's Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 promotes regional development through transnational cooperation projects. Partners in 11 countries around the Baltic Sea work together to find joint solutions to common problems.

We look forward to meeting you in Norway - the dynamic and beautiful Oslo region!

On behalf of the conference hosts: Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Eastern Norway County Network and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

• 3 new projects approved by the Monitoring Committee
• Next steps in the Programme preparation for 2014-2020
• Cooperation between EU and Russia for 2014-2020
• Projects join forces in clusters
• Register for the Programme Conference (by 31 August. Rooms until 16 July.)

Download: Baltic Sea Region Programme Newsletter, July 2012

On the 26 June the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The Council decided i.a. to endorse the revised strategy and agreed to the three new objectives: Save the Sea, Connect the Region and Increase Prosperity.

For more read the conclusions at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/genaff/131228.pdf.

• write about your project and its achievements in a way that is interesting to read also for the person that is not familiar with your project,
• when reporting on work done in the work packages focus more on the content and the main outcomes of the activities,
• describe clearly and briefly main project outputs,
• report clearly and concisely on achieving the project results.

We encourage you to make use of the guidance when preparing the Progress Reports.

Downloads:

• Guidance to the Progress Report, version 3, 22.06.2012

Flagship projects were in the spotlight of the Networking Village in Copenhagen - most of the projects on display are funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme. The Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Baltic Development Forum summit on 17-19 June attracted stakeholders of the strategy, politicians and business people. We have discussed alignment of funds for the period 2014-2020, public private partnerships and the green growth.

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is being reviewed. The four pillars will be replaced by the three objectives: save the sea, connect the region and increase prosperity. The updated action plan will be ready by the end of 2012/beginning 2013. More about the event at www.bsr2012.eu.

Presentation of the project SCIENCE LINK

Stand of the project BSR InnoShip at the Networking Village

The members of the Joint Programming Committee came for the second meeting in Riga on the 13th of June 2012. Representatives of all eleven countries including Russia and Belarus are part of the Committee. The Committee continued work started at the first meeting (see http://eu.baltic.net/Programming_started_.20549.html).

The involved stakeholders (PACs, HALs, NCPs and pan-Baltic organisations) in the Baltic Sea region were asked (via questionnaire) about the themes that should be covered by the new programme. "Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency" and "promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures" were among the most popular. Stakeholders would welcome support of the pilot investments. The Committee will relate these with the national views and will draft the thematic priorities for the coming programme. The most relevant strategic documents will be analysed. These will also influence the future cooperation themes.

The Joint Programming Committee will have its next meeting on 28 November 2012.

The projects PartiSEApate, BSR TransGovernance and ONE BSR have green light. The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme decided to grant support to the three new cooperation projects at its meeting in Riga on 12 June.

The projects involve 45 project partners and will receive 4.3 million EUR from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The projects implement two horizontal actions of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region's Action Plan: "Strengthening multi-level governance, place based spatial planning and sustainable development" and "Build a regional identity".

The newsletter is addressed to those involved in projects part-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. We hope that Project Implementation Newsletter (PIN) will fill you in with lots of useful information for your project tasks, especially preparation of the reports.

Highlights of the issue:

• common mistakes identified during audit and control
• personnel costs in the cost itemisation list
• update of the progress report guidance

You can subscribe to the mailing list by sending "subscribe to Project Implementation Newsletter" to info@eu.baltic.net.

Downloads:

• Project Implementation Newsletter, June 2012

The "BSR Innovation Award" is granted for cross border innovation within sustainable growth and global development. The award is introduced by the Baltic Development Forum and the BSR Stars.

The award goes to a project that has proved itself to be innovative and reached across not only national borders but also crossed borders between different fields of science and industry sectors. The winner will be announced in Copenhagen on the 18 of June in the presence of EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.

Nominate your candidate for the award online at http://bsrinnovationaward.wufoo.com/forms/bsr-innovation-award-2012-nomination-form/. Deadline for nominations is the 1st of June 2012.

Baltic Development Forum is an independent non-profit networking organization with members from large companies, major cities, institutional investors and business associations in the Baltic Sea Region. BSR Stars is a flagship project within the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region involving ten countries.

More information at http://www.bsrstars.com/news/view/32.

42 lead partners, project managers, financial managers from 18 projects and secretariat staff met in Riga on 23-24 May 2012 at the workshop for finalising projects.

Financial issues, filling in the final progress report, communication and experience in reporting were on the agenda. Participants also gave their recommendations for the future programme. Main issues were:

• Reporting forms, on-line versus excel.
• Reporting periods could be extended to 12 months to reduce administrative burden, activity and financial report could be separated. Bigger organisations prefer longer reporting periods.
• Calculation of overheads could be based on the flat rate.

Recommendations will be taken into account when preparing the next programme for 2014-2020.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

Achievements of transnational cooperation as well as planning the next programme period 2014-2020 are on the agenda of the Baltic Sea Region Programme during the year 2012.

At the Programme Conference in Lilleström (Oslo Region), we will see what difference transnational cooperation can make when successful projects continue working as thematic clusters (energy, innovation, transport and water). We will also look into the future of the European Territorial Cooperation 2014-2020. Will the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Baltic Sea Region Programme go hand in hand? We will discuss the relationship between the Strategy and the Programme's priorities.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2012 will run back to back with the 20th Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) Annual Conference, 17-19 September 2012, in the same venue.

For registration, programme and practical information go to www.bsssc.no. Registration deadline is 31 August. The hotel rooms are reserved till 16 July.

The European Union's Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 promotes regional development through transnational cooperation projects. Partners in 11 countries around the Baltic Sea work together to find joint solutions to common problems.
We look forward to meeting you in Norway - the dynamic and beautiful Oslo region!

On behalf of the conference hosts:
Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Eastern Norway County Network and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

• Cluster "Baltic impulse -saving the Baltic Sea waters"
• Faces behind projects (COHIBA, PURE, Baltic Compass)
• Maritime Spatial Planning - BaltSeaPlan Vision 2030
• Interview with Mr Omar Frits Eriksson, Danish Maritime Authority

Download the maritime issue of the newsletter.

On 8 -9 May 2012 the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) of the Baltic Sea Region Programme organised another financial seminar for lead partners and their first level controllers in Hamburg.

In order to prepare the audience for their future tasks and challenges the seminar addressed:

• first level control and related requirements,
• financial reporting,
• details on eligibility rules,
• other topics important for project implementation such as cost-sharing and budget changes.

The event was mainly targeted at lead partners participating in a project approved in September 2011 (call 4.2). However, also representatives of earlier approved projects were invited. In total eight persons participated in the meeting out of which six were representing a project of call 4.2.

After several presentations participants could test their new knowledge during two case studies prepared by the finance team of the JTS.

The case studies, as well as the possibility to openly discuss the financial details between the lead partners, first level controllers and the Joint Technical Secretariat were very much appreciated by the participants.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• Presentations
• Case studies
• List of participants

On this day we celebrate peace and unity in Europe. On 9th of May 1950 the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries, leading to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. This was the first step towards creation of the European Union. Many things have changed since 1950. Yet united by the European flag we enjoy peace and face common challenges.

Interesting facts about the European Union:

• Population of the EU is almost 500 million (7.3% of the world population)
• Europe is the second smallest continent
• Most scholars believe Europe was named after Europa, a Phoenician Princess in Greek mythology
• "Ode to Joy" is the anthem of the European Union (based on the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823)

Communication needs strategic thinking: we have to know what our stakeholders think, and convince them using their language to support our issues. There is no need to spread information widely - we have to figure out, which communication channels suit our audience.

40 communication managers from projects part-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme met in Riga on 2-3 May to discuss communication planning. We heard about lobbying, social media and writing for the audience. Trainers from the Hamburg's "Academy for journalism" supported us with theory and practical exercises. We learned that we can involve our groups of interest when lobbying for the decision makers, use smart social media mix and write lively stories from the project life.

Downloads:

• Presentations
• Agenda
• List of participants

Snapshots

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme is looking for a Programme Assistant for the Rostock office. Deadline for submitting applications is 25 May 2012. For more information please read the announcement and the job description.

Downloads:

• Announcement
• Job description - Programme Assistant

The focused 5th call for project applications started on 9 January and was closed on 29 March 2012. Six projects submitted applications.

Lead Applicants come from Poland (1), Sweden (2), Norway (1), Finland (1) and Estonia (1). In total project budgets amount for 11.9 million EUR. The available programme funding is around 5.2 million EUR and will allow for a selection of 2-3 projects. Three projects applied under topic „multi-level governance" and three under "build a regional identity".

The Joint Technical Secretariat will start with the assessment of applications. The Monitoring Committee will meet in Riga on 12-13 June 2012 and decide, which projects will receive funding.

Around 35 project partners and first level controllers from Lithuania met on 16 March in Vilnius. Participants followed presentations about the Lithuanian national control system, reporting and monitoring, eligibility rules as well as an introduction to the cost sharing system and project changes from the partner perspective.

Event was organised by the Regional Policy department of the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with the Joint Technical Secretariat.

Downloads:

• Presentations
• Agenda

The communication seminar in Riga on 2-3 May 2012 is addressed to all responsible for communication in the projects supported by the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

During the first day of the seminar we will discuss project communication plans. The second day of the seminar will focus on training communication skills. We have invited trainers from the Akademie für Publizistik in Hamburg. In three workshops you will learn more about "Writing skills", "Website and Social media" and "Strategic communication/Lobbying".

We encourage experienced communication managers of all running projects to join us for the training on 3 May. This will be a very good opportunity to work with new trainers and exchange experience in project communication.

Please inform us about your participation by registering at http://eu.baltic.net/Com_sem_Riga.20271.html by 24 April.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• Practical info
• Trainer profiles
• Registration

On 8 March the Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure and State Development organised an information seminar for German first level controllers and project partners.

Around 55 participants received information on the German first level control (FLC) system from Ms Kaarina Williams, member of the Monitoring Committee. Afterwards, the JTS presented general rules and the Programme's first level control system to the audience. Finally, Mr Rainer Wiechert (Audit Authority) reported on lessons learned from the second level audit.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• German FLC system, Kaarina Williams (Monitoring Committee)
• Programme rules, JTS
• First level control system, JTS
• Second Level Audit, Rainer Wiechert (Audit Authority)

Project clusters "Baltic cluster for sustainable, multimodal and green transport corridors", "Saving the Baltic Sea Waters" and "Innovation in SMEs" were approved by the Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme on 1 March 2012. Each cluster will receive around 150.000 EUR to finance joint activities.

The clusters will work as platforms for exchange among projects, help project partners to streamline and harmonize their activities. The water cluster, for instance, will investigate the needs in the fields of hazardous substances and nutrient management to reduce the loading to the Baltic Sea catchment area.

Altogether 27 projects and 38 project partners take part in the clusters. The following projects will join efforts in the newly approved clusters:

• "Baltic cluster for sustainable, multimodal and green transport corridors" - SCANDRIA, TransBaltic, EWTC II, RBGC, Baltic.AirCargo.Net, BSR InnoShip, BGLC, ACL.
• "Saving the Baltic Sea Waters" - WATERPRAXIS, COHIBA, PURE, SMOCS, Baltic COMPASS, BERAS IMPLEMENTATION, Baltic Deal, Baltic Manure.
• "Innovation in SMEs" - BalticSupply, BaSIC, BONITA, BSHRHealthPort, BSR InnoReg, BSR QUICK, IBI Net, JOSEFIN, StarDust, QUICK IGA.

Almost 100 participants took part in the two day training workshop for Belarusian partners and their lead partners in Minsk on 21-22 February. Representatives from all 19 projects with partners from Belarus (2nd, 3rd and 4th calls) joined the event. The main purpose of the workshop was to support project partners, first level controllers operating in Belarus and lead partners in carrying out their daily project routines. The two days were devoted to:

• implementation of EU funded projects in Belarus within the Baltic Sea Region Programme and
• procurement procedures within EU funded projects in Belarus.

The participants were especially interested in the topics of eligibility of costs and national requirements of the project implementation in Belarus and asked many detailed and specific questions. Procuring services, supplies and works by Belarusian partners, while respecting both the EU and Belarusian legislation, also initiated many discussions. The experts from the Belarusian Ministry of Economy came up with ad hoc advice on procurement and other national procedures. However, some of the issues will still need to be discussed further.

The training was arranged by the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme with the support from the INTERACT ENPI and the Regional Capacity Building Initiative.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

Highlights:

• Preparation starting: outlook on the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020
• Interview with Riikka Manner, MEP - rapporteur for the new regulation on European Territorial Cooperation
• Faces behind projects: about surprising project results and future activities
• 5th call for applications

Newsletter February 2012

Project partner from Germany can apply for national funds from the federal funding programme "Transnational Cooperation". Deadline for applications is 20 March 2012. In addition to the financial support, the selected projects receive political support and are incorporated into a strategic and political framework.

For more information and guide for applicants in German please go to http://www.bbsr.bund.de.

Targeted communication is essential to achieve project results and to reach more key stakeholders. It is worth investing time to agree with project partners what we want to achieve and who are the most important people we are talking to. Once we get in touch with our audiences, we shall rather speak about the issues that project partners are addressing than "branding" the project.

Participants at the Communication Seminar discussed these and many other topics essential in their daily work. Aim of the seminar was to help projects to prepare their communication strategies and practice some skills. A group of 17 communication managers, Joint Technical Secretariat staff and a trainer from Akademie für Publizistik met in Rostock on 15-16 February 2012. The seminar was mainly addressed to projects approved in June 2011.

The next Communication Seminar will take place in Riga on 2-3 May 2012. Communication managers from all projects supported by the Baltic Sea Region Programme are invited to join discussions on communication strategies, new communication trends and enjoy some training by professionals.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

Ten new projects are launched in the Baltic Sea region, strengthening cooperation between the European Union and the Russian Federation. These projects have been selected by the EU Delegation to Russia following the 2011 call for proposals aimed at local authorities and non-state actors in the Baltic Sea region. The total budget of the actions is 3.5 million euro. The complete list of the projects can be found on the EU Delegation's website, under the file "AWARD".

The projects fall under priorities of the Northern Dimension in the area of energy efficiency, transport, culture, health and social wellbeing and will be implemented by non-governmental organisations and universities from Russia and the EU.

One of the approved initiatives is RBGC Russia, which is a sister project to the Rail Baltica Growth Corridor project financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

RBGC Russia extends activities of the mother project towards the North-West Russia in order to gain full geographical partnership for the joint development work in the fields of passenger and freight traffic. The project brings the Russia-EU cooperation into an operational level within national, regional and local authorities, transport and logistics stakeholders as well as academia in the Eastern Baltic Sea region.

In the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 Russian institutions join projects as associated organisations. They support the implementation of the projects. Yet, as the financing agreement between Russia and EU was not signed, organisation from Russia cannot receive co-financing from the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

The Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was updated in January 2012. By now 17 flagship projects listed in the Action Plan are financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme: SPIN, COHIBA, EfficienSea, BRISK, Baltic Master II, Bioenergy Promotion, BSLN, Baltic Supply, BSR Quick, ICT for Health, SMOCS, ImPrim, BalticDEAL, Baltic MANURE, CHEMsea, PRESTO, PrimCare IT. Further 25 projects supported by the Programme are either part of the flagship projects or horizontal/strategic actions. Thus, contributing over 110 million EUR, the Baltic Sea Region Programme became a major sponsor of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

You can find the updated Action Plan at http://ec.europa.eu. Also version in Russian (December 2010) is available. Background info is also available in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region section. For more information about the projects visit the project database.

Five project ideas on multi-level governance and three ideas on Baltic Sea Region branding were presented at the project development workshops in Riga 25-27 January. The aim of the workshops was to support the development of project proposals for the 5th call for applications.

The Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) gave guidance on how to avoid common weaknesses in project applications. A special attention is to be paid on describing the problem to be solved, target groups, activities and durability of project outcomes. As there are limited funds left in the Programme, the project developers discussed possibilities to develop joint project proposals. The discussion continues. After the workshops the JTS had individual project consultations with the project idea promoters.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme's 5th call for applications is open from 9 January 2012 until 29 March 2012. The call is open for projects implementing the two horizontal actions of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region's Action Plan: "strengthening multi-level governance" and "build a regional identity". The Joint Technical Secretariat gives feedback to project ideas and offers individual project consultations in its Rostock and Riga offices until 16 March 2012.

Downloads:

• Presentations

The first projects funded by the Baltic Sea Programme started in late 2008. After more than 3 years of working together partners in 22 projects closed their activities on 24 January 2012. During the coming three months financial & project managers of the projects will close books, prepare reports and request final payments from the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

Altogether around 400 project partners were active in the finalised 22 projects:

• Priority 1 (Fostering innovations): 8 projects (JOSEFIN, BaSIC, BaltFood, SPIN, Longlife, BONITA)
• Priority 2 (Internal and external accessibility): 1 project (BALTRAD)
• Priority 3 (Baltic Sea as a common resource): 8 projects (WATERPRAXIS, BaltCICA, COHIBA, EfficienSea, BRISK, Baltic Master II, BaltSeaPlan, Baltic Green Belt)
• Priority 4 (Attractive and competitive cities and regions): 7 projects (Bioenergy Promotion, NEW BRIDGES, Urb.Energy, Parks & Benefits, Eco-Region, BSLN, BalticClimate)

To find out more about the projects visit the project database.

• first level control problematic and its requirements,
• financial reporting,
• details on eligibility rules,
• other topics important for project implementation such as cost-sharing method and budget flexibility.

The seminar took place in Hamburg on 18 -19 January 2012 and was organised by the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

The event addressed both representatives of the lead partners that already took part in a project, as well as the lead partners participating in the project for the first time. All seven projects approved in June 2011 (call 4.1) were present. Altogether there were 25 participants, mainly financial managers of the LPs, first level controllers, second level auditors as well as JTS/Managing Authority staff.

Two guest speakers, one representing the centralised first level control in Poland and one representing the lead partner of the project from Germany, shared their experience from validation of expenditure, project management and compliance with the requirements.

After consuming several presentations participants could test the new knowledge during two case studies prepared by the finance team of the JTS.

Participants also very much appreciated the possibility to openly discuss the financial details between the lead partners, first level controllers and the Joint Technical Secretariat.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• Presentations
• Case studies
• List of participants

Lead Partners from six new projects and one extension received their initial training on management, finance and communication issues in Riga on 11 and 12 January. In a constructive working atmosphere all participants enjoyed to learn more on how to deal with changes in the projects, eligibility of costs and how to set indicators. The seminar was also used as a platform for exchange of experience between the projects from priority 1 and 4.

The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme decided to grant support to six new cooperation projects (QUICK-IGA, Technet_nano, SCIENCE LINK, Baltic GPP, PrimCare IT and Baltic Landscape) at its meeting in Berlin on 27-28 September. The already on-going project Bioenergy Promotion was granted additional 1.1 million EUR to implement additional activities in the framework of the "extension stage" instrument.

On 5 January 2012 the EU Commission approved an amendment of the Operational Programme of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. Main changes concern the financial table. The ENPI funding has been reduced from 22.6 to 8.8 Million Euros. This reduction was necessary due to the non-signature of the Financing Agreement between Russia and the EU. Due to this the ENPI funds have been reduced to support only the involvement of partners from Belarus. Furthermore, a shift of ERDF funds between priorities was implemented in the Financing Plan to reflect the reviewed programme priorities. Additional amendments include some updates, e.g. related to the non-eligibility of Russia, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, the planned internal evaluation, and ENPI-related requirements.

In the section Programme documents you can download the amended Operational Programme and an overview of the amendments.

The amended Operational Programme v3.0 was approved by the Programme's Monitoring Committee at a meeting in Berlin on 27-28 September 2011 and was submitted to the EU Commission for approval in October 2011.

After the fourth call for applications, programme funds are almost exhausted. There are limited funds (circa 4.4 million EUR) left.

The focused 5th call for project applications starts on 9 January and will be closed on 29 March 2012. Please read the announcement note carefully before filling in the application form.

1. Announcement note
2. Application form
3. Practical guide for filling in the application form
4. Project idea form
5. Partner declaration

The Programme Manual (PM) gives practical guidance for all phases of project development, application and implementation in the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. Version 6.0 of the Programme Manual was approved by the Monitoring Committee on 22 November 2011.

Most important changes in brief:

• Duration of the 5th call and extension stage projects was amended. These projects must end no later than 31.12.2014 instead of 30.06.2014 as it was regulated earlier.
• Eligibility for closure costs: closure phase was opened for payment of all costs related to the implementation phase.
• The sub-chapter on public procurement for project partners from Belarus was amended to incorporate the latest version of the Practical Guide to Contract procedures for EU external actions (PRAG)
• Implementation of the 10% rule: the restrictions on the project level were removed. The 10% rule is monitored only on the programme level now.
• Application and implementation for extension stage projects: the duration of extension stage projects was harmonised with the duration of the main stage project. Also, the possibility to apply for an extension stage was limited to the projects approved in the 1st and 2nd calls.

You can download the Programme Manual (with and without tracked changes) in the Programme documents section.

40 lead partners, project managers, financial managers from 20 projects and secretariat staff met in Riga on 30 November 2011 at the workshop for finalising projects.

Financial issues, filling in the final progress report, communication and experience in reporting were on the agenda. Participants also gave their recommendations for the future programme. Main issues were:

• Reporting forms could be simplified.
• Division of project budget into Budget Lines & Work Package is not convenient. Division of budget into Work Packages could be avoided.
• Reporting periods could be extended to 12 months to reduce administrative burden, activity and financial report could be separated. Bigger organisations prefer longer reporting periods.
• Calculation of overheads could be based on the flat rate.

Recommendations will be taken into account when preparing the next programme for 2014-2020.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

Project clusters take the full speed ahead. "Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources" had its official kick off meeting with 22 participants from 8 projects (Longlife, SPIN, REMOWE, PEA, Urb.Energy, COOL Bricks, SPIN & Baltic Biogas Bus) on 10 November in Berlin. The most important objective for the participating projects is to increase visibility of the clustered project outcomes. The main target group addressed are decision makers on different levels.

Freshly formed clusters "Saving the Baltic Sea waters", "Multimodal cross-border transport corridors" and "Tools supporting SMEs as innovation sources" had their first meetings on 15, 17 and 22 November. Projects looked into outcomes they have in common and the main target groups to be addressed.

The INTERREG IVC interregional cooperation programme is organising a ‘Good Practice Fair' on 24 November in Krakow (Poland).

Interregional cooperation has brought many advantages to those organisations involved in partnerships. Across 122 projects financed by the INTERREG IVC programme, over 1000 good practices have been identified or transferred within cooperation projects. The knowledge gathered in 27 EU countries, Norway and Switzerland is available to all and it is the right time to share:

• What effective techniques have been used to promote entrepreneurship in order to boost employment?
• What are the latest developments in waste prevention and management?
• How do regions deal with the emphasis on innovation and how can innovative ideas be brought to the market?
• What works on a regional level when tackling climate change?
• How do regions face the challenges brought about by demographic change?
• How can improving energy efficiency improve a region's performance?

This event will be a platform for exchanging experiences and taking up good practices identified and transferred within interregional cooperation projects. Already more than 200 people have registered to the event, representing policy-makers and practitioners from all over Europe.

In addition to six practical workshops on Innovation, Demographic Change, Entrepreneurship, Climate Change, Waste management and Energy efficiency, the participants will have a possibility to network and talk to the representatives of more than 25 running projects in the Exhibition area. An INTERREG IVC cinema and library section will display videos and good practice guides produced by projects.

It is still possible for representatives of public authorities to sign up for this this practical, knowledge-sharing day! To register, connect to goodpractice.interreg4c.eu before 11 November 2011. All registrations will be confirmed by the organisers within 3 working days.

In case you are unable to attend, or if you feel another person in your organisation would be more suitable to attend, please forward this invitation. For more information, please contact INTERREG IVC Information Point North at IP-North@interreg4c.eu or +49 381 45484 5292.

The INTERREG IVC programme will be looking forward to sharing with you in Krakow.

The "Project and Networking Village" was one of the major attractions at the Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, at Gdansk, on 24-26 October 2011. About 30 projects representing flagships of part of flagships of the EU Strategy displayed their activities at the project exhibition. 22 of them are co-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme. The Programme has thus made a major contribution to put the Strategy's flagship projects on track. About half of the Programme's available funding (including about 107 million EUR from the European Regional Development Fund) has been allocated to support the implementation of the Strategy. It also shows that a well working transnational financing instrument is needed to get a macro-regional strategy started up.

Also Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy was interested to see what is actually happening in the real world of project activities. Susanne Scherrer, director of the Managing Authority and the Joint Technical Secretariat walked him through the Networking Village and introduced him some of the project representatives. Sindre Langaas, representing the project BalticDeal explained what farmers can do to reduce the nutrient losses from farms but also that well established farmers associations in all countries are the prerequisite for taking effective corporate actions. Further on, Commissioner Hahn asked details about the use of LNG to reduce ship emissions from Tapani Stipa (BSR InnoShip). Also transport corridor projects (including TransBaltic, Scandria and Rail Baltica Growth Corridor) were interviewed about their contributions to the green transport concept. On the next day, Eeva Rantama, Project Team Leader of the Joint Technical Secretariat, guided DG Regio's Director General Dirk Ahner through the Networking Village. Director Ahner was particularly interested in the dissemination of project results. He also asked several project leaders what will happen after the co-financing from the Baltic Sea Region Programme will have ended?

This year's Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the Baltic Development Forum and the Polish EU Presidency. For more reports and pictures please go to: http://www.bsr2011.eu.

From right: Ms Susanne Scherrer (Baltic Sea Region Programme), Mr Johannes Hahn (European Commissioner for Regional Policy) Mr Tapani Stipa and Mr Esa Kokkonen (BSR InnoShip). Photo by Minna Hanhijärvi

Following the encouraging launch of the cluster "Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources", further three project clusters are to start-up. Projects involved in the cluster "Fighting pollution of the Baltic Sea waters" will meet on 15 November, "Multimodal cross-border transport corridors" on 17 November and "Tools supporting SMEs as innovation sources" on 22 November in Berlin.

Around 50 representatives from 27 projects came to Berlin on 21 October and discussed their interest in cluster initiatives. The aim was to identify joint topics for cooperation among the projects in each of the three cluster themes. In the three parallel workshop sessions (for each cluster topic) projects discussed their products/outputs and looked for possibility of their join promotion. Partners started also defining the potential outputs for the cluster and will continue during the follow-up workshops in November.

The following projects are invited to join efforts in the clusters:

• "Multimodal cross-border transport corridors" - SCANDRIA, TransBaltic, EWTC II, RBGC, NECL II, Baltic.AirCargo.Net, BSR InnoShip, CleanShip, Baltic Bird, BGLC, ACL, EfficienSea.
• "Fighting pollution of the Baltic Sea waters" - WATERPRAXIS, COHIBA, PURE, SMOCS, Baltic COMPASS, BERAS IMPLEMENTATION, Baltic Deal, Baltic Manure.
• "Tools supporting SMEs as innovation sources" - BalticSupply, BaSIC, BONITA, BSHRHealthPort, BSR InnoReg, BSR QUICK, IBI Net, JOSEFIN, SPIN, StarDust.

The topic of "Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources" was selected for testing the concept of cluster initiatives. The cluster will have its official kick-off event on 10 November. The Ms Maria Ilona Kiefel, Longlife project, as a representative of the energy cluster, shared her experience and advice with the future cluster leaders and partners:

• Making sure that the contributions coming from project partners represent the whole project and not only opinion of the single partner is a difficult task.
• Well prepared work plan is essential having different durations of the projects. A lot of effort has to be put to catch outcomes of the projects finalising soon.
• Clusters could consider which networks already exist in the field and utilise their potential.
• A broad approach to cooperation brings benefits, e.g. inviting projects from cross-border programmes to participate as associated organisations. This is rare occasion when one can learn from each other.
• One can go even further and establish links between the clusters e.g. transport and energy.

The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme will support each cluster with approx. 100.000 EUR for the activities that will last 12 months.

Snapshots from the workshop on 21 October in Berlin

• Six new projects approved by the Monitoring Committee
• Joint ETC conference - a successful start for future cooperation
• Programme funds almost exhausted

On 6 October 2011, the European Commission adopted a draft legislative package which will frame Cohesion Policy for the period 2014-2020.

The Commission proposed a number of changes to the way cohesion policy is designed and implemented, e.g.:

• territorial cooperation reinforced - a separate regulation is proposed for European Territorial Cooperation
• concentrating on Europe 2020's priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth

For more please refer to:

• Leaflet: Cohesion Policy - investing in growth and jobs
• Q&A on the legislative package of EU regional, employment and social policy for 2014-2020
• Press release: Commission lays foundations to boost impact of cohesion investments after 2013
• Draft regulations

The projects QUICK-IGA, Technet_nano, SCIENCE LINK, Baltic GPP, PrimCare IT and Baltic Landscape will start this autumn. The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme decided to grant support to six new cooperation projects at its meeting in Berlin on 27-28 September. The already ongoing project Bioenergy Promotion was granted additional 1.1 million EUR to implement additional activities in the framework of the “extension stage” instrument. Altogether, the projects approved now involve 103 project partners and will receive 11.9 million EUR from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Click here for table with figures per project.

Out of the six selected projects, Baltic GPP has been awarded the status of a “Strategic Project of the Baltic Sea Region Programme”. Good news also for promoters of the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region: several projects (QUICK-IGA, SCIENCE LINK, Baltic GPP, PrimCare IT, Baltic Landscape and Bioenergy Promotion 2) are parts of flagship projects of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

Several projects applied also for funds from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). QUICK-IGA, PrimCare IT and Baltic Landscape will be supported with ENPI funds for their Belarusian partners.

After this decision round there are no funds left in priorities 1 (fostering innovations), 2 (internal and external accessibility) and 3 (Baltic Sea as a common resource). There are limited funds (circa 4.4 million EUR) left in priority 4 (attractive and competitive cities and regions). The Monitoring Committee will decide how to spend remaining funds by the end of the year.

Yet there are no ENPI funds left. The ENPI budget allocated to the Baltic Sea Region Programme was reduced by the European Commission earlier this year as only Belarusian partners qualified for receiving ENPI funds but not Russians. Consequently, programme authorities will need to re-submit the programme budget tables for approval to the European Commission. In addition, the financing agreement between the European Commission and Belarus has to be amended as well. At this point it is not clear when ENPI funds will be released to projects approved at this fourth application call in 2011.

The selected projects illustrate the wide thematic range of the cooperation that is part-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme:

58 project applications had been submitted in the fourth call to the Baltic Sea Region Programme’s Joint Technical Secretariat at Rostock and Riga by the end of March 2011. Eight projects were approved already in June 2011. Altogether the 4th call results in 14 new projects. The applicants had to demonstrate their potential to contribute to the development of the whole Baltic Sea region. The Programme’s Monitoring Committee including national and regional representatives from all eleven participating countries selects the best project proposals. In 2011 the Monitoring Committee is chaired by Germany (Mr Bernd Kloke, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology).

Polish delegation to the Monitoring Committee: (left) Ms Dorota Trapczynska, Ms Magdalena Jasinska, Ministry of Regional Development, and Ms Klaudia Koćmiel, Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship

Mr Vicente Rodríguez Sáez, Deputy Head of Unit Unit E.1, DG Regional Policy, European Commission, updating the MC on the preparation of future programme period 2014-2020

Ms Karin Nygård Skalman, Vinnova, presenting StarDust project to the Monitoring Committee

For the first time the 13 transnational programmes organise a joint event demonstrating how transnational cooperation helps to improve quality of life in European regions. The conference is an official Polish Presidency event and took place in Katowice, Poland on 15-16 September 2011.

The Joint Transnational Conference Team

Joint Transnational Conference
13 Programmes - 1 Goal: to Improve Quality of Life in European Regions
www.transnational-cooperation.eu

Go to www.transnational-cooperation.eu to ask questions and to watch the Joint Transnational Conference online. Post comments and questions to the speakers and the audience, tweet during the event (#TransnationalConference) or follow the conference news via Twitter (@eu_cooperation).

For the first time the 13 transnational programmes organise a joint event demonstrating how transnational cooperation helps to improve quality of life in European regions. The conference is an official Polish Presidency event and takes place in Katowice, Poland on 15-16 September 2011.

The Joint Transnational Conference Team

Joint Transnational Conference
13 Programmes - 1 Goal: to Improve Quality of Life in European Regions
www.transnational-cooperation.eu

The Joint Transnational Conference Team

The development of the Baltic Sea Region, progress of the implementation of the EU Strategy for the BSR, VASAB long-term perspectives as well as achievements of the projects co-financed in the framework of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 will be discussed at the round table on EU-Russia Cooperation.

The forum is organized by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Ministry for Regional Development of the Russian Federation, Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation, St.Petersburg City Administration, Center of Strategic Research and ICSER Leontief Centre.

More information is available at www.forumstrategov.ru.

In this mid-term evaluation of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013, six strategic topics were analysed and recommendations for the current and the future Programme period were formulated. The evaluation was carried out by DEA Baltika (Latvia) from October 2010 to May 2011. The Monitoring Committee approved the report on 8 June and will follow up on the recommendations during the coming months.

Topics covered by the evaluation:

1. EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region
2. Impact of the Programme in the Region
3. Differentiation and complementarity of the Programme to other EU funded programmes
4. Participation in the Programme
5. Impact of Non-available ENPI funding for Russia
6. Programme Communication Strategy

Downloads:

• The mid-term evaluation report

• Eight new Baltic Sea Region cooperation projects
• Joint Transnational Cooperation conference website online
• Energy cluster to start up

Download:

• Baltic Sea Region Programme Newsletter, June 2011

The representatives from eleven countries surrounding the Baltic Sea decided to financially support 8 transnational projects with 21.6 Mio EUR from the European Union's Baltic Sea Region Programme. 132 organisations from the area will be involved in joint activities.

The new projects in the Baltic Sea Region Programme are:

• Bothnian Green Logistic Corridor (BGLC)
• CHEMsea
• BALTIC BIRD
• Amber Coast Logistics (ACL)
• PRESTO
• AQUABEST
• AQUAFIMA
• BALTRAD+ 

 Please note that projects with an ENPI component are still subject to an internal consultation of the European Commission and a clarification of the ENPI budgets. Therefore, they can only be contracted once the results of the consultation and clarification with the Commission services, in particular DG DEVCO, are available.

Downloads:

• Press release (with brief project descriptions)
  
• Overview (statistics) of the approved projects

Communication managers met in Berlin on 24-25 May 2011 to look at the draft communication plans, exchange ideas and to get training in communications.

More than 50 participants from 35 projects, trainers from Pinnacle and Joint Technical Secretariat attended the event. The first day of the seminar was dedicated to the communication plans. We went through the communication aims, target groups, project messages and communication channels, covered also evaluation of the communication plan and division of responsibilities. During the second day we had working sessions on writing skills, media relations, online and social media.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• Presentations day 1
• Presentations from training sessions (day 2)
• Elearning modules (Pinnacle)
• List of participants

Snapshots

Almost 50 financial project managers and first level controllers met in Hamburg for the seminar organized by the Joint Technical Secretariat on 3-4 May.

The seminar gave an opportunity to both the representatives of the lead partners that took already part in more projects as well as the lead partners participating in the project for the first time to learn and in more details discuss the:

• first level control problematic and its specific requirements,
• financial reporting,
• details on eligibility rules,
• specific topics important for financial project implementation as cost-sharing method, budget flexibility.

The representatives of the Swedish first level control have their experience from the validation of expenditure. Participants could also test the most relevant issues in the two case studies.

The participants especially appreciated possibility to openly discuss specific details between the lead partners, first level controllers and the Joint Technical Secretariat.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations
• Case study 1 - cost sharing
• Case study 2 - eligibility

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme is looking for a Project Officer with several years of relevant professional experience. The new colleague will support the implementation of transnational projects, in particular the monitoring of projects' implementation. The job can be started as soon as possible and will end on 31 December 2013. Deadline for sending applications is 30 may 2011. For more information please check the job announcement.

Downloads:

• Project Officer job announcement

The Baltic.Air.Cargo.Net and COOL Bricks projects were approved by the government of Belarus on 25 April 2011. These are the first ones among the projects with Belarusian partners approved in the third call.

Three projects from the first call, six - from the second and now two from the third call are actively implementing the activities in Belarus. Yet, two more projects approved in the second call for proposals in June and September 2009 EWTC II and ImPrim are still negotiating the requirements for approval with the national ministries in Belarus.

Three projects with Belarusian partners BERAS IMPLEMENTATION, RB21T and Ecovillages approved in the third call for proposals by the Monitoring Committee in June and September 2010 are in the process of receiving necessary approvals from the national ministries.

To find more about the projects go to the project database.

Downloads:

• Approval letter

The Task Force "Programme Strategy", gathering some 20 representatives from the Member States, EU Commission, and JTS/MA met in Berlin on 14 - 15 April to discuss selected issue of strategic importance. These are the external strategic evaluation that is about to be finalised, the implementation of the cluster initiatives, and the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region by the Programme. Another important topic was the 4th call for applications that was just closed. Here, the portfolio of received applications was discussed, including flagship applications and extension stage applications. At the same time, participants laid ground for the decision-making on these projects in the upcoming Monitoring Committee meetings in June and September. It was also agreed that the second MC meeting in 2011 will be held in Berlin on 27 - 28 September 2011, where projects of priorities 1 and 4 will be decided upon. Projects submitted in priorities 2 & 3 (4th call) will be decided by the MC at the June meeting.

Gunita Kakteniece, dea baltica, presents results of the external strategic evaluation

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme is looking for a Finance Assistant for the Rostock Office. The "Finance Assistant - Payment & Administration" will be responsible for providing efficient service to the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS), the Managing Authority (MA) and the Certifying Authority (CA) in running the day to day accounting business and other regular administrative work related to the functioning of the Rostock office.

The job can be started as soon as possible and will end on 31 December 2015. Deadline for sending applications is 9 May 2011. For more information please check the job announcement.

Downloads:

• Finance Assistant job announcement (EN)
  
• Finance Assistant job announcement (DE)

 SHORT TERM CONTRACT - conceptualisation, design and implementation of an EXHIBITION for the Joint ETC conference, 15-16 September in Katowice, Poland

The Joint Technical Secretariat received 58 complete project applications in the 4th call that was closed on 31 March 2011:
Priority 1 (fostering innovations): 21
Priority 2 (internal and external accessibility): 5
Priority 3 (Baltic Sea as a common resource): 16
Priority 4 (attractive & competitive cities and regions): 11
Extension stage*: 5

*Projects approved in the 1st call had the possibility to apply for an extension stage. These extension stage projects will compete for the still available funds together with "regular" 4th call projects.

Funds requested, million EUR

Number of project partners and Lead Applicants per country

The newsletter is addressed to those involved in projects part-financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. We hope that Project Implementation Newsletter (PIN) will fill you in with lots of useful information for your project tasks, especially preparation of the reports.

Please feel free to distribute the Project Implementation Newsletter to any other interested parties. You can subscribe to the mailing list by sending "subscribe to Project Implementation Newsletter" to info@eu.baltic.net

Your Joint Technical Secretariat Team

Downloads:

• Project Implementation Newsletter, April 2011

The Joint Technical Secretariat received so far 59 project applications in the 4th call that was closed on 31 March 2011.

In the coming days we will publish more details. At the moment we are checking for applications that may have been not delivered electronically and waiting for paper copies sent per post.

• Cluster initiative on energy launched
• Joint conference of all Transnational Cooperation programmes
• 4th call for projects open until 31 March

We would like to meet communication staff in Berlin and spend two days on planning and implementing communications (day 1) as well as training workshops (writing, media relations, social media - day 2). The seminar is addressed to those who are responsible for communication in the projects supported by the Baltic Sea Region Programme.

Representatives of projects approved in the third call will attend this kind of seminar for the first time. Those of you who already attended a communication seminar will experience workshops that have similar topics, yet we want to take them to the next level - more practical exercises addressed also to those with experience. The workshops will be led by trainers from a professional PR company.

Let's also not forget the opportunity to meet your colleagues dealing with communication in a very similar environment.

The invitation and the draft agenda for the event will be available in late March.

"Our common objective is to disseminate new concepts fostering energy efficiency at local, regional and national level in the Baltic Sea Region more widely and more successfully" agreed participants of the first workshop on cluster initiatives organised by the Baltic Sea Region programme. All eight energy projects (Baltic Biogas Bus, Urb.Energy, Bioenergy Promotion, COOL Bricks, Public Energy Alternatives, Longlife, REMOWE, SPIN) of the programme had accepted the invitation of the Joint Technical Secretariat, and met in Berlin, on 8 February. Project representatives discussed how to combine common results, and if it was possible to define joint dissemination strategies. Several projects work on renewable energy sources whereas others identify ways of saving energy. Still, participants concluded that the common concern was how to convince policy makers to implement concepts increasing the efficient use of energy. As a next step, project representatives will define joint activities in more detail, and will meet again in Rostock, on 7 March.

The Baltic Sea Region programme has launched new initiatives of bringing projects together working in similar fields, and encouraging them to create joint platforms or "clusters". Cluster initiatives will be granted extra funding from the programme. The initiative has been started with energy projects but the Joint Technical Secretariat will invite more projects working on topics relevant for the Baltic Sea region.

The Delegation of the European Union to Russia has launched a call for proposals directed at the non-state actors and local authorities in the Baltic Sea region. The overall objective of this grant scheme with a total budget of 3.5 million euro is to support the cooperation between the EU and Russia by encouraging local stakeholders to participate more effectively in addressing common challenges and exploiting common opportunities. The first stage of the call runs until 10 March 2011.

The Baltic Sea region plays a strategic role in EU-Russia relations being the main gateway from Russia to Europe. Its prosperity, safety and security are of crucial importance not only for directly neighbouring regions and countries but for the whole of Russia and the EU.

Priority under this call for proposals will be given to small scale actions in the areas of energy efficiency, health and social protection, transport and logistics, and culture and tourism.

Participation is open to local authorities and Non-Governmental Organisations of the whole EU and Russia. Action should take place within the territory eligible for cooperation in the Baltic Sea region, i.e. St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad Oblast, Republic of Karelia, Oblasts of Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod and Pskov; and for projects addressing the Barents region - Arhangelsk Oblast, Komi Republic and Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug.

The EU Delegation to Russia will organise two information sessions for potential applicants in February 2011 to promote the call and explain its priorities and modalities.

Background

The 3.5 million euro call for proposals "Non-State Actors and Local Authorities programme for the Baltic Sea region" is a part of a larger initiative "The EU Baltic Sea Strategy External Action Programme in favour of the Russian Federation". It was initiated by the European Parliament when in 2010 it made a total of 20 million euro available to support the external dimension of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy especially involving Russia. Other elements of the Programme include an additional contribution to the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Support Fund and support for the implementation of the Helsinki Commission Baltic Sea Action Plan. The overall objective of the Programme is to make the Baltic region an attractive place to invest, work and live in.

The full text of the call including information on how to apply is available at http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/russia/funding_opportunities/grants/index_en.htm.

The staff of the Joint Technical Secretariat informed participants about the requirements from the Programme and gave advice on how to fill in the application form.

Many projects will submit applications to the Baltic Sea Region Programme in the fourth call (deadline 31 March). 23 project ideas received individual project consultations on 20 January.

The interregional cooperation programme INTERREG IVC launched its fourth - and final - open call on 1 December 2010. The call will remain open until 1 April 2011.

INTERREG IVC allows you to share experience and good practice with partners from all 27 EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland. It is also good opportunity to present the results of transnational cooperation to a wider European audience.

The programme supports projects in two priorities: innovation and the knowledge economy as well as environment and risk prevention. A total of ca 100 million EUR still remains available for project funding and all ten sub-themes will be open during the fourth call for proposals. You can read more about the programme and its fourth call at www.interreg4c.eu.

To assist potential applicants, a series of events are organised during the next months. The main events are listed below. The full list of events is available on the INTERREG IVC website. Please do not hesitate to forward this information to any interested parties!

4th EU Interregional Cooperation Forum
On 3-4 February 2010, INTERREG IVC is holding the 4th EU Interregional Cooperation Forum in Budapest, Hungary. This always-popular event presents the latest developments in interregional cooperation projects, provides information on the fourth call, allows for partner search and networking, and offers workshops on the main aspects of project development. There are still places available! Register now at https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=18555&categoryid=63183.

Lead Applicant Seminars
These seminars are targeted specifically at organisations who are considering taking the lead in a fourth call application. They focus on practical exercises around the completion of the application form, and are organised according to the location of the lead applicant. Individual project consultations are organised after each event.

North area Lead Applicants (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden)

• 27 January 2011 - Helsinki (FI): details and registration
• 17 February 2011 - Frankfurt am Main (DE): details and registration

East area Lead Applicants (incl. Poland)

• 3 March 2011 - Vienna (AT): details and registration

For further information about the programme and our events, please do not hesitate to contact the INTERREG IVC Information Point North.

In the review of the Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" in Jyväskylä, Finland on 30 November -1 December 2010, you will find selected snapshots, quotes, discussion points and information about the 4th call for projects.

The 4th call for project applications is open from 1 December 2010 till 31 March 2011. The Monitoring Committee decided to restrict applications to flagship projects and to specific topics - please check the announcement note for details.

• Conference review

The 4th call for project applications is open from 1 December 2010 till 31 March 2011. In order to learn how to get funding from the Programme the Lead Applicants or those who work on project ideas and plan to apply for funds are encouraged to participate in the Lead Applicant seminar. The event will take place in Riga/Latvia on 19-20 January 2011.

The 4th call is restricted to flagship projects and selected specific topics - please check the announcement note for details. Therefore the main target group of the Lead Applicant seminar are applicants whose project ideas comply with the focus of the 4th call. PLEASE NOTE: All applicants have to hand in the project idea form for their project together with their registration for the seminar. Based on the provided project idea and only in case it corresponds to the restrictions of the 4th call applicants' participation in the Lead Partner seminar will be confirmed.
The first day of the seminar will help the Lead Applicants to prepare an application and provide answers to open questions. The individual project consultations will be offered on the second day.

Register for the seminar online at http://eu.baltic.net/LAS_Riga.13251.html. Deadline for registering for the Riga seminar(and for handing in the project idea form) is 7 January 2011. For more information please contact Ms Alke Voß, Communication Officer (av@eu.baltic.net).

• Invitation & practical information
• Agenda
• Project idea form

• Review of the conference
• Final agenda
• Video message, the President of Finland Ms Tarja Halonen (watch on YouTube) (download 220 MB)
• Presentations Day 1
• Presentations Day 2
• List of registered participants
• Background paper "The Concept of Macro-Regions: Practice and Prospects"
• Description of speakers
• Pre-conference programme on Bioenergy
• Pre-conference session on Transport Policies in the Baltic Sea Region
• Practical information
• Fact-sheet about Jyväskylä

The Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" in Jyväskylä, Finland on 30 November -1 December 2010 was organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 in close co-operation with Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä.

Finland's Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Mauri Pekkarinen

"The Baltic Sea Region Strategy contains many elements which can be best addressed in a macro-regional context but there are also things that are addressed by national policies and programmes - focussing is therefore needed", stated Finland's Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Mauri Pekkarinen when opening the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference in Jyväskylä, Central Finland yesterday. Almost 300 participants followed the discussions of Day 1 representing central, regional, local as well as EU public administrations and agencies, research institutions, and networks from the overall Baltic Sea area.

Finland's Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Mauri Pekkarinen

"We must make the Baltic Sea region an example of sustainable development. This requires serious work and enhanced cooperation" stressed Finland's President Tarja Halonen in her video message. "The Baltic Sea Strategy can help set concrete goals in developing the region. We should seek to co-operate and to share experiences with other maritime regions. In addition to European level cooperation, it is important that regional cooperation receives attention."

It is the first time in history that the EU has developed a tailor-made development strategy for a geographic macro-region - the Baltic Sea region. "Every macro-regional strategy has to have its own rationale", said Mr Colin Wolfe, representing the European Commission's DG Regional Policy when reflecting on lessons learnt from the process so far. These might differ from area to area. For the second EU strategy in the Danube area, Ms Anna Bérczi of the Hungarian ministry of foreign affairs emphasized that a renewed partnership between neighbouring countries as well as strengthening the relationships with the Western Balkan countries was the most important strategic objective. An informed discussion on the opportunities and risks of macro-regional strategies followed including lively interventions from the audience. Mr John Bachtler, director of the European Policies Research Centre summarized results in four points:

• The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region presents potential in both, symbolic and practical sense
• It is worth to look at the preconditions for having a macro-regional strategy before starting to design it
• There are operational issues that are not solved yet, e. g. the flexible but also complex approach to governance as well as the question how to involve external partners
• The relationship between macro-regional strategies and transnational cooperation needs to be further explored but also towards other concepts.

The conference was organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 in close co-operation with Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä. Jyväskylä has not only been selected as location because of its impressive conference infrastructure and the strong support from the municipal and regional authorities to the event. Jyväskylä, located in the heart of Finland, is a typical example for a developing region far away from the shores and harbours around the Baltic Sea. Bridging distances, creating future oriented business and quality job opportunities, as well as offering a high standard social and natural environment are necessary to attract people to come and stay. Ms Anita Mikkonen, executive director of the Regional Council of Central Finland as well as Mr Markku Andersson, the Mayor of Jyväskylä explained how Jyväskylä and the surrounding region are managing these challenges. "Jyväskylä region is one of the main growth centres outside the capital Helsinki", Mr Andersson was proud to report.

Participants of the conference received a lesson on what it means to live in a region quite distant from metropolitan areas: Both the wintry weather conditions as well as a strike of airline staff heavily affected the travels both to and from the conference. Following this, everybody was convinced that more efforts need to be taken to improve transport infrastructure all over the region.

• Download the newsflash in pdf

For more information please contact:
Ms Susanne Scherrer, JTS director
Ms Alke Voß, and Mr Darijus Valiucko, Communication Officers
av@eu.baltic.net and dv@eu.baltic.net

The Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" in Jyväskylä, Finland on 30 November -1 December 2010 will gather more than 400 policy makers and representatives of national, regional and local authorities from all those countries bordering the Baltic Sea and beyond, Non-Governmental Organisations, researchers and academics, project partners and interested project promoters - and all those dedicated to further developing the Baltic Sea region towards a model region in Europe.

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Background paper "The Concept of Macro-Regions: Practice and Prospects"
• Description of speakers
• Pre-conference programme on Bioenergy
• Pre-conference session on Transport Policies in the Baltic Sea Region
• Practical information
• Fact-sheet about Jyväskylä

We will have a video message by the President of Finland Ms Tarja Halonen. From Mr Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, we will get the Finnish viewpoints for the European Union's cohesion policy beyond 2013. Mr John Bachtler, Director of the European Policies Research Centre (Glasgow), and Mr Ole Damsgaard, Director of Nordregio, will provide the academic grounds for an informed exchange of views among conference participants about the much debated concept of macro-regional strategies in the European Union. Speakers from the European Commission (Mr Colin Wolfe, Head of Unit, Regional Policy) and the Danube region (Ms Anna Bérczi, Head of Department, Office for the EU Danube Region Strategy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hungary) will reflect on similarities and differences of building up a macro-regional development strategy. The transnational cooperation projects funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme will demonstrate their achievements and contributions to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region.

Conference participants will have space to network and explore the City of Jyväskylä and the region of Central Finland. We will learn about Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and visit his works, accompanied by music and food, during the get-together on 29 Nov. The pre-conference programme on 30 Nov will start with a visit to Keljonlahti power plant and continue with a seminar on bioenergy. The performance of the Dance Theatre Kramppi and Finnish folk music will craft atmosphere at the conference and the reception on 30 November.

The event is organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme's Joint Technical Secretariat in co-operation with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä. Have you not been there yet? Jyväskylä is situated 270 km north from Helsinki, connected by flights, busses and trains. We look forward to welcoming you in Jyväskylä, the human technology city!

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as chair of the Transport Working Group in CPMR-BSC will run a working session "Transport Policies in the Baltic Sea Region and the role of international cooperation projects" on 30 November in Jyväskylä. Main objective is to find synergies between transport-oriented projects of the Baltic Sea Region Programme. In a first block, we will have views on transport policy and open the debate. In a second block, transport projects from the Baltic Sea Region Programme will have the chance to discuss possible fields of cooperation, followed by a brief summary.

The meeting is held back-to-back with the Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" on 30.11. - 01.12.2010 in Jyväskylä, Finland. You can register for both events by 19 November.

• Agenda and practical information

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme is looking for a Programme Assistant for the Rostock office. Deadline for sending applications is 25 November 2010. For more information please read the job announcement.

• Job announcement
• Application sheet

• the purpose of the evaluation
• who shall carry out the evaluation
• which elements shall the evaluation include
• which method shall be used
• how the outcomes of the evaluation shall be used

The Secretariat has also developed a voluntary template for the mid-term self-evaluation report. It is not compulsory for the project to use this template.

The mid-term self-evaluation shall be carried out by each project in the middle of the project's implementation phase.

Downloads:

• Guidance on mid-term self-evaluation of a project
• Mid-term self-evaluation report

Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme met in a small group with selected First Level Controllers, Financial Managers and Financial consultants to discuss the scope and need for the simplifications in financial topics.

The discussion focused on budget lines, calculation of personnel costs and cost sharing. As a result the JTS will simplify several financial procedures and (not obligatory) templates offered by the Baltic Sea Region Programme. We expect also some updates in the Programme Manual.

You will find here presentations of programmes and ideas that were presented at the Project Idea Café in Tallinn on 13 November. The Project Idea Café ran parallel to the BSSSC Annual Conference 2010, 12-14 October in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Café was organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme in cooperation with Central Baltic, South Baltic, INTERREG VIC programmes, Sida and BSSSC.

• Baltic Sea Region Transnational Cooperation Programme
• Central Baltic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme
• South Baltic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme
• INTERREG IVC Interregional Cooperation Programme
• Alternative funding sources by SIDA
• Project idea catalogue

Lead Partners and managers of the 10 projects approved in June 2010 by the Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme came to Rostock on 6-7 October to learn about other projects and get training on rules and requirements.

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

All 40 project ideas that will be presented at the Project Idea Café in Tallinn on 13 November were collected in the Project Idea Catalogue. The Project Idea Café will run parallel to the BSSSC Annual Conference 2010, 12-14 October in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Café is organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme in cooperation with Central Baltic, South Baltic, INTERREG VIC programmes, Sida and BSSSC.

• Project idea catalogue
• Agenda of the Project Idea Café
• Info about the 18th BSSSC Annual Conference

Information seminar, Minsk, 29 September 2010

More than 100 participants gathered for the information seminar in Minsk, Belarus on 29 September. Representatives from national, regional and local authorities, NGOs as well as academic sector received the main information on the Baltic Sea Region Programme, status quo of its implementation and Programme rules. Potential partners from Belarus received useful tips how to develop project proposals and find partners.

Belarusian partners from the approved projects Baltic COMPASS, EWTC II, Egoprise, IBI Net and Baltic.AirCargo.Net shared their experience on participation in the BSR Programme. They presented their own ways of establishing contacts with European partners.

The event was organised by the Joint Technical Secretariat in cooperation with Regional Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI).

• Agenda RU ENG
• List of participants
• Presentations (zip)

Training Workshop, Minsk, 30 September 2010

A Training Workshop for the Belarusian partners from the projects approved in the 1st - 3rd calls for proposals was held in Minsk, Belarus on 30 September. Around 50 participants from 15 projects took part.

The main purpose of the workshop was to support Belarusian partners in carrying out their daily project routines. The Secretariat staff together with the experts from the Regional Capacity Building Initiative informed about the main Programme rules and national requirements.

• Agenda RU ENG
• List of participants
• Presentations (zip)

The Baltic Sea Region Programme supports more than 20 projects that are flagships or part of the flagship projects of the EU Strategy fort he Baltic Sea Region. The table below provides more details on projects and priority areas of the Strategy that the projects contribute.

• Flagship projects of the EU Strategy supported by the Baltic Sea Programme

Preparations for the next EU budgetary period 2014-2020 have begun. The Europe 2020 strategy (ec.europa.eu/eu2020), agreed by heads of state, will shape the process. The new legislative package is expected to be submitted to the European Council in spring 2011.

INTERACT collected contributions from the European Territorial Cooperation programmes and summarised them in the paper available for download below.

Downloads:

• Paper in ENG, DE, NL and FR

• Nine new Baltic Sea cooperation projects selected
• "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" conference in Jyväskylä
• Featured project: Eco-Region

Download the newsletter: September issue of the newsletter.

We have a pleasure to invite you to the Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" in Jyväskylä, Finland on 30 November -1 December 2010. The event will gather policy makers and representatives of national, regional and local authorities from all those countries bordering the Baltic Sea and beyond. We are also expecting participants from Non-Governmental Organisations, researchers and academics, project partners and interested project promoters - and all those dedicated to further developing the Baltic Sea region towards a model region in Europe. We also intend to open the fourth call for project applications and inform project promoters how to receive funds from our programme.

We will have a video message by the President of Finland Ms Tarja Halonen. From Mr Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, we will get the Finnish viewpoints for the European Union's cohesion policy beyond 2013. Mr John Bachtler, Director of the European Policies Research Centre (Glasgow), and Mr Ole Damsgaard, Director of Nordregio, will provide the academic grounds for an informed exchange of views among conference participants about the much debated concept of macro-regional strategies in the European Union. Speakers from the European Commission (Mr José Palma Andrès, Director, Regional Policy) and the Danube region (Ms Etelka Barsi-Pataky, Commissioner of the Government of Hungary for the EU Danube Strategy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will reflect on similarities and differences of building up a macro-regional development strategy. The transnational cooperation projects funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme will demonstrate their achievements and contributions to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region.

Conference participants will have space to network and explore the City of Jyväskylä and the region of Central Finland. We will learn about Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and visit his works, accompanied by music and food, during the get-together on 29 Nov. The pre-conference programme on 30 Nov will start with a visit to Keljonlahti power plant and continue with a seminar on bioenergy. The performance of the Dance Theatre Kramppi and Finnish folk music will craft atmosphere at the conference and the reception on 30 November.

The event is organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme's Joint Technical Secretariat in co-operation with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä. Have you not been there yet? Jyväskylä is situated 270 km north from Helsinki, connected by flights, busses and trains. We look forward to welcoming you in Jyväskylä, the human technology city!

Susanne Scherrer
Director of the Joint Technical Secretariat Rostock/Riga
The Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013

• Draft Agenda
• Pre-conference programme
• Pre-conference session on Transport Policies in the Baltic Sea Region
• Practical information
• On-line registration (deadline 19 November)
  
• Book hotel (deadline 19 November)
  
• Fact-sheet about Jyväskylä

• URBAN CREATIVE POLES - Development and Promotion of Creative Industry Potentials in Medium-Sized Cities of the Baltic Sea Region
• BSHR HealthPort - Baltic Sea Health Region - Business acceleration support and training bridging innovative SMEs and health care organisations to strengthen BSR health economy
• MIN-NOVATION - Mining and Mineral Processing Waste Management Innovation Network
• COOL Bricks - Climate Change, Cultural Heritage & Energy Efficient Monuments
• StarDust - The Strategic Project on Trans-national Commercial Activities in Research & Innovation, Clusters and in SME-Networks
• Baltic Fashion - Promoting the innovative Baltic Fashion industry throughout the Baltic Sea Region
• BATMAN - BAltic Forum for Innovative Technologies for Sustainable MANure Management
• RB21T - RECO Baltic 21 Tech
• Ecovillages - Ecovillages for sustainable rural development

Downloads:

• Press release
• Overview of the approved projects

Organisations from Belarus are invited to participate in the Project Idea Café at the BSSSC conference on 13 October 2010 in Tallinn, Estonia. EU Regional Capacity Building Initiative (RCBI) agreed to support travelling & accommodation for up to 5 participants from Belarus. Five project ideas sent for the Project Idea Café by Belarusian stakeholders were selected by the Secretariat:

• Harmonisation of development strategies for cross-border region development
• System of sewage treatment of rural eco-tourist complexes in the Baltic Sea Region
• Creation of programme for information and coordination of national aquaculture centers
• Energy bus (efficient energy technologies)
• Logistics development of transport communications in the Baltic sea Region.

The selected project ideas highlight the topics of territorial development, waste water management, protection of water and fish resources, usage of efficient energy technologies as well as logistics development. We have passed the information about the selected candidates further to RCBI, who will contact the participants and take care of practicalities.

Project Idea Café takes place in the framework of BSSSC Annual Conference in Tallinn, Estonia on 13 October. Several European Territorial Cooperation Programmes covering the Baltic Sea region will participate in the Café.

Altogether the Secretariat received 27 ideas from Belarus. The potential beneficiaries represent national and local authorities, educational and research institutions as well as NGOs and associations from Minsk, Grodno, Gomel, Brest and Vitebsk.

The PURE project (Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication) was approved by the government of Belarus on 18 August 2010.

Altogether 5 projects have finished the internal approval procedure in Belarus: three projects (Baltrad, Urb.Energy and Bioenergy Promotion) approved in the first call and two in the second call (Baltic COMPASS and PURE) for project applications in the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.

Several projects supported by the Baltic Sea Region Programme have partners from Belarus. These partners will receive co-financing from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). Before partners from Belarus can start their work, they have to go through the internal approval procedure by the government of Belarus.

Eight other projects with partners from Belarus have started the national approval procedure: EWTC II, BSR QUICK, IBI Net, Egoprise, AGORA 2.0, ImPrim (second call) and Baltic.AirCargo.Net, BERAS (third call).

To find more about the projects go to the project database.

• Approval (in Russian)

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme together with the Regional Capacity Building Initiative would like to invite you to an information seminar for potential partners from Belarus. The event will be held in Minsk in Minsk hotel on the 29th of September, 2010. Click here for the draft agenda.

During the seminar the participants will be presented with the general information on the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 and status of its implementation. Potential partners from Belarus will receive useful tips how to develop project proposals and find partners. Belarusian partners from the approved projects will share their experience on participation in the BSR Programme.

The event will be held in English and Russian. Please register at eu.baltic.net/Minsk.13246.html. The deadline for registration is 21 September 2010.

Should you have any questions regarding the event, please contact Ms Elena Kolosova at the Baltic Sea Region Programme JTS (Tel: +371 6 735 06 46, e-mail: elena.kolosova@eu.baltic.net).

You have an interesting project idea, want to share it with others and look for project partners? 

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the Baltic Sea Region Programme together with the Regional Capacity Building Initiative are to organise a two-day information and training event in Belarus.

During the first day, 29 September, potential applicants from Belarus will receive information about the programme and the coming call for proposals.

At the second day, 30 September, a training workshop will be organised for the Belarusian partners from the projects approved in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd calls for proposals. The aim of this workshop is to support partners from Belarus in carrying out their daily project routines.

The event will be held in English and Russian. More information will follow in September.

Should you have any questions regarding the event, please contact Ms Elena Kolosova at the Baltic Sea Region Programme JTS (Tel: +371 6 735 06 46, e-mail: elena.kolosova@eu.baltic.net).

Stakeholders and decision makers in the public sector are used to think and act in local, regional or national frameworks. They need to be made much more aware about the opportunities of transnational cooperation. What is the added value of working in a transnational cooperation project? What problems can be solved more effectively at international level? How do institutions benefit from being linked to transnational networks?

Representatives of managing authorities and secretariats of ten transnational cooperation programmes met in Brussels on 8 July, and agreed that the benefit of transnational cooperation has to be highlighted in a more effective way. To this end, they set up a "steering group" responsible for organising a joint conference involving all European transnational cooperation programmes in 2011. One joint event will better demonstrate the European impact of transnational cooperation across the whole continent. Still, geography matters: territorial cooperation needs a territorial reference - such as the Baltic Sea region.

Poland will hold the EU Presidency in the second half of 2011 and offered to host the event. Participants were pleased to be informed that the Polish minister of regional development already indicated to open the conference if it was to take place in Poland. Thus the event would get the necessary public attention. Representatives of the programmes now also count on high level representation from the European Commission.

The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme had already expressed its support to the event at its last meeting in Helsinki, on 9 June 2010. The Baltic Sea Region representatives strongly supported the Polish offer to host the event. The steering group will met again on 29 September 2010, and again at the EU office of the Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein in Brussels. Susanne Scherrer, director of the JTS, and Alke Elisabeth Voß, JTS communication officer represent the Baltic Sea Region Programme at the steering group.

The EIB contributes to the implementation to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region by offering financing opportunities to the projects. Overall, the EIB has lent more than EUR 20 billion to activities in the Baltic Sea Region in the years 2007-2009.

To learn more please check the brochure "The EIB in the Baltic Sea Region".

Six transnational cooperation projects co-funded by the EU Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 presented their investment ideas to international financing institutions in Hamburg on 5th May.

The seminar is addressed to the representatives of the audit companies, providing the first level control (FLC) service to the Lithuanian partners implementing projects of European Territorial Cooperation CBC programmes in Lithuania. The seminar will be organised on Thursday, 27 May 2010 at 09.00-17.00 in premises of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania (Šventaragio str 2, Vilnius, Lithuania) by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania in cooperation with INTERACT.

The aim of the seminar is to present to the FLC the background information on general European support and financial matters on the project level, to acquaint them with national eligibility rules for ETC Programmes implemented in Lithuania, to offer a forum for them to discuss main questions, issues and challenges of certifying project expenses.

For more info see the invitation, agenda and registration form.

We are looking for a new colleague supporting the preparation and implementation of transnational projects, in particular the monitoring of financial reports. Training on the job will be provided by JTS finance officers. The job can be started as soon as possible. The new colleague will be employed to replace one of the Finance Officers being on parental leave, so the contract will end on 31 December 2011. The candidate shall have a relevant university degree and proven experience with administration of EU-funded programmes.

Candidates are requested to send their CV, a Motivation Letter and their expectation towards the annual gross salary by e-mail to info@eu.baltic.net. All documents shall be submitted in English language. Closing date is Monday, 31 May 2010.

For more information please see the job advertisement.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme conference "The power of the Baltic Sea macro-region" in Jyväskylä, Finland on 30 Nov-1 Dec 2010 will gather policy makers and representatives of national, regional and local authorities from all those countries bordering the Baltic Sea and beyond. We are also expecting participants from Non-Governmental Organisations, researchers and academics, project partners and interested project promoters - and all those dedicated to further developing the Baltic Sea region towards a model region in Europe.

The President of Finland Ms Tarja Halonen will provide the key note opening speech at the conference. From Mr Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, we will get the Finnish viewpoints for the European Union's cohesion policy beyond 2013. Mr John Bachtler, Director of the European Policies Research Centre (Glasgow), and Mr Ole Damsgaard, Director of Nordregio, will provide the academic grounds for an informed exchange of views among conference participants about the much debated concept of macro-regional strategies in the European Union. We also expect prominent speakers from the European Commission and the Danube region to reflect on similarities and differences of building up a macro-regional development strategy. The transnational cooperation projects funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme will demonstrate their achievements and contributions to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region. We also intend to open the final call for project applications and inform project promoters how to receive funds from our programme. Conference participants will have space to network and learn more about the City of Jyväskylä and the region of Central Finland at the pre-conference programme and get-together as well as conference reception.

The conference is organised by the Baltic Sea Region Programme in co-operation with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä. Have you not been there yet? Jyväskylä is situated 270 km north from Helsinki, and very well connected by flights and trains. We look forward to welcoming you in Jyväskylä, the human technology city!

Detailed agenda and practical information will be made available at eu.baltic.net.

The highlights of this newsletter edition are:

• 61 applications received in the 3rd call
• Interview with MEP Olejniczak on macro-regional strategy
• Strategic project: TransBaltic
• Review on the latest events

The third call for project applications is closed. The Secretariat received 61 applications and will start now with the admissibility check.

More than 120 participants and 46 project ideas were present at the Lead Applicant seminar in Malmö on 13-14 January. The staff of the Joint Technical Secretariat informed about requirements from the Programme and gave advice on how to fill in the application form.

Many projects will submit applications to the Baltic Sea Region Programme in the third call (deadline 22 March). 21 project ideas received consultations on 14 January.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• List of participants
• Presentations

The responsible Finnish authorities will arrange a national event to inform about the third call of the Baltic Sea Region programme and the fifth call of the Northern Periphery programme in Helsinki on 11 February 2010. In addition to informing about the specific calls, authorities will also inform about the possibility for Finnish partners to apply for State co-financing and about the Finnish First Level Control system.

Downloads:

• Invitation, preliminary programme and registration form

• Quo Vadis, Programme?
• Third call for project applications open from 4 January till 22 March 2010
• Project: JOSEFIN - Joint SME Finance for Innovation
• Enlarged DEEP user group met in Vienna

Almost 70 participants gathered in Schwerin, Germany on 11 December to learn more about the Baltic Sea Region Programme and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Below you will find agenda and presentations from the event.

Downloads:

• Invitation and agenda
• Presentations (part 1)
• Presentations (part 2)
• List of participants

Many project promoters have decided to come for the Lead Applicant seminar to Riga on 2nd - 3rd December 2009. 110 participants attended the event and submitted 40 project ideas. Secretariat ran presentations and workshops that helped project developers to learn about the requirements and to prepare project applications. Below you can download presentations and agenda from the seminar.

You can register for the next Lead Applicant seminar in Malmö on 13th - 14th January 2010. Online registration and additional information are available here. Deadline for registrations is 7th January.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme will open the third call for project applications on 4th January 2010. Application package (announcement note, application form, updated Programme Manual and partner declarations) will be available here. Deadline for submitting applications is 22nd March.

Downloads:

• Agenda
• Presentations from the seminar (zip/pdf)

To present your project idea please fill in the project idea form and register for the conference at www.regionsjaelland.dk/BSSSC. Deadline for sending the ideas is 7 October. You can participate in the Café also without sending a project idea.

The progress report templates have been sent out to the 1st call approved projects. Also the guidance to the progress report, which provides help when filling in the report.

Around 65 participants representing 24 approved first call projects took part in the first Lead Partner seminar of the Programme on the 24-25 February in Rostock/Germany. Below you can download the documents and presentations from this seminar.

The event will take place on 4 March in Minsk, Belarus.

More than 70 participants took part in the second Finnish national info day on the Baltic Sea Region Programme in Helsinki on 9 February 2009.

More than 130 participants took part in the Info seminar on the Baltic Sea Region and North Sea Programmes in Kiel on February 2009.

Agreement between participating EU Member States and Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein (IB), acting as the Managing Authority, Certifying Authority and the host of the Joint Technical Secretariat, on the implementation of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 has been signed. Also the formal Declaration of Consent by the Kingdom of Norway concerning its participation in the Programme has been concluded.

Around 400 representatives of the Baltic governments, local authorities, business, NGOs and academia took part in a final two day conference on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in Rostock on 5-6 February 2009. Also the Baltic Sea Region Programme representatives contributed to this conference.

Around 100 participants representing 60 project ideas took part in the Lead Applicant seminar of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 - 2013 on the 4-5 February in Rostock Warnemünde/Germany. Below you can download the documents and presentations from this seminar.

The Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein is looking for an EU-specialist for its Enterprise Europe Network and for tasks of the Managing Authority of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. Deadline for application is 13 February 2009.

As Russia did not sign the Financing Agreement the ENPI funding that was allocated to the Programme will not be used to finance the involvement of Russian organisations taking part in the activities of the projects. For more information please see the modified Announcement Note for the 2nd call. To download click here.

The review of the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2008 is made available.

The Monitoring Committee’s Task Force “Programme Strategy” met in Berlin on 14 January to look into the most urgent issues before launching the second Call for project applications (19 January – 31 March 2009).

We are glad to invite you to the Lead Applicant Seminar in Rostock on 4-5 February 2009. Below you will find invitation, practical information, agenda and project idea form. Registration has been closed.

After more than three years of joint programme preparation, the Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 approved 24 transnational cooperation projects at its meeting in Copenhagen on 23 - 24 October 2008. Around 66.1 Million Euro or 29.8 % of the total available EU/Norwegian programme co-financing was allocated. The second call will be opened from 19 January till 31 March 2009.

Elisabeth Schroedter, since 1994 Member of the European Parliament, met staff members of the Joint Technical Secretariat at Rostock.

If you are planning to apply in the 2nd call for project proposals, you can register for the consultation. The individual consultations will be offered by the Joint Technical Secretariat in Rostock and Riga on the following dates:

• Rostock: 7, 14, 28 October & 4, 11, 18 November

• Riga: 7, 9, 30 October & 6, 13, 20 November

The Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 will run a project idea café the BSSSC Annual Conference in Kaunas on 18 September 2008. The Joint Technical Secretariat would kindly invite you to take an active role in the café! You are welcome to present and discuss your project idea.

The Monitoring Committee of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 will meet in Berlin to discuss strategy for the forthcoming meeting on 23-24 October 2008 in Copenhagen.

110 project applications were received in the 1st call. At its meeting in Copenhagen the Committee will have to select proposals that suit the Programme the best.

A new section with the main Programme information in Russian now available online at eu.baltic.net. This section will support Russian speaking partners in their work with documents and proceedures. The Operational Programme in Russian is also available.

Click here to go to Russian section of the website.

We have the pleasure to announce the Baltic Sea Region Programme Conference 2008! We would be glad to meet you in Tallinn on 26 November 2008. Please mark this date in your calendar!

Around 300 participants took part and more than 100 project ideas were discussed during the Lead Applicant seminars of the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 - 2013 on the 2- 4 April in Hamburg and 9 - 11 April in Riga.

Presentations from the seminar you can download below.

The Joint Technical Secretariat has developed a Project Planning Tool which should help applicants to set up a high-quality project. The tool reflects major requirements arising from the programme documents. For downloading click here.

The 1st call for project applications is open as from 25 February 2008. The call will be closed on 30 May 2008 by 16:00. For more details please go here.

More than 30 decision makers from eleven countries came to Rostock on 14-15 February. They launched 236 million Euros of European Union's funding for transnational cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

Chaired by Denmark in 2008, the Monitoring Committee further decided about opening the first call for project applications on 25 February. The call will be closed on 30 May. The Lead applicant seminars together with individual consultations will be held on 2-4 April in Hamburg and 9-11 April in Riga. Registration will be opened at the end of February on eu.baltic.net.

Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013: new partnership opportunities for Russian and Belarusian regions

Around 430 representatives from national, regional and local authorities, educational institutions, and NGO's from Russia, Belarus, Norway, and the European Union took part at the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme conference "Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013: new partnership opportunities for Russian and Belarusian regions". Confernce was held in Hotel Park Inn Pribaltyskaya in St. Petersburg on 16-17 April 2008.

Conference related information and all the presentations in English and Russian are available for downloads below.

On behalf of the Monitoring Committee and the Managing Authority, the Joint Secretariat opens a call for tenders for Evaluation Study on use of outcomes produced in the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme. The call for tenders will be closed on Friday, 29th February 2008 at 20:00 hrs, German time.

The latest Inforegio Panorama magazine with the title "Regions as partners - The European Territorial Co-operation objective" is now available in English on the Inforegio website.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 was approved by the European Commission on 21 December 2007 (decision No. 2007CB163PO020 21/12/2007 C(2007)6550) after the Programme document was resubmitted to the Commission on the 14 November 2007.

Approved Programme document can be downloaded here.

The November issue of the newsletter from the Baltic Sea INTERREG III B programme and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 - 2013 is available for download below.

The Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 document including annexes and the final environmental statement was officially resubmitted to the European Commission on the 14th of November.

BSR Programme 2007-2013 is the only programme which needs joint approval from DG Regio and DG Aidco. The official approval of the programme is still expected this year.

How far is the Programme Manual of the BSR Programme 2007-2013?

This was the main issue discussed at the Task Force meeting on the 7-8 November in Rostock, Germany. Both days were dedicated to reflect on comments submitted by participating countries, discussions and JTS responses to the Programme Manual.
The next steps will be drafting of still missing chapters, incorporation of further comments received and general editing. The next amended version of Programme Manual will be send to participating countries again. The Final draft Programme Manual is expected to be approved by the Monitoring Committee in the first meeting.

The European Commission made several comments on the Baltic Sea Region programme 2007-2013 document submitted on 24 May 2007. By now negotiations with the Commission are closed and amended Programme document was sent to the Joint Programming Committee (JPC) for approval. All comments from DG ENV, DG TREN, DG RELEX and DG AIDCO have been clarified. If by 13 November members of the JPC will not raise any substantial comments, the managing Authority will submit the document to the Commission.

A new flyer from the Baltic Sea INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme is available for download below.

This publication presents “Facts & Figures” for 2000 – 2006.

The Baltic Sea Programme 2007-2013 Partner Search Forum on 14 September in Turku, Finland attracted more than 100 participants and 29 project ideas. The forum was organised in the frame of the BSSSC annual conference “Sustainable energy: Contribution to meet the threats of Climate Change”, which gathered more than 300 participants.

More than 500 participants from 21 nations representing ministries, municipalities, cities, regions, counties and Baltic organisations gathered for the event that took place in Hamburg on 10-11 May. The conference offered practical information about the future programme, its priorities and new project ideas.

This is the first newsletter with more detailed information about the new Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 – 2013 and its priorities, as well as about the Baltic Sea INTERREG III B programme. We hope you will find the combination of information about the achievements of the current programme and the introduction into the future programme, as well as our new design interesting.

Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 conference will start in a week’s time. After the registration the most popular workshops are `Interregional co-operation` and `Attractive and competitive cities and regions`. These workshops will be held for each thematic priority and future of interregional co-operation. The aim is better understanding of the priorities and the nature of projects that will be supported.

The registration for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 - 2013 conference is already closed and the maximum number of participants (500) reached.

The event will take place in Hamburg, Germany on 10 - 11 of May 2007. For practical information please visit the conference website at conference.baltic.net.