Hungarian-Romanian Joint Development Projects Receive Close to 19 million Euro Community Support 2 January 2012
The fourth call for proposals of the Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme had its winners selected. The EU support awarded to 144 projects amounted to 18.9 million euros. Implemented from 2007 to 2013, the programme set out to strengthen and develop partnership relations within the Hungarian-Romanian border region.
The National Development Agency and the Romanian Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism announced the fourth call for proposals of the Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme on December 10, 2010. The three-month submission period received altogether 342 proposals which applied for close to 59 million Euros of support. The number of the projects submitted was 22 percent higher than in the case of the previous call for proposals.
After a professional evaluation the programme’s Joint Steering Committee selected 144 proposals. Thus the winners will receive more than 18.9 million Euros of EU funding in the coming one and a half years. Every action area was eligible for a maximum of 1 million Euros of ERDF funding.
Of the winning proposals 60 targets the first priority (improvement of cross-border transport, communication and environmental protection), while 84 covers the topics of priority two (economy, education, research and development, labour market, education, health care, and joint risk management).
The proposals will be implemented by 316 partners, primarily local, regional and national authorities operating in the eligible areas, and other public administration organs, non profit organisations and educational institutions. (The participating counties include Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Békés and Csongrád in Hungary, and Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad and Timis in Romania.) The signature of the support contracts is expected for the first half of 2012.
The fifth call for proposals of the Programme, which targets major cross-border infrastructure development projects, was published on August 29. The proposal submission deadline is January 31, 2012.
The call for proposals offered nearly 51.4 million Euros of non refundable community support, which is complemented by 10-13% co-financing from the Hungarian and Romanian governments. This is the first call for proposals to offer support to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of historic monuments, buildings and sights which have an impact on the development of tourism and culture, and can make cross-border tourist packages, such as routes which connect religious, historical or cultural heritage sites.
To date the calls for proposals have awarded close to 150.7 million Euros of ERDF funding to 406 projects within the HURO programme.
For further information about the Programme and the list of the winning projects visit the website of the Programme (www.huro-cbc.eu).