Energia - Środowisko
Dodatek promocyjno-reklamowy do "RZECZPOSPOLITEJ".
15 listopada 2005 r.

Mandatory project promotion

After Poland's accession to the European Union, 45 projects approved by the European Commission in 2000-2003 under the ISPA programme became automatically Cohesion Fund projects. At the end of 2004, the European Commission approved 22 out of 35 projects which had been submitted a few months earlier. The managing authority for 65 investment projects and 2 technical assistance projects - of estimated value of over 3 billion euros - which are co-financed by the Cohesion Fund, is the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. In September this year, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management completed signing of agreements with beneficiaries for co-financing of 22 projects approved by the EU 10 months earlier. These agreements give access to the Cohesion Fund.

The list of projects for improvement of water-sewage and waste management systems will soon be expanded. In the third quarter of this year, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management recommended 34 more projects, including 12 updated projects from last year, for EU co-financing. Some of them have already been submitted in Brussels. A vast majority of applications concerns rearrangement of water-sewage systems, and only 7 of them address the issue of waste management. Because of the lack of clear and unequivocal legal regulations, investors find it difficult to guarantee that required quantities of waste are delivered for treatment to achieve the declared ecological objectives.

The European Union financial assistance for rationalisation of water-sewage and waste management systems is aimed at reducing social and economic disparities within the Community.

One of the eligibility conditions for EU grants is provision of adequate project promotion in the press, radio and television. This applies to both infrastructure and public aid projects. Requirements for project promotion are set out in the Commission Regulation No. 621/2004 of 1 April 2004 laying down rules for implementing regulation No. 1164/94 as regards information and publicity measures concerning the activities of the Cohesion Fund and in Article 14 of the Council Regulation No. 1164/94 establishing a Cohesion Fund. These regulations constituted a basis for "Guidelines for information and promotion activities" drawn up by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour in June 2005. The guidelines are directed to both all institutions involved in the management and implementation of Cohesion Fund projects and project implementing entities.

Information and promotion activities should be carried out in accordance with the regulation No. 621/2004 and No. 1164/94 from the day the European Commission issues the decision on co-financing by the Cohesion Fund until the completion of the project.

All expenses borne for information and promotion activities will be considered by the European Commission as qualified expenses provided that they are foreseen by the beneficiary and are included in the Commission's decision on co-financing. The beneficiary will have to prove that information on subsequent phases of the project implementation was published in the press, radio or television as a result of his own initiative.

In the European Commission, information and promotion activities are supervised by geographical units in Directorate General for Regional Policy responsible for assisting a selected group of countries through the Cohesion Fund. In Poland, cooperation with the European Commission is the responsibility of a designated managing authority or an intermediary body.

The aim of information and promotion activities is to spread knowledge on the role the European Union plays in reducing social and economic disparities within the Community in the area of environmental protection. They also seek to encourage potential beneficiaries to apply for Cohesion Union funds.

Jolanta Czudak-Kiersz