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CHIRLEAN, Management of the International Projects Course

Chapter 9: PRE-ACCESSION FUNDS PHARE, ISPA AND SAPARD

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE 9: 9.1: Pre-accession funds 9.1.1.: What are the pre-accession funds? 9.1.2.: EU regional policy and enlargement 9.1.3.: Actual situation of the pre-accession funds in Romania 9.2.: PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD Programmes 9.2.1.: PHARE Programme 9.2.2.: ISPA Programme 9.2.3.: SAPARD Programme 9.3.: Practical example of project financed by the pre-accession funds (PHARE project)

9.1: Pre-accession funds in Romania

9.1.1.: What are pre-accession funds? Starting with the year 2000, the European Union supports the candidate states from Central and Eastern Europe in their efforts of preparing themselves for joining EU by three financial instruments: PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD. Note: PHARE = Poland Hungary Aid for Reconstruction of the Economy ISPA = Instrument Structurel de Pr-Adhsion (Pre-Accession Structural Instrument) SAPARD = Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development The enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of central and eastern Europe is an historic turning point. The Community, including both its institutions and its policies, faces what is probably its greatest challenge ever, given the large number of applicant countries and the economic and social disparities involved. Despite the major efforts being made by the applicant countries, their integration into the existing Community structures and policy programmes will be a complex task. The enlargement process will also require the Union to conduct its relations with its other partners in Europe and beyond with great care so that enlargement contributes to the general goals of enhanced security and international cooperation. The Commission presented to the Council a series of global proposals for strengthening the pre-accession strategy for all the applicant CEECs in its communication entitled "Agenda 2000". The aims of this strategy are: to provide a consistent and coherent programme to prepare these countries for joining the Union; to provide with the Accession Partnerships a single framework for the various forms of EU assistance; Page 1 of 14

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to make the applicants familiar with the procedures and policies of the Union so that they can take part in Community programmes, and to provide assistance in compliance with the Community acquis.

At the summit in Berlin, the European Council agreed to include expenditure for the three pre-accession instruments in a new Heading 7 in the financial perspective for the period from 2000 to 2006. The European Council made a clear distinction between pre-accession expenditure and enlargement. Expenditure reserved for pre-accession can only be used during the preaccession period. Once a country joins the European Union, it will benefit from special enlargement assistance, detailed under Heading 8 of the Presidency conclusions at the Berlin European Council. The eligible countries for pre-accession strategy were: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, and Croatia since January 2005. PHARE has been created at the beginning of 1989 for Poland and Hungary, first two countries in the region that gave up to communism and to centralized economy. The aim of the programme was to help these two countries within the transition process from the communist regime to the democratic one (hence its name: Poland Hungary Aid for Reconstruction of the Economy). Once other countries from the center and East of Europe have passed to a democratic regime, they have been included also in the programme. Thus, in 1996, 13 states were receiving non-reimbursable PHARE funds: 10 candidate states (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), Albania, BosniaHerzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia. Since 2000, the three states from the Western part of Balkans have been included in the CARDS programme (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stability of Balkans), PHARE becoming and instrument exclusively centered on supporting the accession process of the 10 candidate states from Central and Eastern Europe. The other three candidate countries (Cyprus, Malta and Turkey) benefited too of preaccession assistance on behalf of the Union, by the help of separate instruments. The pre-accession funds finance expenditure on the adoption of the existing body of Community law and on development in general. Mainly we will focus our presentation on ISPA, PHARE and SAPARD pre-accession funds. The PHARE programme has been funding modernization in the Central-Eastern European Countries (CEECs) for over ten years. In 1997 and 1999 it was modified the better to meet the requirements of accession and to prepare the countries for the Structural Funds. It already finances a raft of projects, including cross-border co-operation schemes, in areas that will be covered by the Structural Funds. The Pre-Accession Structural Instrument (ISPA) has been funding transport and environmental schemes in all the CEECs since early 2000, along the same lines as the Cohesion Fund model designed for the least prosperous EU members. It provides direct financing for environmental projects to help apply directives that call for heavy investment, and for transport projects directly connected to the ten pan-European corridors that have been identified in these countries.

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The Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) has also been in operation since 2000, helping the applicants prepare for the common agricultural policy, in particular for its standards of food quality and consumer and environmental protection. Separate aid programmes were also drawn up in 2000 for Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, carrying on from earlier programmes run under the financial co-operation and MEDA agreements. 9.1.2.: EU regional policy and enlargement In relation to the pre-accession funds we have to take a look on the EU regional policy and enlargement, as there is a strong link between the financing obtained from EU in order to prepare the accession process and the structural funds that will be provided after joining EU. Article 158 of the Amsterdam Treaty states that, in order to strengthen economic and social cohesion, the Community shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and Article 159 provides for that action to be supported through the Structural Funds, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the other existing financial instruments. With accession, these articles will also apply to the Candidate Countries, who will therefore become eligible for Structural support. However, as the Heads of State at the Helsinki European Council in December 1999 emphasized, accession to the European Union is conditional on the compliance with the Copenhagen membership criteria. These criteria specified that in order to be able to join the EU, candidates must have the ability to take on the obligations of membership. The EU's Regional Policy includes extensive decentralization (Member States implement the Funds in partnership with regional, local communities and socio-economic partners) and detailed requirements for control. Therefore the Candidate Countries need to create the conditions for its integration through the adjustment of its administrative structures, so that European Community legislation transposed into national legislation is implemented effectively through appropriate administrative and judicial structures. The Berlin Council of March 1999 drew up the financial framework for the period 20002006 (Agenda 2000). This document indicates the resources available in each year from 20022006 for the enlargement of the European Union, expressed in maximum allocations for (among other budget lines) structural operations. Thus it is obvious that pre-accession funds try to prepare the accession process of the candidate countries, to support them in achieving the membership criteria and also to be better prepared to use the Structural Funds after the accession. 9.1.3.: Actual situation of the pre-accession funds in Romania As Romania joined the EU at 1st of January 2007, it has benefited already by pre-accession funds, but the implementation of these funds continued after the accession as well. Nowadays Romania receives no more pre-accession funds but it receives Structural Funds. The mass-media and the public opinion in general, are uttering more often, referring directly to our country, two syntagms: Structural Funds and absorption capacity. In translation, it is about the money Romania would receive from European Union in order to develop itself, to increase the economic competitiveness and to reduce disparities related to the Page 3 of 14

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states members of the European Union, to increase the employment of the labor force and to reduce unemployment, to improve the life standards and to diminish poverty. The budget for Romania for the current period has been already agreed, thus Romania may receive up to 30 billion in the period 2007-2013. To these amounts we should add the funds we already know PHARE ISPA, SAPARD, which Romania benefited of till in 2009/2010, as effect of the lag between planning and their effective spending. Note: It is the so called rule "n+3", meaning that the amounts allocated in 2007 may be spent (and reimbursed) till 2010 (in 3 years from the start of the project) in the case of Romania, Bulgaria and the10 countries that have entered EU in 2004. For the 15 previous member states the rule "n+2" is valid (2 years from the start of the project). Without entering into details, all these instruments finance measures meant to ensure a harmonious development of the EU member states, to reduce the differences in the development of various regions and to enhance the competitiveness of the European economy. Within the context of EU membership, Romania may take this chance of having an accelerated development, only under the condition of optimum absorption capacity of the European money. This absorption capacity supposes the possibility to spend the European funds according to the rules established for each financial instrument separately, by designing viable, sustainable and lasting projects, which to be implemented in accordance with the European requirements. It is almost a routine to publicly affirm that Romania has a reduced capacity of absorbing the European funds. Reports of the European Commission concerning Romanias progress in the accession process (2002-04), respectively in the Monitoring Comprehensive Report 2005, it is shown that Romania had special problems regarding the administrative capacity. The points of view are different when we refer to the causes of this reduced capacity. Factors such as co-financing incapacity, inappropriate institutional framework, insufficient training of the personnel within the organizations which design projects, etc. have been emphasized. At a closer analysis, it may be noticed that all factors are linked, by different aspects, to the human resources involved in this process, either it is about the staff of the ministries taking care of the planning for the Funds received from EU, or it is about those competing to obtain financing or applying & implementing projects. In a relatively recent study concerning the capacity of absorbing the European Funds, realized by the Romanian Training Institute (Analysis of the capacity of absorbing the European funds in Romania, available at www.ier.ro ), the evaluators have scored with C the human resources involved in managing and planning the Funds, and respectively only with D the human resources afferent to Funds implementation. Once this problem was admitted and recognized, solutions must be searched for solving it, especially that Romania is supposed to spend in the period 2007-2013 approximately 28-30 bilion, an annual average of around 4 times higher that the Funds received in 2006. One of the most efficient solutions is (), systematic and professional training of the persons involved in planning, managing and implementing the Structural Funds. This especially because the rules and regulations concerning the utilization of the Structural Funds in the period 2007-2013 are new for all European states, and Romania cannot import examples anymore, as it did till now, being obliged to create/manage itself the framework for the spending of the received Funds. Note: C = capacity yet insufficient, serious weaknesses which have to be solved; D = insufficient capacity, a basis for managing the Structural Funds doesn not exist.

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Below there is a chart presenting the evolution of the pre-accession funds in Romania since 1992 up to 2007.

As one can see, the annual allocations from the European Union for the three financial instruments (PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD), starting with the year 2000, represent the equivalent of more than 25% of the total investments made from the national budget. But what is the most important, as mentioned before, is that in Romania projects were financed from the pre-accession funds till 2010 (see rule n+2).

9.2.: PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD Programmes

Enlargement is one of the greatest challenges facing the EU today. The process has come a long way since the 1993 European Council in Copenhagen and is gathering momentum. Each candidate country is linked into detailed procedures for moving towards accession and wide-ranging technical and financial measures are available to assist in this task. Great opportunities beckon for these countries, alongside the upheavals of change. Expertise and finance are at the heart of the EUs approach. The Commissions work is centered around the Single Framework for Accession; a unified procedure for bringing each economy up to EU standards and preparing for the administrative requirements of accession. Agenda 20001 included a strengthening of the pre-accession strategy, with more targeted support towards the specific needs of each country and a larger budget for pre-accession assistance. There are three forms of pre-accession assistance: PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD In the case of Romania, the pre-accession assistance was meant to answer the reform needs, in the view of accomplishing the criteria for joining European Union.

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Constant 2000 prices Phare 1587 M euro/year

ISPA 1058 M euro/year

SAPARD 529 M euro/year

The main intervention fields of the pre-accession funds were: PHARE Programme: minorities reform of the public administration justice public finances agriculture and development environment protection border management economic and social cohesion trans-border cooperation and neighboring programmes ISPA Programme: large investment projects for transports and environment SAPARD Programme: investments in agriculture and rural development 9.2.1.: PHARE Programme The PHARE Programme is currently one of the main channels for the European Union's financial and technical co-operation with the countries of central and eastern Europe (CEECs), besides SAPARD and ISPA. Set up in 1990 in the wake of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the PHARE Programme has been the main source of EU financial and technical support to the CEECs. This remains the case, with a budget of 1.5 billion euro for the period 2000-2006. Its fundamental aim is "to help the candidate countries to prepare as well as possible for joining the European Union". PHARE Programme has three main objectives: - strengthening the public administration and its institutions, for making them to efficiently functioning within the Union (institution building); 30 % of the budget is devoted to this task. - supporting the investment effort in order to align the industrial activities and the infrastructure to the EU standards (investments for supporting the implementation of the acquis communautaire); - promoting the development of the regions less advanced (investments in economic and social cohesion). Investment support accounts for 70% of the budget and includes investments related to institution building and in economic and social cohesion. Since it was set up in 1989, it has adapted to the changing needs that arise out of the process of adopting the acquis and as a result of this process, its activities now concentrate on two main areas as emphasized above: Institution building

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Investment support. (a) The aim of institution building is to help the candidate countries lay down the institutional foundations necessary for accession, which in the context of regional policy means that administrative capacity and multi-annual planning need to be established. This is mainly achieved through the Special Preparatory Programme for Structural Funds (SPP). The Special Preparatory Programme for Structural Funds, which was introduced in 2000, is one of a number of Phare multi-beneficiary programmes, meaning programmes which involve several partner countries at a time, as opposed to national programmes that are agreed bilaterally (such as co-financing of candidate countries' participation in Community programmes). The programme concentrates on helping design the candidate countries' structural policies, and on promoting an understanding of EU structural policy, as well as the development of administrative structures and budgetary procedures necessary for the future implementation of structural programmes. This is done through administrative co operation and technical assistance. One major element in this is the funding and support of "twinning" arrangements. Twinning places officials from Member States in the administration of Candidate Countries for short, medium and long term assignments, to share their experience and knowledge. This provides substantial support for those administrations in the form of people with previous experience in the field of Structural Funds. (b) Investment support The adoption of the "acquis communautaire" also means that the Candidate Countries have to adapt their enterprises and infrastructures to meet EU standards, which will require considerable investment. PHARE therefore attributes 70% of its 1.5 billion per year budget to investment support, which is divided up in the following categories: - investment in regulatory infrastructure: supports projects, supporting the supply of equipment that directly assists an institution to carry out its function; - investment in Economic and Social Cohesion; is designed in the first instance to pilot / test the institutional structures referred to above through programmes focused on mitigating the economic and social costs of restructuring or complying with the EU acquis in a particular industrial sector. PHARE can provide only a tiny proportion of the funding needed. Instead it plays a key role in catalyzing co-financing with and co-coordinating activities of the partner countries and the international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the EBRD, the World Bank and to some extend the European Investment Bank (EIB). Some 35% of PHARE is invested into measures that are directed towards support of Economic and Social Cohesion (ESC) in the Candidate Countries. These are measures at the regional or national level that help to restructure difficult industries and provide support to the development of new industries. The ESC funds are distributed on the basis of National Development Plans (NDPs) or Preliminary NDPs, which are drawn up by the Candidate Countries and approved by the Commission (each year a NDP is adopted; its Memorandum for financing represents the legal basis for establishing the sectors and sub-programs for financing, and also their budgets). These are oriented towards the Programming Documents that Member States present in the context of Structural Funds' programming. For the preparation of Structural Funds, the ESC component of PHARE is therefore of particular importance, since it represents an important exercise of programming and implementation of regional development in co-operation with the EU. This is intended to strengthen the Candidate Countries' programming and administrative Page 7 of 14

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capacities and therefore to contribute to the successful absorption of Structural Funds upon accession. However, PHARE is not the same as Structural Funds. There are some resulting difficulties, next to the general problems one faces when helping Candidate Countries to prepare for Structural Funds. The various problems and issues are highlighted in the Synthesis Paper. The paper has been discussed at a meeting of Pre-Accession Advisors (PAA's / 'Twinners') and Candidate Country representatives on the 15th and 16th of March 2001 in Brussels. Thus PHARE acts increasingly as a forerunner to the Structural Funds which will become available to the new Member States on accession. 9.2.2.: ISPA Programme ISPA Programmes finances Structural projects in Candidate Countries in the priority fields of Environment and Transport Infrastructure. Through these projects, it not only supports the development of the Candidate Countries, but at the same time it creates training for the implementation of the Cohesion Fund after the accession. Launched in 2000, having a role similar to the Cohesion Fund, ISPA Programme is one of the three financial instruments (with PHARE and SAPARD) to assist the candidate countries in the preparation for accession.

Its objectives were the following: familiarising the candidate countries with the policies, procedures and the funding principles of the EU helping them catch up with EU environmental standards upgrading and expanding links with the trans-European transport networks.

For the period 2000-2006, 1 040 million/year (at 1999 prices) has been made available for this instrument. During its first four years of implementation (2000-2003), ISPA grant-aided over 300 large-scale infrastructure investments in the 10 candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia). Assistance amounted to 7 billion for an investment value of over 11.6 billion (current prices). After the EU enlargement in 2004, the remaining ISPA beneficiary countries were Bulgaria and Romania, the other beneficiary countries having become eligible to the Cohesion Fund. Since the 1st of January 2005, Croatia benefits from ISPA as well. The key areas financed by ISPA (transport and environment) are both essential for the smooth running of the Single Market. ISPA will generally fund up to 75% of eligible public expenditure, but in exceptional cases this may rise to 85%. With environmental projects, particular emphasis will be given to upgrading standards for drinking water, water treatment, solid waste management and air pollution. Who can apply for ISPA grants - how are ISPA grants decided ? The candidate countries can propose, via the National ISPA Co-ordinator, projects in the sectors eligible to ISPA. The projects must be part of an ISPA sector investment plan adopted by the candidate countries and endorsed by the Commission. Applications must be sent to the ISPA directorate of DG Regio.

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The application will be examined by Commission services and (when necessary) discussed with the applicant country. When the Commission considers the project acceptable, she will submit the project for opinion to the Management Committee, composed of representatives of the Member States. After having received the positive opinion of the Management Committee the Commission will adopt the project and submit a Financing Memorandum for signature to the applicant country. Only applications received via the National Ispa Co-ordinator will be examined by the Commission services. Applications must be submitted by using the standard application forms and, where appropriate, standard information sheets Which are ISPA sectors receiving assistance? 1. The environment - bringing the applicants up to EU standards 2. Transport: expanding the trans-European transport networks 3. Technical assistance - directly related to the projects being funded Which are the types of measures financed by ISPA? Following the pattern of the Cohesion Fund for which funding is granted on a project-byproject basis, ISPA is funding the following type of measures: Project: a project is an economically indivisible series of works for a precise technical function and with identified objectives. Stage of project: a technically and financially independent stage is a stage which can be identified as operational in its own right. Group of projects: projects meeting the following three conditions may be grouped: - they must be located in the same area or situated along the same transport corridor; - they must be objective oriented under an overall plan for the area or corridor; - they must be supervised by a single body responsible for co-coordinating and monitoring. Projects must be of a high quality and of a sufficient scale to have a significant impact in the field of environmental protection or in the improvement of transport networks. To avoid disproportionate administrative burdens, projects need to have a minimum size of 5 million. They must be in conformity with the national programmes for adopting the Community acquis for transport or the environment, which form part of the Accession Partnerships. For the purposes of ISPA, the candidate countries establish specific strategies for the sectors concerned with a medium term planning horizon. Besides including general sector priorities, these strategies identify the projects that are envisaged to be implemented with ISPA support, including an overview of the financial resources needed for their implementation. Who is responsible for the implementation of ISPA projects? The beneficiary countries are responsible for the implementation of projects receiving ISPA grants. This means that they, while respecting the rules of the Commission, have to launch call for tenders, to attribute contracts and to follow up the implementation. Commission's services are at all stages consulted on the proceedings. Contact points for ISPA programme: ISPA directorate/unit in DG Regio EC delegations in the candidate countries National ISPA Co-ordinators in the candidate countries Page 9 of 14

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9.2.3.: SAPARD Programme The SAPARD programme enables the Community to provide financial and technical assistance for agriculture and rural development in candidate countries as they prepare for EU accession. SAPARD will assist the implementation of the Community acquis and it will also support measures to enhance efficiency and competitiveness in farming and the food industry and create employment and sustainable economic development in rural areas. The programme will have a budget of 520 million (in 1999 money) per year until 2006. For Cyprus and Malta the Council decided on a specific financial pre-accession programme. In terms of its share of surface area, gross domestic product and above all employment, agriculture plays a much greater role in many of the thirteen applicant countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey) than in the present European Union. The main task in most applicant countries will be to reduce the serious over-reliance on agriculture and overcome the major socio-structural problems. Since the intensification of the enlargement process in 1997, the pre-accession strategy of the EU has been reinforced by Accession Partnerships, participation by candidates in Community programmes and work carried out under the European Agreements. On 14 June 2000, the Agriculture Chapter of the acquis is formally opened for negotiation with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. Preparation of farming and the agri-food industry for EU accession will hinge on the development of workable markets and marketing channels, improving plant health and veterinary standards and the development of agricultural administrative and control structures. Measures relating to SAPARD are developing rapidly and SAPARD programmes for all the ten candidate countries have recently been approved by the STAR Committee (Committee on agricultural structures and rural development) comprised of representatives from the Member States later to be formally adopted by the Commission. The countries are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. SAPARD is one element of the Pre-Accession Assistance available to candidate countries and applies solely to the agriculture and rural development sector. The SAPARD regulation, adopted in June 1999, provides the basis for Community support for implementing the agricultural acquis and adapting the agricultural sector and rural areas in candidate countries. SAPARD also marks a new dimension in the conferral of the management of external aid on agencies in candidate countries, compared to other programmes and is a unique type of programme which has not been used in previous enlargements of the EU. Who can apply for SAPARD grants - how are SAPARD grants decided ? Unlike the PHARE programme, SAPARD is based on decentralised management of aid. The candidate countries must apply similar mechanisms to those required under Community legislation for existing Member States in implementing the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. An essential element of the system is the implementation by the Commission of the expost clearance of account control procedures applied currently in the Member States to expenditure incurred under the EAGGF Guarantee section, which involves financial corrections. The National Fund, which exists already in the various countries to implement PHARE assistance and headed by the National Authorizing Officer will act as Competent Authority to Page 10 of 14

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accredit a SAPARD agency. A SAPARD agency must be accredited in each candidate country and the accreditation verified by the Commission before any Community funds can be transferred to a country. The National Fund is the body responsible for accrediting the SAPARD agency. Each SAPARD agency comprises two elements: a Paying Agency; an Implementing Agency. The Implementing Body is responsible for such tasks as checking applications, carrying out on-the-spot checks, issuing approval for work to commence and monitor the progress of projects. The Paying Agency is responsible for all financial procedures, including checking payment claims and authorizing payments. The SAPARD agency will have sole responsibility for selecting and managing projects, arranging finance and carrying out controls. Payments by the SAPARD agency must be based on expenditure incurred by beneficiaries. The community contribution is paid on the basis of the total national public contribution. SAPARD - the single one of the three instruments whose implementation falls in the responsibility of the national authorities - is based on the Multi-Annual Financing Programme, negotiated between the EC and the candidate countries for the period 2000 - 2006. Each year, an Annual Financing Agreement is signed, by which the allocated budget for the respective year is established and by which the provisions of the Multi-Annual Financing Programme may be modified. The Commission adopted a communication on SAPARD financial management in January 2000, outlining the principles of decentralization of management of external aid to the candidate countries. These provisions were laid down in an implementing Regulation adopted on 7 June 2000. SAPARD allows for the waiver of the need for Commission ex-ante approval for the selection of individual projects and enables institutions in candidate countries to gain valuable experience in the practical application of Community rules. This is essential in running such a large number of relatively small projects, but it also reflects the whole ethos of the enlargement process. Which are the guiding priorities for SAPARD Programme? The SAPARD agencies will be faced with a huge diversity of development projects, all seeking financial assistance for improving aspects of the agricultural sector. Tough choices will have to be made to ensure the most needy sectors are covered and that projects contribute to implementing the acquis rather than just solving current problems. In its considerations the SAPARD agency must put three priorities above all else. 1. Improving market efficiency, quality and health standards 2. Maintaining and creating jobs 3. Environmental protection SAPARD meets the practical challenges of enlargement head on with a comprehensive list of measures eligible for funding. Out of these measures will come many relatively smallscale investment projects, each tailored to dealing with specific problems in their rural areas: Investments in agricultural holdings Improving processing and marketing Improving structures for quality, veterinary and plant-health controls Agricultural production methods protecting environment and maintaining the countryside Page 11 of 14

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Economic diversification Setting up farm relief and farm management services Setting up producer groups Renovation and development of villages Land improvement and reparcelling Creating and updating land registers Improving vocational training Developing and improving rural infrastructure Water resources management Forestry measures Technical assistance

SAPARD supports the candidates countries in approaching the structural reform in the agricultural sector and in other fields related to rural development, and also the implementation of the acquis concerning the Common Agricultural Policy. Romania has identified four measures to be financed within this programme: improving the activities of processing and commercializing the agricultural and fishery products; developing and improving the rural infrastructure; developing the rural economy ; developing the human resources. Which are the co-financing rules? All projects will be co-financed by the EU and the candidate country. The aim here is to provide generous assistance while also engendering commitment and responsibility by the candidate country. The rules for co-financing distinguish between investments which are entirely public sector funded and those which generate revenue of their own, generally those involving private sector finance. Out of all public financing, EU funding may reach a maximum of 75%, with a 25% contribution from the candidate country.

9.3.: Practical example of PHARE project

Title: ROMANIA on its way to European Integration: welcoming the acquis communautaire in the judicial system Project type : PHARE Ref. no.: PHARE / 2003 / 064 - 759 Promoter/coordinator: Group for European Integration Duration: 1 year Actual stage: finished Total value of the Contract: 44,632 EUR Summary: The project aims at taking concrete actions with regards to the judicial system, in order to directly and effectively support Romanian efforts towards European Integration, and also in the Page 12 of 14

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view of strengthening the collaboration and exchange of information & good practices with its neighbors, meaning with the accession countries trying to absorb acquis and to implement this into the internal structures at different levels and extents. Target groups : (a) persons having direct contact with and officially working for the European enlargement and the integration process (representatives of authorities, public administration, politicians, policy makers, decision takers, etc.); (b) the large public composed by ordinary citizens needing to find out accurate and up-to-date information about the implications, effects and potential benefits of the integration process. The main activities to be achieved during the project are: 1 international conference, 1 seminar and 1 info kiosk. The project addresses to the first objective of the Small Projects Programme and to its second priority for 2003. Thus, the general objective (G.O.) is: G.O.: To raise awareness on European integration and the Enlargement process both in candidates and EU member countries participating in the project (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, France, Italy, United Kingdom), in the view of a better implementation and in order to increase the role of the judicial system in respecting the human rights and values (including the rights of the minorities), the European values and the law of democracy. This general objective of the project focuses on the following specific objectives: S.O.1.: To gather useful information and data referring to the European integration and to the European Union's Enlargement. S.O.2.: To increase and facilitate access to knowledge, know-how and good practices in the envisaged field for categories of public as large and divers as possible. S.O.3.: To initiate in the candidate states participating in the project a consultation process on Europe 's Enlargement in relation with the judiciary related themes. S.O.4.: To effectively inform people and to draw their attention upon main targets within the integration process, emphasizing what the Enlargement process means, which are the obligations related to this and the freedoms resulting from it. S.O.5.: To support by its actions and to deliver provisions for the implementation of acquis in the field of judicial system. S.O.6.: To join all together people in charge or having different responsibilities in order to exchange information and to decide common future strategies and ways for the further development and for speeding up the integration process . Partnership: 1. Group for European Integration - RO (as partner) 2. Persons from Lithuania , Poland , Hungary , Bulgaria , Czech Republic , Italy and United Kingdom (as collaborators)

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Bibliography: Cum se lucreaz cu PHARE, ISPA i SAPARD (How can you work with PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD), http://www.primariatm.ro/resurse/pmt/541/text_pdf01.pdf ISPA, PHARE and SAPARD, http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/ispa/enlarge_en.htm EU regional policy and enlargement http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/ispa/enlarge/intro_en.htm Structural Funds: The impact of the training upon the absorption capacity, Report by Romanian Training Institute (Fondurile Structurale: Impactul training asupra capacitii de absorbie, Raport al Institutului Romn de Training) "Evolution of the pre-accession funds", Romanian Training Institute (Evoluia Fondurilor de PreAderare). SAPARD: Special Pre-Accession Assistance for Agriculture and Rural Development, http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/external/enlarge/back/sapard_en.pdf Infoeuropa/Finanare http://www.infoeuropa.ro/jsp/page.jsp?cid=82&lid=1 EU regional policy and enlargement - Support for candidate countries http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/ispa/enlarge/prepa_en.htm Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA), http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/ispa/ispa_en.htm Introduction to the pre-accession strategy http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/ispa/intro_en.htm

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