Enlargement of the European Union by ten Member States contributed to the increase in the number of programmes under Community Initiative INTERREG III (component A - cross-border cooperation). In parallel, it was necessary to redefine the Union’s policy towards its new neighbours: Belarus, the Ukraine and the Balkans which, together with the eastern territories of the Union, constitute a common area. The sign of the new approach is a communication of the European Commission of 1 July 2003 Paving the way for a New Neighbourhood Instrument, which defines prospects of territorial cooperation with new neighbours, both during this budget period and after 2006.
Therefore, the European Union has decided to activate programmes which aim at coherence of border areas of the Union and new neighbours in the East and South. The programmes are called the Neighbourhood Programmes. Due to the fact that for formal and procedural reasons the ERDF resources are assigned exclusively to the EU states, support under the programmes to areas of countries outside the Community is granted inter alia by means of TACIS programme (Technical Assistance for Commonwealth of the Independent States), earmarked in our part of Europe for the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. The funds are managed in a different way than the structural funds in the EU.
The Neighbourhood Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine is one of seven cross-border cooperation programmes in which Poland participates. The second Neighbourhood Programme financed out of two budget lines is the Neighbourhood Programme Lithuania-Poland-the Russian Federation (Kaliningrad Oblast).
Eligible area
Support can be granted to partners from areas situated along Polish-Belarussian-Ukrainian border area and defined at the level of Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS III).
The eligible area on the Polish side includes eight subregions: bia?ostocko-suwalski and ?om?y?ski (Podlaskie voivodship); bialskopodlaski, che?msko-zamojski and lubelski (Lubelskie voivodship); rzeszowsko-tarnobrzeski and kro?nie?sko-przemyski (Podkarpackie voivodship); ostro??cko-siedlecki (Mazoweckie voivodship). 20% adjacency ruling is valid for lubelski and rzeszowsko-tarnoberzeski subregions, which means that no more than 20% of the programme’s resources can be spent in those areas. In Belarus, the eligible area covers three oblasts: the oblast of Grodno, Brest and 7 western districts of Minsk oblast, and in Ukraine: Volynska, Lvivska and Zakarpatska Oblasts.
Financing of the Programme
The Neighbourhood Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine of cross-border cooperation is co-financed by two budget lines:
- by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by the national partners. The European Regional Development Fund is one of the EU structural funds and it supports the implementation of the Community’s regional policy which aims at balancing the development of the countries and regions. The Polish ERDF allocation to the Neighbourhood Programme Poland-Belarus-Ukraine INTERREG III A/TACIS CBC in the period 2004-2006 amounts to EUR 37 818 870 and, jointly with the national co-financing, they encompass the common budget of the programme.
- by TACIS CBC programme and the national partners. TACIS does not a have a permanent allocation of resources for the whole programming period. For the years 2004-2006, a total amount of EUR 8 000 000 was allocated and it will be divided into annual budget lines, approved yearly, on an individually basis. EUR 1 000 000 was approved as TACIS budget line for 2004 for the Neighbourhood Programme, without division into priorities, measures and countries benefiting from those resources.