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Black Sea Basin Programme 2014-2020: 1st call for projects is open!

8 February, 2017 By Editor

Funding opportunities for the Black Sea area have been discussed on occasion of the 6th edition of the AER Black Sea Summit, where we had the pleasure to host experts from the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 which followed up in sharing within AER the public consultation they lunched  regarding the Draft Guidelines for Grant Applicants.

We are now pleased to share with you the launch of the 1st call for project proposals of the ENI CBC “Black Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme 2014-2020 with the deadline of 31st of May 2017, h 23:59 (GMT+2). Please, have a careful look at the Application Pack.

This call is open for project proposals contributing to all Programme thematic objectives and priorities:

1. Promote business and entrepreneurship within the Black Sea Basin

Priority 1.1. Jointly promote business and entrepreneurship in the tourism and cultural sectors (minimum amount available for a project grant: 500 000 euros, maximum: 1 500 000 euros)

Priority 1.2. Increase cross-border trade opportunities and modernisation in the agricultural and connected sectors (minimum amount available for a project grant: 300 000 euros, maximum: 700 000 euros)

2. Promote coordination of environmental protection and joint reduction of marine litter in the Black Sea Basin

Priority 2.1. Improve joint environmental monitoring (minimum amount available for a project grant: 500 000 euros, maximum: 1 000 000 euros)

Priority 2.2. Promote common awareness-raising and joint actions to reduce river and marine litter (minimum amount available for a project grant: 300 000 euros, maximum: 1 000 000 euros)

The overall indicative amount of ENI funds for the two thematic objectives for the first call is 19,655,625.60 euros.

The ENI grant shall be maximum 92% of the total eligible costs of the Project (per each Lead/Project partner). The rate of national co-financing shall be at least 8% of the total eligible costs of the Project, calculated per Lead/Project partner budgets in the project.

We encourage you to get in touch with AER Secretariat in case you wish to share your project idea, look for partners, get in touch with other regions working on this call.

 

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Looking for regions to join the AER Political Election Committee

17 October, 2016 By Editor

On 2 September, the Monitoring and Evaluation Group, together with representatives from Värmland discussed the process of establishing the Political Election Committee. The proposal was made by Värmland (SE) at the 2016 General Assembly Bodo (NO) to establish a political election committee (EC) to prepare the elections at the coming General Assemblies. The proposal stated that, during the year prior to an election, the political election committee should explore amongst the members of the AER who may be suitable for AER assignments. In collaboration with the regions, the committee should discuss and generate data for identifying the skills and formal requirements to be associated with the various assignments.

Following this meeting, the Executive Board adopted the proposal to:

  1. Announce a call for nominations to a Political Election Committee of five politicians. Each of the members should be supported by one or more officers from their regions.
  2. Adopt the Elections Committee Procedures at a coming Executive Board meeting, preferably adjunct to the Bureau meeting in Vienna. The final EC Procedures should include a schedule, any upcoming amendments to the AER Statute and Procedures etc.

If you are interested in joining the Political Election Committee, please contact the AER secretariat (Céline Dawans, [email protected], +32 2 400 10 54) Deadline for submitting nominations is 25 October.

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Key decision from the Executive Board meeting in Batumi

20 September, 2016 By Editor

The Executive Board met on 15 September 2016 in Batumi (Ajara-GE) in the context of the AER 6th Black Sea Summit. The busy agenda raised many key issues with decisions taken on several fronts.

Key decisions of the Executive Board in more details:

  • Membership Action Plan: focus on Spain, Italy, France and Switzerland
  • Wind of change for the Eurodyssey programme
  • “Revitalising democracy” remains top choice of the Executive Board
  • AER contributes to continue the dialogue with Turkey
  • Update on projects and grants

The future of the Black Sea Summits

AER was the first to organised a coordinated effort in the Black Sea area to support regions around the Black Sea to better coordinate and drive their common policies. Many other organisations and institutions have picked-up on this trend and a number of conferences and events have flourished over the past years. “Although we believe Black Sea regions have not yet reached their full potential, we are confident that the tools and structures are now in place and going in the right direction and I am proud of the AER contribution to this development” confirmed AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli. “As we always strive to detach ourselves from what others are doing, it is natural that we look beyond the Black Sea Summit to where else AER is needed” concluded the President. The Executive Board has opted to focus on AER’s role in interregional diplomacy with an annual Summit that will focus on bringing around the table regions from a specific geographical area to work together on common policies. To implement this, the EB has decided to convert the current Vice-President position on Mediterranean issues (not currently occupied) to a Vice-President on Interregional Diplomacy.

The Summit of the Regions, 28 September 2016, Brussels

This event will be a milestone for the future of the European regional policy. Over 160 regions and interregional organisations have been working behind the scenes to stand united and push for a strong cohesion policy for all after 2020. They will gather in Brussels on 28 September for the Summit of the regions at which time the book of signatures will be handed over to the Presidents of the EU institutions. AER has always closely followed the development of regional policy in Europe as an action at the heart of its core mission to “Promote regional interests in Europe and beyond” and will continue to do so for the next programming period.

AER Bureau in Vienna on “Europe after the Brexit: is status quo an option”

On 24-25 October, the AER Bureau will meet in Vienna to discuss the future of Europe. This political exchange is key as it falls within the 2016 theme of “revitalising democracy“. In the aftermath of Brexit, cleavages and tensions between European countries, political groups and citizens have been brought to light and the very nature of the European Union is more than ever questioned with tendencies to move away from common projects and values. AER is more than ever relevant for regional actors to continue dialogue and exchanges. The Bureau will analyse what values and visions Europeans share for a common project, dream of new models and institutional frameworks, make suggestions to improve the communication and promotion of the European project and, finally, look at the involvement of different stakeholders their common projects.

Autumn Committee meetings, 8-10 November, Izmir

More information will be available on our event page.
The topic addressed will be “sustainable mobility: a brand new world?”

Stay tuned!

Calendar of activities 2017 – host the next Summer Academy

Discussions are ongoing with several regions to confirm all dates and venues for 2017 to be communicated by the end of the year. We are still looking for a region to host our 2017 Summer Academy, one of AER’s flagship events. The Summer Academy is a highly interactive, innovative and dynamic event gathering regional politicians and young people for a series of workshops and study visits in a specific field. The event attracts high visibility for the host region due to the number of workshops, speakers and participants. Check out the 2016 Summer Academy hosted by Østfold (NO). In addition, the AER Summer Academy is the only AER event for which the costs are shared with the members of the Summer Academy Organising Committee and thus quite inexpensive for the host region. If you are interested in hosting the next edition, please contact the AER team.

All confirmed events are visible on our website. Check it out regularly for updates.

New resources for better services

The EB has decided to allocate additional resources to the AER team and to support the work on two important fronts. First, the “member relations” position will once again be a full-time position to capitalise further on the link with all member regions. Second, a part-time position will be open to support the work on European projects and funding.

Feedback from the first meeting of the Political Election Committee

On 2 September, the Monitoring and Evaluation Group, together with representatives from Värmland discussed the process of establishing the Political Election Committee. The proposal was made by Värmland (SE) at the 2016 General Assembly Bodo (NO) to establish a political election committee (EC) to prepare the elections at the coming General Assemblies. The proposal stated that, during the year prior to an election, the political election committee should explore amongst the members of the AER who may be suitable for AER assignments. In collaboration with the regions, the committee should discuss and generate data for identifying the skills and formal requirements to be associated with the various assignments.

Following this meeting, the Executive Board adopted the proposal to:

  1. Announce a call for nominations to an Election Committee of five politicians. Each of the members should be supported by one or more officers from their regions.
  2. Adopt the Elections Committee Procedures at a coming Executive Board meeting, preferably adjunct to the Bureau meeting in Vienna. The final EC Procedures should include a schedule, any upcoming amendments to the AER Statute and Procedures etc.
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Black Sea Basin Programme 2014-2016: be an active part in the public consultation for the Grant Applicants Guidelines!

20 September, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

On occasion of the 6th AER Black Sea Summit experts from the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 presented funding and project opportunities available for regions of the Black Sea area, which will be concretely available with the launch of the 1st call for proposals scheduled on October/November 2016.

The Draft Guidelines for Grant Applicants for the 1st call for proposals under the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 has been published for public consultation and is currently open until 23rd September 2016.

AER regions and partners are invited to be an active part on this process taking the advantage of sharing their suggestion, recommendation or query in order to improve the drafting of this key document for potential applicants.

Therefore we invite you all to address your messages to the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Programme at the email address [email protected] by 23rd September 2016.

The public consultation announcement is available here.

More information and documents related to the public consultation are available here.

 

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“Revitalising democracy” remains top choice of the Executive Board

20 September, 2016 By Editor

In their meeting in Batumi on 15 September, the Executive Board reviewed the annual theme that naturally took its place from AER’s new year’s resolution last December.  Chosen for 2016, the issue of “Revitalising democracy” is ever more relevant and topical in the current political context and the Executive Board has given the network a strong political impetus by maintaining the theme for 2017.

The issues that led to choosing this topic in 2015 included the refugee and migration crisis, the continued rise of unemployment, terrorist attacks and weaker economic growth. Unfortunately, a new set of severe and alarming factors have given “revitalising democracy” a more pronounced and profound reason for being in the past months.

In the aftermath of Brexit, cleavages and tensions between European countries, political groups and citizens have been brought to light and the very nature of the European Union is more than ever questioned with tendencies to move away from common projects and values. The backstage discussions on the EU regional policy and funds also question some of the core European principles such as solidarity and cohesion. AER is acting on both fronts to safeguard the principles of democracy in our societies; the AER Autumn Bureau meeting in Vienna will question (24-25 October) will question “Europe after Brexit: is status quo an option?” and AER is also playing a pivotal role in the pushing for a Cohesion policy post 2020 for all regions. The latter point will be materialised at the Summit of the Regions on 28 September in Brussels.

The attempted coup in Turkey has shaken the essence of the democratic process. AER is showing support and concern to its member regions via a Delegation with government and opposition officials in an attempt to contribute to the necessary constructive dialogue with Turkey.

AER will continue to develop concrete projects and actions to bring its own building block for the revitalisation of our democracies in 2017.

 

 

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Joining forces for the future of the Black Sea programme

16 September, 2016 By Mathieu Mori

The 6th AER Black Sea Summit took place in Batumi (Ajara, Georgia) on 15 September. Once more an opportunity for AER members from the Black Sea region to share on their priorities and exchange on the topics they wish to cooperate on. The presence of experts from the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 helped members understand better the subtelties of the programme’s remit and application process, whereas AER experts presented tips on how to give your applications the best chances of success.

The future of the programme was also tackled and AER President, Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli stated “the Black Sea regions need to join forces to ensure the programme grows again in the next programming period. AER plays its part in this advocacy effort, like it does on cohesion policy, but we need the support of our members”. AER Secretary general Mathieu Mori reminded participants of AER’s constant dialogue with the European institutions and added, “this year alone, we have organised no less than 8 meetings with EU Commissioners and there are more planned for the coming months. We encourage our members to get involved in these meetings and to make a difference in advocacy together with AER”. Any one interested in this issue and who has not yet done so should therefore contact the AER secretariat to make sure they are kept informed of the specific actions on the issue.

Agricultural entrepreneurship, saving the fragile ecosystem of the Black Sea and delivering sustainable growth were developed in detail between experts in workshops sessions.
The Chairman of the Government of Ajara Automous Republic, Mr Zurab Pataradze who has already hosted the AER Black Sea Summit twice, stressed the usefulness of the AER Black Sea Summit for capacity building and praised AER for all the work it does for non-EU members, a majority of participants in the room.

Pictures of the Black Sea Summit are available in our Facebook album.

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Discovering the Agro Centre in Ajara

15 September, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

The 6th AER Black Sea Summit started with an interesting study visit at the Ajara Agro Service Centre where representatives of many European countries got the chance to experience the culture, tradition and local products of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara.

The deputy minister of Agriculture of Ajara and the lovely team of the Agro Service Centre accompanied the delegation in a real trip through the Georgian traditions and in particular the production of its wine by traditional making technologies, a masterclass on baking Georgian bread which was enjoyed very much the delegation and a wine testing as a conclusion.

The Agro Service Centre is the only non commercial organisation in the Region that implements various demonstration projects to develop several sectors of the agriculture business.

We would like to thank very much the Agro Service Centre for the chances we got to experience part of you interesting demonstration projects!

Pictures of the Black Sea Summit are available in our Facebook album.

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Black Sea Summit 2016 is ready to start

14 September, 2016 By Elin Berglie

On 15 September the AER’s Black Sea Summit will open in Batumi, the capital city of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara (Georgia). During two days, participants in the summit will exchange best practices and discuss the main challenges of the area. Working sessions will focus mainly on funding opportunities. With the support of in-house and external experts, these three workshops will provide insight into the topics:

  • Business and entrepreneurship in agriculture
  • Environmental challenges in the Black Sea region
  • Sustainable growth using learning networks

For the full programme and the list of speakers, go to the BSS event page.

You can follow the discussions through the hashtag #BSSAjara. Pictures will be posted in a dedicated Facebook album.

 

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