European territorial cooperation

Transnational cooperation programme MED

SPAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, PORTUGAL, GREECE, SLOVENIA, MALTA, CYPRUS,

UK, CROATIA, MONTENEGRO

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE

OP C(2007)6578


RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE OF THE TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME MED 2007-2013

Preamble

According to:

Art. 19.3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the European Regional Development Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999, establishing that the Monitoring Committee or a steering committee reporting to it shall be responsible for selecting operations.

The Commission Decision C(2007) 6578 of 20 December 2007, approving the transnational Operational Programme MED, that under chapter IV.1 d states that the Monitoring Committee will designate a specific Selection Committee that selects the projects and it is composed of two members for each country participating to the programme.

The implementation guide of the Transnational Operational Programme MED 2007-2013 (OP MED 2007-2013), chapter 3.d, which details the composition and tasks of the Selection Committee.

The Rules of Procedures of the OP MED Monitoring Committee (MC), providing under rule 2 letter o), the establishment of a Selection Committee, composed of a maximum two representatives of each country participating to the programme and of the Managing Authority, and the approval of its Rules of Procedure; and, under rule 2 letter p), the delegation of the project selection and important modification of the approved projects to the Selection Committee.

The Monitoring Committee of the OP MED 2007-2013 approves the following Rules of Procedures of the Selection Committee (SC).

Rule 1 : Name and Duration

The steering committee for the selection of project proposals under the OP MED 2007-2013 is named : Selection Committee (SC).

The SC shall function from the date of its first meeting and shall be operational until 31 December 2015.

Rule 2 : Chairperson

The SC is chaired by one of the national delegations with an annual basis, accompanied by a co – chair from the delegation that takes the Chair in the following year.

The order of annual chairmanship follows the same order as established for the monitoring committee (refer annex 1).

Upon the request of the Chairperson, the SC meetings can be chaired by the co – chair or the managing Authority.

The Chairperson and the Co-Chair are responsible of :

- Inviting and organising the SC meetings.

- Fixing the agenda of the meetings in collaboration with the other SC members.

- Orienting the work of the SC.

- Carrying out the SC meetings.

- Respecting the Rules of Procedure.

- Respecting the OP and the Implementation Guide.

Rule 3 : Composition

The Selection Committee is composed of a limited number of representatives, in order to ensure efficiency in programme implementation. It is composed of :

- a maximum of two members for each participating country with one vote per delegation. These members are designated by the Monitoring Committee. The list of delegations is enclosed under Annex 2.

- Managing Authority and Certifying Authority (with consultative status)

- eventually a representative of the European Commission (with consultative status)

- the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) providing technical support to the meetings of the SC

Each national Delegation can bring one observer, subject to prior notification at least 5 working days before the meeting and approval of the Chair .

Participation of other experts with a consultative status in the SC, related to specific issues to be treated in the meeting, must be accepted beforehand by all other Member Delegations. A written request should be sent to the members of the SC at least 10 working days before the meeting.

The composition of the Selection Committee takes into account the principle of equal opportunities.

Rule 4 : Tasks

In accordance with paragraph d) at page 81 of the OP MED and the paragraph 3 c) page 12 of the Implementation Guide, the SC carries out the following tasks :

- Selection of the pre-proposals. The Lead partners of the selected pre-proposals will then be invited to submit the full project proposal to the Joint Technical Secretariat.

- Selection of full project proposals, in conformity with the criteria identified by the Monitoring Committee. The SC will take into account the results of the evaluation carried out by the Joint Technical Secretariat on the basis of the Evaluation Chart approved by the Monitoring Committee.

- Selection of strategic projects according to the criteria, Terms of reference and procedures developed by the “ad hoc” working group and approved by the Monitoring Committee.

- Approval or refusal of the requested modifications of projects during their implementation.

- Upon request of the Managing Authority, de-commit projects that have not started within time (rf the Subsidy Contract and the Implementation Guide) and/or have not respected their Subsidy Contract or the Partnership Agreement.

Rule 5 : Assistance to the Selection Committee

The Joint Technical Secretariat assists in organising and coordinating the SC; in particular it carries out the following tasks for the SC :

- Helping the Chairperson and the Co-Chair to carry out their duties.

- Evaluating the proposals based on the evaluation criteria approved by the Monitoring Committee and providing summaries of the evaluation.

- Preparing other working documents for the Selection Committee.

- Circulating all documents to the SC members on behalf of the Chair.

- Writing the Minutes of the meetings.

- Executing the decisions of the Selection Committee.

- Presenting changes requested by the projects during their implementation.

Rule 6 : Organisation and seat of work

The SC meets as often as needed at the initiative of the Chair or the Managing Authority, or in exceptional circumstances by at least three national delegations following a request in writing.

The meeting of the SC shall, unless otherwise decided by the Committee, be hosted by the country chairing or co-chairing the Committee.

Any practical arrangements will be covered by the hosting country with the assistance of the JTS. The expenditures for the running of the meetings can be covered by the Technical Assistance of the OP.

The meeting provisional date and the agenda for each meeting are drawn up by the Chair in consultation with other members of the SC and the Managing Authority. They are diffused by the Joint Technical Secretariat. The invitation containing the agenda and all relevant working documents must be sent to the SC members by email (by the JTS) at least 10 working days before the meeting. In exceptional cases, upon agreement of all delegations, the Chair may convene the meeting even within a shorter period, with a written communication indicating the day, place and hour of the meeting and a draft agenda.

Each item of the agenda must be accompanied by the necessary documentation. All changes to the agenda or to the working documents must immediately be notified to the SC members. Following the request of the Chair, the Co-Chair, the Managing Authority or any other SC member, items can be added to the agenda within 5 days before the date of the meeting. The agenda is adopted at the beginning of the meeting.

Rule 7 : Voting and decision-making procedures

Decisions can be made when at least 7 delegations are present.

Decision-making will be by consensus the principle of one vote for each delegation. Eventually, if there is not unanimous consensus, a qualified majority of 6 delegations is required in case any attempts to find a compromise solution failed.

The Managing Authority, supported by the Joint Technical Secretariat prepares and implements, in relation with the national contact points, the Selection Committee decisions and informs the concerned bodies about them.

The Selection Committee may be consulted for urgent matters by a written procedure, on the initiative of the Chairperson, the Managing Authority, or at least three full members.

In this case, the Chairperson, or the Joint Technical Secretariat on his behalf, sends to all SC members the relevant documents. The proposal is adopted if after 10 working days no member has objected.

If any delegation opposes the proposal, the Chair can make a new one. If this is still not accepted by all delegations, the issue is added to the agenda of the following SC meeting.

No written procedures may take place during the month of August.

Rule 8 : The Minutes

The Minutes of each meeting are taken by the Joint Technical Secretariat, acting under the responsibility of the Chair,. The Minutes contain the list of present and absent members, a summary of discussed topics and a record of the decisions taken by the Selection Committee (priority by priority and project by project).

The draft Minutes are written in the two official languages of the Programme (English and French) and are circulated to the SC members within 10 working days following the meeting,

They are considered accepted if there are no modifications proposed by the SC members within 10 working days following the sending of the document.

Any request for changes or observation has to be sent to the JTS with a copy to the Chair and to the Co-Chair. The JTS has to diffuse immediately all proposed changes and revisions to all SC members who have again 10 working days, to give their opinion on the proposed changes. After this, the Chair approves the final Minutes which are then communicated to the SC members, to the MC members and to the Managing Authority for their implementation.

The decisions of the SC are to be published in an appropriate way by the JTS, after consultation of the MA and the Chair.

Rule 9 : Working languages

The Selection Committee has two working languages, French and English, which are the official languages of the MED programme. The official documents are written in these two languages. A simultaneous interpretation and translation of documents is provided in each meeting.

Rule 10 : Modifications to the Rules of Procedure

The Rules of Procedure can be modified at any moment by a decision of the Monitoring Committee.

These rules were approved by the Monitoring Committee on 30th June 2008

Annex 1: ORDER OF THE ANNUAL CHAIR OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE

Chair / Co-Chair
2008 / FRANCE / ITALY
2009 / ITALY / GREECE
2010 / GREECE / SPAIN
2011 / SPAIN / PORTUGAL
2012 / PORTUGAL / CYPRUS
2013 / CYPRUS / SLOVENIA
2014 / SLOVENIA / MALTA
2015 / MALTA / UNITED KINGDOM


Annex 2: National Delegations

For Cyprus:

Ms Anthi Philippidou

Planning Officer A´

29 Byron Avenue

1409 Nicosia

Cyprus

Tel..+35722602892

Fax.:+35722666810

Ms Marilena Ayiomamitou

Planning Officer

29 Byron Avenue

1409 Nicosia

Cyprus

Tel..+35722602887

Fax.:+35722666810

For Spain:

Representative of the National Authority:

M. Manuel Ledesma

Membre titulaire

Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda

DG Fondos comunitarios

Paseo de la Castellana, 162 E-28046 Madrid

+34 (91) 5835.490

Ms Marian Uriarte

Membre suppléant

Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda

DG Fondos comunitarios

Paseo de la Castellana, 162 E-28046 Madrid

+34 (91) 58.35.091

Regional representative:

One representative of MED area Regions with a system of half-yearly turning.

For France:

Mr Thierry Arpin-Pont

SGAR

Préfecture de Région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur

Bd Paul Peytral

13282 Marseille Cedex 20

Tel: 04 91 15 61 70

Fax: 04 91 15 61 90

Mr Denis Bonifay

Région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur

Mission Europe

13 Bd de Dunkerque

13002 Marseille

Tel: 04 91 57 56 04

For Greece :

Mr Evangelos Vidalis

Head of Unit B2’ – “Project Management and Monitoring”,

Managing Authority of C.I.P. Interreg,

Leoforos Georgikis Sholis 65, GRC-570 01 Pilea, Thessaloniki, Greece

Tel.: +30 2310 469658,

Fax: +30 2310 469602,

Mr Alexandros Samaras

Head of Unit D’ – “Organization and Support”,

Managing Authority of C.I.P. Interreg,

Leoforos Georgikis Sholis 65, GRC-570 01 Pilea, Thessaloniki, Greece

Tel.: +30 2310 469660,

Fax: +30 2310 469602,

For Italy :

Mrs Carmela Cotrone

Regione Campania- Studio e gestione progetti UE

Via S.Lucia, 81

80132 Napoli- Italy

tel. +39 081 7962635

fax +39 081 7962459

Mr Luigi Lo Piparo

Regiona Sicilia

Ufficio di collegamento con le Istituzioni dell’Unione europea

Place du Champs de Mars, B

1050 Brussels, Belgium

tel: + 32 2 5503854

fax: + 32 2 5503850

For Malta :

Ms. Celia Mintoff

Senior Manager

Territorial Cooperation Unit

Planning and Priorities Coordination Division

Office of the Prime Minister

Valletta VLT 1210

Malta

Tel: 00356 2200 1864

Mr. Aldo Formosa

Territorial Cooperation Unit

Planning and Priorities Coordination Division

Office of the Prime Minister

Valletta VLT 1210

Malta

Tel: 00356 2200 1867

For Portugal :

National Authority Representative:

Dra Francisca Cordovil

Effective Member

IFDR - Directora da Unidade de Coordenação da Gestão Operacional

Rua da Alfândega nº 170 - 3º - 1100-016 Lisboa Tel: 00.351.218801132 Fax: 00.351.218807079

Dr. Fernando Nogueira

Supplying Member

IFDR - Chefe do Núcleo de Cooperação Territorial e Iniciativas Comunitárias

Rua da Alfândega nº 170 - 3º - 1100-016 Lisboa Tel: 00.351.218807064 Fax: 00.351.218807079

Regional Representative:

Dr. João Faria

Effective Member

Presidente da Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Algarve

Praça da Liberdade, nº 2 -8000-164 FARO Tel: 00.351.289895214/200 Fax: 00.351.289803591/289807623

Dra Susana Faisca

Supplying Member

Chefe de Divisãoda Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Algarve

Praça da Liberdade, nº 2 -8000-164 FARO Tel: 00.351.289895224/200 Fax: 00.351.289803591/289807623

sfaisca@ccdr-alg.pt

For UK:

Mr. Henry J. Casciaro

Interreg Co-ordinator

Suite 631, Europort

Gibraltar

Tel: 00 350 73255

Fax: 00 350 71406

For Slovenia :

Mrs Margarita JANCIC

Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning

Directorate for European Affairs and Investments, International Relations Division

Dunajska 47, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Tel: +386 1 478 7024,

Fax: +386 1 478 7247

For Croatia :

Mr Darko STILINOVIC

Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Directorate for integrated regional development Department for cross border, interregional and transnational cooperation

Head of section

Vlaska 106

10000 Zagreb

REPUBLIQUE DE CROATIE

Tel : +385 1 4695 835

Fax : + 385 1 4695 819

For Montenegro

Darko KASALICA

Secretariat for European Integration

Government of Montenegro

Stanka Dragojevica 2, 81000 Podgorica

Montenegro

Tel: +382 81 246 264

Fax: +382 81 244 824

9

Selection Committee MED ROP May 2008