More details about the programming area and the related development strategy and priority measures can be found in the Cross-border programme Serbia – Montenegro available for download on http://www.evropa.gov.rs, http://www.gov.me and on the programme website http://www.cbcsrb-mne.org.

Specific Objectives for this programme are:
1. Strengthening the incentives for SME development in the border areas;
2. Development of tourism as a key sector of the border economy;
3. Promoting cross border trade cooperation and accessibility to markets;
4. (Re-)Establishing cross border links between business and trade support organisations to promote joint cooperative initiatives;
5. Maintaining the high quality of the border area environment as an economic resource by cooperating in joint protection and exploitation initiatives.
6. Strengthening cross border people-to-people interaction to reinforce cultural and sporting links and to share in joint areas of common interest.
 

The currently open call relates to the following priority which is subdivided into two Measures:

Priority I Social and economic cohesion through joint actions to improve physical business, social and institutional infrastructure and capacity

• Measure I.1 Improving the productivity and competitiveness of the area’s economic, rural, cultural and environmental resources.
• Measure I.2. Cross-border initiatives targeting the exchange of people and ideas to enhance the professional and civic society cooperation.

Measure I.1 Improving the productivity and competitiveness of the area’s economic, rural, cultural and environmental resources.

This measure will stimulate regular interaction between businesses located across the cross-border region via: business-to-business networks; development of SME support services and joint access to these; joint marketing & promotion on domestic & EU markets; enhancement of innovativeness by cooperation of SMEs with educational and research & development organisations; exchange of know-how; selected investments in business infrastructure including the establishment of cross-border clusters. It will diversify economic development by supporting the development & improvement of tourism products & services; integration of cultural heritage & environment into tourism products; and the joint marketing of these products. It will allow for increasing the knowledge of people working in tourism and culture & agriculture and the use of ICT tools for developing and marketing products and training people.

This measure will also support awareness raising activities on environmental issues and joint actions to ensure that sites of high environmental and landscape value are managed so that they can sustain the pressures of tourism development without losing their value. In addition, the measure will support the development of more effective systems and approaches to emergency preparedness in relation to flood prevention and control; cross-border pollution, food safety and health issues. The measure will also support the development of joint waste management and minimization strategies/activities.

In addition to the above, emphasis will also be placed on cross border social cohesion including joint educational, cultural, health promotion and awareness activities and by addressing social exclusion and common social problems.

Measure I.2. Cross-border initiatives targeting the exchange of people and ideas to enhance the professional and civic society cooperation

This measure will encourage activities that promote contacts, communication and cooperation between local communities and local community organizations/agencies within the cross-border region, particularly in support of women and marginalized groups (e.g.: unemployed youth and disabled), local democracy and the development of civil society.

Types of action/activity

The following list of possible types of action is indicative only and not exhaustive. Appropriate innovative activities that are not mentioned below may also be considered for support.

Measure I.1 Improving the productivity and competitiveness of the area’s economic, rural, cultural and environmental resources.

Economic Activities

• Support to joint innovative actions aimed at introducing new tourist practices;
• Establish networks and associations for the purpose of achieving a coordinated development of joint entrepreneurial activity;
• Know-how transfer for improving knowledge and skills of people in entrepreneurship, new technologies, marketing, promotion;
• Joint activities for development of basic infrastructures for protection of historical, cultural, artistic, and linguistic heritage;
• Marketing and joint activities to enhance typical products;
• Development of activities designed to support cooperation between SMEs, education and research & development organisations for improving business innovativeness and technology;
• Joint vocational /adult training projects addressing market demands and sectoral skills shortfalls;
• Research studies to identify market gaps, market opportunities, high value products and dissemination of results;
• Joint initiatives for establishing cross-border clusters (e.g. multi-media, tourisms, ICT, food processing, electronics, biotechnology);
• Stimulate use of ICT in manufacturing, for tourism information and for the marketing & management of SMEs;
• Support to (re-)building or up-grading of small-scale tourism infrastructure (walking paths, cycle routes, equipping visitor centre, information points, networking tourism centres).
• Feasibility studies or project preparation activities for larger projects with a strong cross border impact could be financed under this measure
• Architecture and urban planning studies;

Environmental Activities

• Support to integrated protection and management of sensitive ecosystems and proper use of surface waters;
• Support development of integrated environmental monitoring systems and data bases;
• Actions designed to reduce the negative effects on environment and encourage environmentally-friendly economic activities;
• Support improvements of the waste water treatment and solid waste disposal systems, aimed at protecting the area from the on-going pollution;
• Actions designed to prevent and manage natural disasters and man-made environmental hazards;
• Cross-border cooperation between bodies and organisations involved in environmental protection and management of protected sites;
• Actions designed to deal jointly with pollution;
• Cooperation on matters pertaining to the provision of information and awareness raising of the population about the importance, protection and promotion of the environment and natural heritage;
• Preparation of feasibility studies and other technical documentation for large-scale infrastructure interventions, to be financed by sources other than the cross-border programme;
• Biological and biodiversity studies;
• Environmental education programs;
• Architecture and urban planning studies;
• Feasibility studies or project preparation activities for larger projects with a strong cross border impact.
• Environmental impact assessment studies;
• Environmental strategic impact assessment studies;
• Environmental remediation activities.

Social Cohesion

• Actions to improve the flow of information and communication;
• Support for the fight against social exclusion including bilateral actions for the joint solution of common social problems;
• Support of joint programmes based on utilization of multiethnic assets;
• Education and training initiatives including training /re-training of unemployed and adult education / “ training for life” programmes;
• Support of joint health protection and related activities and building sustainable health protection awareness system in particular for vulnerable and Roma groups;
• Support the introduction of EU practices and models for promoting health in educational centres.

Measure I.2. Cross-border initiatives targeting the exchange of people and ideas to enhance the professional and civic society cooperation.

• Joint promotion of the region's common cultural heritage including the organization of cultural and sporting events;
• Festivals of culture, music, celebration of local history or natural attractions;
• Co-operative scientific and cultural research projects;
• Exhibitions on local or regional themes;
• Educational exchange programmes, including arranging seminars of joint interest to schools and universities;
• Focused education / training programmes for specific needs;
• Organization of local exhibitions or fairs;
• Youth exchange activities;
• Establishing communication networks between communities;
• Meeting specific training needs for vulnerable groups (e.g. ethnic minorities, disable persons, long-term unemployed persons, school drop-outs, women in need, etc.);
• Joint institution-building projects (training, re-training, developing partnerships, exchange etc.).

Location

Actions must have as final beneficiaries the population of the programme area and their activities must mainly take place in this area as well. The programme area consists of the following local government units of Serbia and Montenegro:

Serbia: Užice, Bajina Bašta, Požega, Kosjerić, Čajetina, Arilje, Priboj, Nova Varoš, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Raška, Novi Pazar, Tutin, Kraljevo and Vrnjačka Banja.

Montenegro: Pljevlja, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Rožaje, Plav, Andrijevica, Kolašin, Mojkovac, Žabljak, Plužine, Šavnik, Nikšić, plus the adjacent municipalities of Podgorica, Danilovgrad and Cetinje.

Co-financing rules

A grant may not be for less than 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
In addition, no grant may exceed 85 % of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.4). The balance must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund.

In Serbia the responsible institutions are:
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia (MFRS) responsible for the overall coordination and implementation of the programme
The Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Serbia (ECD) for all contracting and payment issues.

In Montenegro, the responsible institutions are:
The Ministry for European Integration (MEI), responsible for the overall coordination and implementation of the programme
The Delegation of the European Commission to Montenegro for all contracting and payment issues.

Please check out in detail the following calls:

Application Pack CBC Serbia-Montenegro IPA 2007&2008

Local Publication Notice

Source: EUROPAID website