Project BG 2004/016-919.07 “Support for Participation of the Republic of Bulgaria in Community Initiative INTERREG III B (CADSES) and INTERREG III C”

Internal procedures of the

National Committee

§ 1

Tasks of the National Committee

The National Committee will have advisory and supporting status in the process of development and implementation of the Phare project “Support for Participation of the Republic of Bulgaria in Community Initiative INTERREG III B (CADSES) and INTERREG III C”. The National Committee will monitor and control the project implementation and will be involved in the reporting activity as well as in the information and dissemination activity. Accordingly the main tasks of the National Committee shall be the followings.

  1. In the implementation process the National Committee will supervise all activities of the National Contact Point, e.g. organisation of:
  • preparation and submission of the grant documentation including the guidelines for the grant scheme to the ECD for approval,
  • public awareness campaign,
  • technical assistance to the Bulgarian partners,
  • Information workshops, distribution of printed materials,
  • individual consultations during the process of project development,
  • project application process.

The National Committee also will:

  • oversee the selection of the projects as specified in the § 5.2,
  • ratify the evaluation report(s) and the award proposals list and pass them on, with recommendations concerning only the implementation of the evaluation procedures, to the IA forendorsement and onward submission to the EC Delegation for final approval.
  1. The National Committee will carry out the monitoring of the programme by reference to the indicators specified in the Project fiche. The NC will monitor periodically progress made towards achieving the specific (and quantified) objectives of the programme and to analyse the results of the implementation (achievement of targets set for the different measures).
  1. The main tasks related to the reporting activity are the following:
  • to supervise development of an reporting system (feed back) on progress of the grant projects implementation;
  • to supervise preparation of an annual report on the Programme implementation, which to be adopted by all members of National Committee and put forward to the ECD;
  1. Regarding to the information and publicity the National Committee will supervise the activities carry out by the National Contact Point , in particular:
  • to evaluate the activity of the National Contact Point in the implementation of the information and publicity campaign and more particularly in the preparation of promotional materials, additional web-page to the MRDPW website, Information seminars, other events and media coverage.

§ 2

Composition of the National Committee

  1. The National Committee shall aim at a limited number of representatives from national and regional and local authorities. Given its specific “local” scope, the participation of regional and local authorities will be encouraged.
  2. The members of the National Committee shall be appointed by the PAO.
  3. Representative of the European Commission Delegation in Bulgaria shall participate at the National Committee meetings as observer. Representative of the ECD have no right to vote.
  4. Representatives of the National Contact Point shall participate at National Committee meetings in order to be the link between NCP and NC.
  5. The representative institutions have the right to substitute the representatives both by appointment of deputies or by sending substitutes to the meetings. In this case written confirmation should be presented.
  6. The chairman of the National Committee shall have the right to invite guests to the National Committee meetings. If the chairman so decides, he shall inform the National Committee members before the meeting.

§ 3

Chairmanship and meetings

  1. The National Committee shall have a chairman, who will come from MRDPW. This should be PAO of the respective programme.
  1. The chairman shall:
  • convene the National Committee at least twice a year or at the written and substantial request of one or more of its members;
  • draw up a provisional agenda, which shall be sent together with the invitation and the necessary documents to the members of the National Committee at least 10 (ten) working days in advance;
  • perform chairman's duties during the meetings e.g. declare the opening and closing of each meeting, direct the discussion, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote, announce the decisions, rule on points of order, and pursuant to these rules of procedure, have control of the proceedings;
  • be responsible for the proper functioning of the National Committee.
  1. In preparing the meetings, the chairman shall co-operate closely with all voting members. If they so agree, the chairman may share some of the chairman’s duties during meetings.
  1. The chairman shall send the draft minutes to the members of the National Committee and/or their deputies for comments not later than 10 (ten) working days after a meeting. If no objections are raised within 10 (ten) working days after the minutes were received, they are considered as approved. If objections are raised, the chairman shall revise the minutes accordingly, decide on the final version and send it to the members of the National Committee and their deputies.

§ 4

Decision-Making

  1. At any meeting of the National Committee the majority of no less than two-thirds of the delegations of the participating shall constitute a quorum.
  1. In case that the National Committee has a quorum at its meeting, decision-making will be by general majority (half of the members represented to the meeting plus 1 vote). The chairman has right to participate within the discussion and to present draft of the committee decision but has no right to vote.
  1. If a decision needs to be taken before the next National Committee meeting the chairman can initiate a decision-making process in writing. In this case the chairman shall send the draft decision to all members of the National Committee and their deputies by facsimile or e-mail message. The receipt of the documents has to be confirmed to the chairman. The members have 5 (five) working days from dispatch of the proposal to respond in writing.
  1. If a written objection to the procedure or to the draft decision is raised the chairman,upon his own decision, has the right to convene the National Committeeextraordinarilyor to put this matter on the agenda of the next meeting of the National Committee.
  1. If no written objection to the procedure or to the draft decision has been received by the specified time the decision is deemed to be taken by the National Committee.
  1. In any case, after the 20 (twenty) days time limit has expired, the secretariat shall immediately inform all members on whether the decision is deemed to be taken or what objections have been raised.

§ 5

Transparency of Decision

  1. Any assessment and/or decision of the National Committee have to be free from bias and must not be influenced by partial interest of any of the individual members of this committee. According to this principle each National Committee member representing a partner state has to declare if he/she is personally or financially involved in a project. If a member or organization is involved within a project underINTERREGIIIB (CADSES) orINTERREGIIICthis member or representative has to refrain from the decision on the respective project application.
  1. Concerning the selection for funding the National Committee shall in particular make sure that the Evaluation Committee has followed the stated procedures;NC has right to makes its recommendations concerning the implementation of the evaluation procedures based only on the Evaluation Report and has no right to change the list of projects proposed for financing.

§ 6

National Contact Point

  1. The National Committee will be supported by the National Contact Point, as defined in the PF. The National Contact Point is in particular responsible for the preparation of all documentation, the invitation and the organisation related to National Committee meetings.
  1. The National Contact Point will be obliged:
  • to report to the National Committee on the progress of the implementation of the programme by reference to the indicators specified in the Project fiche,
  • to submit detailed information and publicity plan that will be approved by the National Committee,
  • to report for all activities to the National Committee, and
  • to prepare all meetings of the National Committee.
  1. The NCP is responsible also for:
  • preparation and submission of the grant documentation including the guidelines for the grant scheme to the ECD for approval,
  • public awareness campaign,
  • technical assistance to the Bulgarian partners,
  • Information workshops, distribution of printed materials,
  • individual consultations during the process of project development,
  • project application process.

Costs for implementation of the above-mentioned activities will be covered by the administrative costs as defined by the project fiche.

§ 7

Official languages

Official languages of the National Committee shall be Bulgarian and English.

§ 8

Location of National Contact Point

The NCP is located within PHARE Cross Border Co-operation Implementing Agency at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The official contact details of the office are:

Country: / Bulgaria / Phone: / + 359 2 9405-280, + 359 2 9405-290
City: / 1202, Sofia / Fax: / + 359 2987-07-37
Street: / 17-19, Kiril i Methodi Str. / E-mail: /

Adopted with National Committee Decision №1/29.03.2005

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