BULGARIA AND THE EU FUNDS

1. BULGARIA AND THE EU FUNDS Opportunities for financing municipal activities/initiatives in the area of communal infrastructure

2. Presentation Outline Sources of funding for local infrastructures OP “Environment” OP “Regional Development” Rural Development Programme CBC Programmes The way of participation • General objectives • Main beneficiaries • Relevant priority areas and activities to be supported • Available funding for these activities • Romania – Bulgaria • Greece – Bulgaria • Bulgaria – FYROM • Bulgaria – Serbia • Bulgaria – Turkey

3. Local infrastructures - Sources of EU funding • Operational Programme “Environment” Financial support through the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund; • Operational Programme “Regional Development” Financial support through the European Regional Development Fund; • Rural Development Programme Financial support through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Areas Development; • Cross-border Cooperation Programmes – Internal (EU) and External Borders Financial support through the European Regional Development Fund and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance

4. Operational Programme “Environment” • General strategic objective Improvement, preservation and recovery of the natural environment and development of the environmental infrastructure • Main Beneficiaries Municipalities, Water Supply and Sewerage Companies/Operators (WSSC), River Basin Management Directorates

5. Operational Programme “Environment” • Priority axis 1: Improvement and development of water and wastewater infrastructure in settlements with over 2000 population equivalent(PE) and in settlements below 2000 PE within urban agglomeration areas. • Activities to be supported: • the construction/reconstruction/modernization of wastewater treatment plantsincluding the introduction of tertiary treatment, where necessary, water supply networks, new water storage tanks, main water supply pipes connecting the water supply networks with the water sources, etc., • construction/extension/reconstruction/ of sewage networks within the same agglomerations.

6. Operational Programme “Environment” - Priorities • For agglomerations of settlements with more than 10 000 PE – wastewater treatment plants (WTP) and sewage networks. • Status quo (June 2009) agglomerations with more than 10 000 PE– 124 • Number of agglomerations with fully build WTP – 7 • Number of agglomerations with build WTP but modernisation needed for nitrogen and phosphorus removal– 34 • Number of agglomerations with partially build WTP – 8 • Number of agglomerations with WTP building in progress – 18 • Number of agglomerations without WTP – 57

7. Operational Programme “Environment” • Priority axis 2: Improvement and development of waste treatment infrastructure • Construction of relevant new regional facility/installation for treatment of household waste. • Priority will be given to landfills that impose higher risk to the environment and human health.

8. Operational Programme “Environment” • Activities to be supported: • regional facilities/installations for municipal waste treatmenthaving sufficient capacity for the country’s purposes in the 54 waste management regions (for example regional landfills and transfer stations); • facilities for pre-treatment- composting, sorting, and separation of waste, in parallel with putting into operation of the newly constructed municipal waste regional landfills; • waste recycling centersin parallel with putting into operation of the new municipal waste regional landfills; • installations for recoveryof the emitted gas emissions(methane) from the municipal waste landfills for the production of electricity; • facilities for recycling of construction and demolition waste.

9. Operational Programme “Environment” Financial Resources: • Priority axis 1: Water and wastewater infrastructure • 1 284 207 841 €(71,32% of the Programme resources) • Priority axis 2: Waste treatment infrastructure • 366 743 574 €(20,37% of the Programme resources)

10. Operational Programme “Regional Development” • General strategic objective To enhance the quality of life and working environment with better accessibility to the basic services and to create new opportunities for improved regional competitiveness and sustainable development • Main Beneficiaries Public authorities or non-profit corporate bodies, Ministries, Municipalities for the municipal-owned facilities, etc.

11. Operational Programme “Regional Development” • Priority axis 1: Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development • Social Infrastructure; • Housing (restrictive); • Organisation of Economic Activities; • Improvement of Physical Environment and Risk Prevention; • Sustainable Urban Transport Systems • Priority axis 2: Regional and Local Accessibility • Road Infrastructure; • ICT Network; • Access to Sustainable and Efficient Energy Resources • Priority axis 3: Sustainable Tourism Development • Enhancement of tourism attractions and related infrastructure; • Regional Tourism Product Development and Marketing of Destinations • Priority axis 4: Local development and co-operation • Small-scale Local Investments;

12. Operational Programme “Regional Development” • Priority axis 1 • Priority axis 2 • Priority axis 3 ! Total 36 agglomeration areas86 Municipalities, falling in the scope of agglomeration areas • Priority axis 4 ! 178 Municipalities

13. Operational Programme “Regional Development”

14. Rural Development Programme • Overall objective of Axis 3: To improve the quality of life and diversify job opportunities in rural areas - 877 666 684 € • Basic Services for the Economy and Rural Population; • Village Renewal and Development ! 178 Municipalities under 30 000 people • Priority will be given to municipalities with population up to 10 000 inhabitants • But: tourism development activities - only in these – less populated municipalities

15. Rural municipalities

16. Rural Development Programme • Basic Services for the Economy and Rural Population • Reconstruction and rehabilitation of existing municipal roads and bridges; • Construction/reconstruction/rehabilitation of the water supply system and related facilities; • Construction/reconstruction/rehabilitation of the sewage system and related facilities; • Construction or rehabilitation of small infrastructure for waste management – only carcass collection facilities; • Construction or rehabilitation and equipping of installations for the production of electric power and/or heat for municipality owned buildings; setting-up public distribution networks for bio-fuels or heat/power from biomass or other renewables; • Investments for improvement of energy efficiency in municipal and other buildings used for provision of community services, etc.

17. Rural Development Programme • Village Renewal and Development • Rehabilitation of public green areas - parks and gardens, children playgrounds and related facilities; • Reconstruction and refurbishment of municipal buildings of local historic and cultural importance; • Reconstruction and construction of street network, street footpath, squares, lightning in the village, etc.

18. Cross Border Cooperation Programmes • Romania - Bulgaria • Priority axis 2: Environment Sustainable use and protection of natural resources and environment and promotion of efficient risk management in the cross-border area • Joint natural and technological risk prevention integrated cross-border flood prevention and management systems; joint works for flood prevention on Danube; sanitation and reforestation of the river banks; Joint disaster control studies, exchanges of information. • Joint early warning and emergency response activities joint flood forecast signalling systems, integrated cross-border control of the hazards, small-scale regional level cross-border infrastructure in the field of emergency preparedness

19. Cross Border Cooperation Programmes • Greece – Bulgaria • Priority Axis 1: Quality of Life Protection, Management and Promotion of the Environmental Resources • Joint Water Management Interventions; • Waste Management Interventions; • Common projects for the improvement of the quality of drinking water; • Promotion for the efficient use of Renewable Energy Resources, etc.

20. Cross Border Cooperation Programmes • Bulgaria – FYROM • Bulgaria – Serbia • Bulgaria – Turkey • Utilisation of eco resources • Small scale investment measures aimed at improving or rehabilitating water wells/springs/ponds and surrounding areas, soil eroded and wet areas; • Small scale investment measures aimed at removing the technical barriers through improvement of infrastructure for agriculture/organic waste disposal, herbicides disposal, etc.; • Activities for permanent protection from the negative effect of flood phenomena, etc.

21. Business – the way of participation • Municipalities and other public structures, incl. NGOs are main beneficiaries of the supported measures • Tenders for selection of services, goods and works contractors under rules of: • Bulgarian Public Procurement Law for all Operational Programmes measures, incl. CBC Romania-Bulgaria and Greece-Bulgaria Programmes; • PRAG* for CBC Bulgaria-FYROM, Bulgaria-Serbia and Bulgaria-Turkey Programmes *Practical Guide to Contract procedures for EC external actions

22. Sources of information • http://eufunds.bg Single Information Web Portal for the EU funds • http://ope.moew.government.bg Operational Programme “Environment” • http://bgregio.eu Operational Programme “Regional Development” • http://www.mzh.government.bg Rural Development Programme • http://ipa-cbc-007.eu CBC Bulgaria-FYROM Programme • http://www.ipacbc-bgrs.euCBC Bulgaria-Serbia Programme • http://www.cbcromaniabulgaria.euCBC Romania-Bulgaria Programme