IPA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, 2014-2020
THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC of Macedonia
EU INSTRUMENT FOR PRE-ACCESSION
(IPA)
RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
2014-2020
(final draft)
Skopje,
November 2014
IPA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, 2014-2020
Table of Contents
List of Tables 10
List of Figures 10
1. TITLE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 14
2. COUNTRY PROFILE 14
2.1 Geographical area covered by the Programme 14
3. DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT SITUATION 15
3.1 General socio-economic context 15
3.1.1 Definition of areas related to Programme implementation 15
3.1.2 Demographic situation 16
3.1.3 Administrative system 17
3.1.4 Economic Drivers, Productivity and Growth 19
3.1.5 Labour market 24
3.1.6 Education system 25
3.1.7 Land use and ownership 26
3.2. Performance of the agricultural, forestry and food sectors 29
3.2.1 Competitiveness of Agriculture and Food Processing 29
3.2.2 Competitiveness of Forestry Sector 53
3.2.3 Competitiveness of Fisheries and aquaculture 57
3.2.4 Human capital and knowledge transfer 58
3.2.5 Agriculture and forestry education 58
3.2.6 Advisory services 61
3.2.5 Access to credit 62
3.3. Environment and land management 64
3.3.1 Risks of land abandonment and marginalisation 64
3.3.2 Climate change impact on agriculture, needs for adaptation and mitigation measures 64
3.3.3 Biodiversity especially as linked with agriculture and forestry 66
3.3.4 High nature value farming (HNVF) 68
3.3.5 Water quality and its link with agriculture 69
3.3.6 Greenhouse gas emission 70
3.3.7 Soil quality and erosion 70
3.3.8 Renewable energy 72
3.3.9 Use of pesticides and fertilisers 74
3.4. Rural Economy 74
3.4.1 Rural Tourism potential 77
3.4.2 Promotion and development of SME in the rural areas 78
3.4.3 Crafts 79
3.4.4 Provision of services in rural areas 80
3.4.5 Infrastructure provision 82
3.4.6 Cultural heritage and built environment in villages 83
3.5. Preparation and implementation of local development strategies – LEADER 84
3.6. Context related baseline indicators 87
4. STRENGHTS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS 97
4.1. Agriculture, forestry and food industry 97
4.2. Environment 99
4.3. Rural Economy and Quality of Life 100
5. MAIN RESULTS OF PREVIOUS INTERVENTION 102
5.1. National support policy for agriculture and rural development. 102
5.2. Overview of EU assistance 105
5.2.1 Overview of IPA-TAIB and TAIEX assistance 105
5.2.2 Overview of IPARD I implementation 106
5.3. Overview of bilateral and multilateral assistance 108
5.4. Lessons learnt from past EU, bilateral and multilateral assistance 111
5.5. Lessons learnt from IPARD I implementation 112
6. DESCRIPTION OF THE STRATEGY 115
6.1. Description of the Programme rural development strategy 115
6.1.1 National Strategy Objectives for Agriculture and Rural Development 115
6.1.2 IPA II Objectives for Agriculture and Rural Development Policy Area 118
6.2. Identification of the needs and summary of overall strategy 120
6.2.1. Enhancing farm viability and competitiveness of agriculture and food processing 127
6.2.2 Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems dependent on agriculture and forestry 128
6.2.3 Promoting balanced territorial development in rural areas 129
6.2.4 Transfer of knowledge and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas 130
6.2.5 Horizontal and cross-cutting priorities 131
6.3. Consistency between proposed IPARD intervention and Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 132
6.4. Intervention logic of the Programme, measures and quantified targets 134
7. PROGRAMME FINANCIAL PLAN 138
7.1. Maximum EU Contribution for IPARD funds 2014-2020, in EUR 138
7.2 Budget of EU Contribution by measure 2014-2020, in EUR (for monitoring purposes only) 138
7.3 Percentage allocation of EU contribution by measure 2014-2020 139
7.4. Financial Plan per measure 2014-2020, in EUR 140
7.5. Indicative budget breakdown by measure 2014-2020, in EUR 141
8. DESCRIPTION OF THE SELECTED MEASURES 142
8.1. Requirements concerning all or several measures 143
8.1.1 Applicants eligible for support 143
8.1.2 Requirements for applying for support 144
8.1.3 Payment of Instalments and Advances for Investment Support and Running Costs under Leader 145
8.1.4 Financing conditions 146
8.1.5 Eligible costs for investment support 146
8.1.6 Standard Costs and Assumptions of Income Foregone 148
8.1.7 Rules of origin 149
8.2. Administrative procedure 149
8.2.1 Administrative checks 150
8.2.2 Verification of expenditures eligibility and assessment of economic and financial viability 150
8.2.3 On the spot controls 150
8.2.4 Scoring and ranking of projects 150
8.2.5 Approval of projects and contracting 151
8.2.6 Rejection of projects 151
8.2.7 Project implementation 151
8.2.8 Approval of payment 152
8.2.9 Ex-post controls 152
8.3. Description by Measure 152
Measure INVESTMENTS IN PHYSICAL ASSETS OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS 153
Measure INVESTMENTS IN PHYSICAL ASSETS CONCERNING PROCESSING AND MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL AND FISHERY PRODUCTS 169
Measure INVESTMENTS IN RURAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE 182
Measure FARM DIVERSIFICATION AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 192
Measure TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 207
9. NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK 214
10. INFORMATION ON COMPLEMENTARITY OF IPARD WITH THE MEASURES FINANCED BY OTHER (NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL) SOURCES 217
10.1. Demarcation criteria of IPARD with support under other IPA policy areas 217
10.2. Complementarity of IPARD with other donor and IFI’s instruments 220
10.3. Demarcation criteria and complementarity of IPARD measures with national policy 220
11. DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATING STRUCTURE, INCLUDING MONITORING AND EVALUATION 221
11.1. Description of the Operating Structure (Managing Authority and IPARD Agency) and their main functions 221
11.1.1 Managing Authority 221
11.1.2 IPARD Agency 223
11.2. Description of monitoring and evaluation systems 224
11.3. The envisaged composition of the Monitoring Committee 227
12. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL STRUCTURE 229
12.1. National IPA Coordinator (NIPAC) 229
12.2. National Authorisation Officer (NAO) 229
13. RESULTS OF CONSULATIONS ON PROGRAMMING AND PROVISIONS TO INVOLVE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES AND BODIES AS WELL AS APPROPRIATE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERS 232
13.1. Provision adopted for associating the relevant authorities, bodies and partners 232
13.2 Designation of the partners consulted – summary 234
13.3. Results of consultations – summary 234
14. THE RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EX-ANTE EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAMME 235
14.1. Description of the process 235
14.2. Overview of the ex-ante recommendations 235
15. PUBLICITY, VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN ACCORDANCE WITH IPA LEGISLATION 237
15.1. Actions foreseen to inform potential recipients, professional organisations, economic, social and environmental partners, bodies involved in promoting equality between men and women and NGOs about possibilities offered by the programme and rules of gaining access to funding. 238
15.2 Actions foreseen to inform the recipients of the EU contribution 239
15.3. Actions to inform the general public about the role of EU in the programmes and the results thereof 240
16. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND NON-DISCRIMINATION 241
17. TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES 241
18. ANNEXES 243
Annex 1: List of rural areas 243
Annex 2: List of ‘Mountainous’ areas 250
Annex 3: List of Agricultural Regions 254
Annex 4: Agriculture production statistics and Agri-food trade 255
Annex 5: List of local administrative units eligible under «Investments in rural public infrastructure » measure 262
Annex 6: Ex-ante recommendation matrix 269
Annex 7: List of consulted socio-economic partners 274
Annex 8: Summary results from the consultation process 277
Annex 9: Definition of small and medium enterprises 281
Annex 10: Storage and handling of Manure 282
Annex 11: Livestock Unit Coefficients (LAU) 284
Annex 12: List of Annex I products from the Treaty 285
Annex 13: Description of methodology for assessment of economic viability of the recepients 287
CONTACTS RELATED TO MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME: 288
List of Tables
Table 1: Administrative and territorial organization according to NUTS levels 10
Table 2: Population and Territory of Rural Areas 12
Table 3: Population by Age 13
Table 4: Municipalities by Type 14
Table 5: Macroeconomic data 15
Table 6: Number of active business entities by sectors 19
Table 7: Employment rate 20
Table 8: Economically Active Population and Employed/Unemployed in Rural and Urban Regions 21
Table 9: Land use 22
Table 10: Agricultural land area (in 000 hectares) 23
Table 11: Distribution of state-owned agricultural land 23
Table 12: Land Use based on LPIS 24
Table 13: Agriculture and food processing economic development indicators 25
Table 14: Total agriculture labour input (1000 AWU) 27
Table 15: Number of agriculture holdings and cultivated area/LSU 28
Table 16: Structure of Gross Agricultural Output 31
Table 17: Structure of Crop Agricultural Output 31
Table 18: Arable land by crop category of use in ‘000 hectares 31
Table 19: Structure of Livestock Agricultural Output 34
Table 20: Livestock numbers (in heads) 34
Table 21: Organic production and farm structure 39
Table 22: Number of approved and registered processing enterprises 42
Table 23: Number of fruit and vegetable processing enterprises and regional distribution 42
Table 24: Production of processed fruits and vegetable 43
Table 25: Number of wine producers and regional distribution 43
Table 26: Number of milling enterprises and regional distribution 44
Table 27: Purchased milk quantities 45
Table 28: Number of registered dairy establishments and regional distribution 45
Table 29: Structure of dairy processors per installed daily processing capacities 45
Table 30: Number of meat processing enterprises and regional distribution 46
Table 31: Number of slaughterhouses and regional distribution 46
Table 32: Agri-food and fisheries trade 48
Table 33: Structure and size of installed aquaculture capacities 53
Table 34: Aquaculture production and catch of commercial fishing 53
Table 35: Number of enrolled students in first year of higher educational system 54
Table 36: Number of specimen in the collection of the Gene-bank 63
Table 37: Agricultural Holdings and Labour Force by Type of Region 72
Table 38: Rural Business Entities 74
Table 39: Distribution of Rural Population by Size of the Settlement 77
Table 40: Local roads by type of region 78
Table 41: Interest for usage of funds from the IPARD Programme by public calls 103
Table 42: Time schedule for Measures programming and implementation 138
List of Figures
Figure 1: Classification of agricultural holdings per type of farming 29
Figure 2: Comparison of UAA per agricultural holding with EU and SEE, (2010, 2012, ha) 30
Figure 3: Area affected by degree of soil erosion 67
Figure 4: GVA and Employment in Rural Areas by Sector (%) (2012) 71
Figure 5: Agri-food GVA and Employment in Rural Areas (%) (2012) 71
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ACDF Agricultural Credit Discount Fund
AFSARD Agency for financial support in agriculture and rural development
AWU Annual Working Unit
BRC British Retail Consortium
CAP Common Agricultural Policy (of the EU)
CEFTA Central European Free Trade Agreement
CMO Common Market Organisation
Commission European Commission
CORINE Coordinated Information on the European Environment
EARDF European Agriculture and Rural Development Fund
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
ENP European Neighbourhood Policy
ENI European Neighbourhood Instrument
EU European Union
EU 25 European Union of 25 Member States from 1 May 2004 to 31 December 2006 (BE, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK)
EU 27 European Union of 27 Member States from 1 January 2007 to 1 July 2013 (BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK)
EU 28 European Union of 28 Member States from 1 July 2013 (BE, BG, CRO, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK)
EUR European Union Currency
F&V Fruits and Vegetables
FADN Farm Accountancy Data Network
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization (of the UN)
FDI Foreign Direct Investments
FFRM Federation of Farmers
FMS Farm Monitoring System
FTA Free Trade Agreement
FVA Food and Veterinary Agency
GAP Good Agricultural Practice
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Fund
GHG Greenhouse gass emission
GIS Geographic Information System
GIZ German International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)
GMO Genetically Modified Organisms
GSM Global System for Mobile communications
GTZ German Technical Cooperation
GVA Gross value added
GWh Gigawatt hour
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (standard)
HNVF High Nature Value Farming
IACS Integrated Administration and Control System
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance
IPA TAIB Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance – Technical Assistance for Institution Building (also called IPA Component I in the programming period 2007-2013)
IPARD Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance for rural development (also called IPA Component V in the programming period 2007-2013)
IPARD I Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance for rural development in the programming period 2007-2013)
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change
IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
ISO International Organization of Standardization
IUCN International Union of conservation of nature
JBIC Japan Biological Informatics Consortium
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
LAU Local Administrative Units
LAG Local Action Group
LDS Local Development Strategy
LEADER "Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale", meaning 'Links between the rural economy and development actions'
LEE List of Eligible Expenditures
LFA Less Favoured Areas
LPIS Land Parcel Identification System
MAP Association of Processors of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
MC Monitoring Committee
MAASP Agriculture Advisory Support Programme of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
MAFWE Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy
MK Country Abbreviation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
MKD Denar (currency of the country)
MoC Ministry of Culture
MoE Ministry of Economy
MoEPP Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning
MoF Ministry of Finance
MoH Ministry of Health
MoLSG Ministry of Local Self Government
MoLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
MoES Ministry of Education and Science
MoTC Ministry of Transport and Communication
MW Mega Watts
NAO National Authorisation Officer
NARDS National Agricultural and Rural Development Strategy
NCEA National Classification of Economic Activities
NEA National Extension Agency