The first Consultation Committee meetings in Bulgaria and Romania were held on November 29th and December 11th, 2007, respectively. The next Consultation Committee meetings are scheduled for January 22nd 2008 in Ålesund and January 29nd 2008 in Tromsø, Norway.
25/12/2007
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Pursuant to Article 2 of the relevant Memoranda of Understanding on the implementation of the Norwegian Cooperation Programme, the first Consultation Committee meetings in Bulgaria and Romania were held on November 29th and December 11th, 2007, respectively. As per the statutory composition of the Committee, participants included representatives from Innovation Norway, who also chaired the meetings, the Ministry of Finance as the National Focal Point for the Cooperation Programmes in the two countries, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the local Royal Norwegian Embassies and the EEA Financial Mechanism Office in Brussels as observer. Given its mandate as primarily a forum for co-ordination, the Consultation Committee held talks on two standing agenda items, namely programme management/administrative issues and project applications and ideas.
In terms of programme management, presentations were made and recommendations issued relating to the scope of work of the Committee, project appraisal procedures, the operation of the travel support scheme for NGOs and social partners, and plans for programme promotion through regional seminars to be organised in 2008.
As for applications and project ideas, the Committees focussed on input received before the date of the meetings and selected for discussion based on preliminary assessments. In Bulgaria, input consisted of one seed money application in the energy efficiency sector and one individual project application relating to the implementation of Schengen provisions, whereas in Romania it included four seed money applications and two project ideas in fields such as environment, energy efficiency and sustainable production. Project-related issues under discussion concerned mainly eligibility, viability, state aid and public procurement. The National Focal Points in the two countries are expected to give reasoned opinions within fourteen calendar days of the date of the meetings, with focus on project maturity/readiness, project impact and compliance with national/regional/local strategies.
The next Consultation Committee meetings are scheduled for January 29nd in Tromsø and January 22nd in Ålesund, Norway.