Billions of EU Funding for Hungarian-Slovak Partnerships23 April 2009
Projects approved funding within the framework of the first call for applications of the Hungary-Slovakia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme have been selected. According to plans, funding amounting to 63 million EUR will be distributed amongst the projects within the framework of this call. The first series of assistance contracts are expected to be concluded from May/June.
The first call for applications of the Hungary-Slovakia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme was announced on 15 October 2008, within which framework funding was awarded to Hungarian-Slovak cooperation ventures to be implemented in the field of sustainable economic development, tourism, human resource development, education, cultural cooperation, environmental protection and infrastructure development.
246 applications were received from Hungarian and Slovak counties situated in the border region in response to the call that closed in December 2008; the Joint Monitoring Committee approved 106 applications and 17 project concepts. Funding applied for within the framework of the applications submitted is supplemented, on average, by 10% state co-financing and 5% own funds ensured by the applicant. The full application will be elaborated in the next round in the case of project concepts, following which decisions concerning final approval of funding will be made in the case of the best quality projects.
Joint tourism developments and building relations among people were the most popular areas of intervention in the case of the first priority; a total of 102 applications applying for over four times the amount of available funding were received in these two themes. Beyond several environmental protection projects, it will also be possible to construct numerous bicycle roads and by-roads, as well as two bridges spanning the River Ipoly within the framework of the second priority of the programme. Each project will be implemented by integrating Hungarian and Slovak partners and in close cooperation.
Beyond approving funding for the applicants selected within the framework of the first call, a decision was also made on the introduction of three new measures (1.2 – Cooperation in the field of R+D and innovation; 1.4 – Joint development and coordinated use of healthcare facilities; 2.5 - Development of cross-border communication channels), which will be launched within the framework of the second call for applications to be announced in the second quarter of 2009. Similarly to the first call, eligible partnerships can apply for funding in various areas via the open tendering system applied so far; funding amounting to approximately 60 million EUR is expected to be made available.
The Hungary-Slovakia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme – as a continuation of the INTERREG Programme announced earlier and running during the 2007-2013-period – grants European Union funding for cooperation to be launched in the border regions. Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Komárom-Esztergom County, Nógrád County, Heves County, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and Pest County, as well as Budapest will be participating in the Programme on the Hungarian side; whilst Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Banska Bystrica and Kosice will be participating in the Programme on the Slovak side. Applications may, among others, be submitted in the following areas within the framework of the Programme: cross-border business cooperation; R+D and innovation cooperation; joint tourism projects; healthcare and risk prevention; development of partnership, programme and project management capacities; joint utilization and development of human resources; cross-border environmental and nature protection projects; small-scale transport infrastructure developments, as well as IT developments.
For further information on the programme and the list of projects approved funding visit the Programme’s website or write to us at the following address: info@husk-cbc.eu.