Start up Report PL2006IBAG04TL Final

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

TWINNINGLIGHTSTART-UPREPORT

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

TWINNINGLIGHTPROJECT
START-UPREPORT
Project Title:
Building of Analytical Capacity for the Successful Implementation of the Single Payment Schemes after 2013
Partners:

Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food - Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate
Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies (MiPAAF) - Italian National Paying Agency for Agriculture and Coordinating Body (AGEA)

Date: 08 March2010
Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE-TWL

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

Delivered and agreed by:

Mrs. Snezhana Blagoeva

Project Leader

Head of Department “Direct Payments”

Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate

Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Address: 55 Hristo Botev blvd.

1040 Sofia, Bulgaria

Tel: + 359 2 9811 365

Mr. Francesco Martinelli

Project Leader

Head of Unit “Harmonization of Procedures and Paying Agencies Relationships"

AGEA – National Paying Agency for Agriculture

Address: via Salandra, 13

00187 Rome, Italy

Telephone: +39 06 49499714

Fax: +39 06 49499772

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

Section1:Projectdata
TwinningContract Number / BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL
Project Title: / Building of Analytical Capacity for the Successful Implementation of the Single Payment Schemes after 2013
TwinningPartners (MSandBC) / Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies (MiPAAF) - Italian National Paying Agency for Agriculture and Coordinating Body (AGEA)
Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food - Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate
ReportNumber: / Start-Up Report
Periodcoveredbythe report: / 14December2009-14February2010
Durationofthe project: / 6 + 3months
Rapporteur: / Mrs. Snezhana Blagoeva
B.C. Project Leader
Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Mr. Francesco Martinelli
M.S. Project Leader
Italian National Paying Agency (AGEA)

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

Section2:Content

2A–BACKGROUND

2B–ACHIEVEMENTOFMANDATORYRESULTS

2C–ACTIVITIES INTHEREPORTINGPERIOD

2D–TIMINGANDDELAYS

2E–ASSESSMENT

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

2A-BACKGROUND

Overallobjectives

The overall objective of this project is to improve the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Bulgaria to meet with the future responsibilities in the transition from SAPS to SPS, guaranteeing the effective supporting of farmers and the progressive development of the agricultural sector.

Projectpurpose

The purpose of this Twinning Light Project is the full preparation of the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Paying Agency and the Institute of Agricultural Economics in order to define the following specific targets:

-Upgrading the analytical capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Paying Agency and the Institute of Agricultural Economics as a prerequisite for the future successful implementation of the SPS in Bulgaria;

-Securing the provision of adequate and reliable information on Bulgarian farm economic performance to the national decision makers;

-Elaboration and verification of three scenarios for shifting from SAPS to SPS, meeting the needs and expectations of the Bulgarian farmers;

-Elaboration of conclusions and recommendations for the main components of the future direct payment scheme that has to be implemented after 2013 inBulgaria, matching the Bulgarian interest.

Policydevelopments

Thetimeframework covered bythisreport(two month)istoo shorttoassessanydevelopments in the relevant policy area.

Projectassumptions

The project foresees a strong engagement of the service staff in realization of projected tasks and the Co-financing available. The engagement of the staff from the Beneficiary’s involved institutions is totally in line with the needs oftheproject.

2B - ACHIEVEMENT OF MANDATORY RESULTS

The contract was signed the 10th December 2009.

The Project start was notified on 14th of January by the Bulgarian CFCU to the PLs.

The supporting to the Beneficiary institutions activity started with a two-days visit of the Project Leader in the period 25-26 January 2010, consisting in an analysis of the current situation of the Bulgarian system and the physical establishment of the project.

The Project’s operations started during the week 08-12 February 2010 with the “Activity A.1 – Analytical model and methodology”; this Activity has been completed.

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

2C. ACTIVITIES IN THE REPORTING PERIOD

During the reporting period the following activities have taken place:

Mission period 25-26 January2010

25January2010

Kick-off Meeting

Definition ofduties and agreement on activities,timetable and all details concerning a smooth startand implementation of the project.

Presentationofthestructureandrole of MAF

The Beneficiary authorities gave a clear picture of the organization andtheroleofthe Ministry of Agriculture and Food, their Departments and all the different institutions that will be involved in the working activities of the Project, such as the SFA – Paying Agency and the Institute of Agricultural Economics to the AgriculturalAcademy.

PresentationofItalian AGEA and MiPAAF.

Mr. Martinelli, the Italian Project Leader gave a picture of the organization of the National Paying Agency – Coordinating Body (AGEA) and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies.

26January2010– Day2

Subjects discussed:

-It was established to create two specific working-groups: one for the Project’s Activities A, B and C; another one dealing with the Activities D and E. The experts from the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food and from the Italy counterpart have been identified, respectively;

-Each Activity of the Twinning Project will be implemented with the mentioned Bulgarian working-groups, as identified, before every mission by the Italian experts in order to prepare the Bulgarian staff to the specific needs of the matters in question;

-Twinning staff from both Bulgarian and Italy involved authorities agree to quickly draft a strategy for the implementation of the activities of the project through proposals ordinarily sent by email, in particular, in order to avoid duplication of missions and activities with the Twinning project BL 2007/IB/AG 08-TL.

-Organizationandidentificationofdetailsforseminars andtrainingsectionsactivities. The guidancewillhavetobeorientedontheItalianpracticalexperienceondirect payments.

-Planning and discussion

Accordingly with the EU Regulation No 73/2009 some scenarios have been presented to the Bulgarian authorities; they would be analyzed in order to achieve our benchmarks and show the best way to follow the migration from SAPS to SPS after 2013.

In view of a better start of the activities of the Twinning project some scenarios were shown to the Bulgarian authorities in according to the EU regulation No 73/2009:

-regional model “pure”,

-regional model with a flat rate more higher for arable land and lower for permanent pasture,

- regional model “pure” together with some schemes under article 68 of EU Regulation No 73/2009,

-regional model with a flat rate more higher for arable land and lower for permanent pasture together with some schemes under article68 of EU regulation No 73/2009

-regional model “pure” together with some schemes under article 68 of EU Regulation No 73/2009 and some coupled payments (ewes&she-goats and suckler cows)

The above mentioned scenarios should be agreed by Bulgarian authority during the next missions in order to prepare the simulation with the impacts of advantages and disadvantages for the Bulgarian agriculture sector. First of all, it was suggested that there was the need to start the Activity A1 to define which data from FDAN and IACS has to be utilized for our study.

During this phase, the Italian authorities presented aworking plan proposal, allocating for every activity planned intheProject the specific Short-Term Experts; this proposal have to be controlled and then agreed by the Bulgarian Authorities in order to avoid the risk of an overlapping of activities during the implementation of other projects.

Mission period 08 – 12 February 2010

08February2010- Day1

Activity A.1 – “Analytical model and methodology”

Date / Place / Arguments
8th February 2010 - 10,30 / Sofia - MAF /

presentation of WG components
logistic information
introduction to A.1 activities
organization meeting with institutional Bulgarian partners

discussion with the representatives of the SFA-Paying Agency and the Institute of Agricultural Economics about the potential use of the available data
evaluation of possible links between the different available data bases of information and review of studies and analysis similar to those covered by the Twinning Project

09 February 2010- Day2

Activity A.1 – “Analytical model and methodology”

Date / Place / Arguments
9th February 2010 - 10,00 / Sofia - MAF /

presentation of the organizational model of the Bulgarian FADN: detection system, sample designing, method of treatment and storage of data
analysis of the structure of the DB FADN Bulgarian

Participants / Role
Mrs. Kristina Jordanova / Senior expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mrs. Verginiya Bogdanova / Junior expert at Agrostatistics and Strategies Directorate in MAF, Bulgaria
Mr. Alfonso Scardera / Expert FADN
Date / Place / Arguments
9th February 2010 - 16,00 / Sofia - MAF /

Presentation of proposed list of FADN variables to be used for the purposes of the Twinning Project

10 February 2010- Day3

Date / Place / Arguments
10th February 2010 - 10,00 / Sofia - AP /

presentation of the management system of direct payments implemented in Bulgaria. In particular, the organizational aspect of the PA, the phases of the system (submission of applications, data checks and data acquired declared) and the flow of data.

Participants / Role
Mrs. Kristina Jordanova / Senior expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mrs. Verginiya Bogdanova / Junior expert at Agrostatistics and Strategies Directorate in MAF, Bulgaria
Mr. Svilen Kostov / Head of Direct Area Payments Department
Mr. Maurizio Piomponi / Expert AGEA
Mr. Alfonso Scardera / Expert FADN

11 February 2010- Day4

Date / Place / Arguments
11th February 2010 - 10,00 / Sofia - IAE /

Role, tasks and activities of the Institute
Possible implication of the Twinning Project on the Institute

Participants / Role
Mrs. Kristina Jordanova / Senior expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mr. Rumen Popov / Director of Institute of agricultural economics
Mrs. Yanca Slavova / Vice-director of Institute of agricultural economics
Mr. Bozhidar Ivanov / Institute of Agricultural Economics to the Agricultural Academy
Mr. Maurizio Piomponi / Expert AGEA
Mr. Alfonso Scardera / Expert FADN

12 February 2010- Day5

Date / Place / Arguments
12th February 2010 - 14,00 / Sofia - MAF /

Presentation of the Integrated Administrative and Control System (IACS) implementation in Italy:
The AGEA – Coordinating Body and the Regional Paying Agencies
The Centers for Assistance in Agriculture (CAA)
The Farm Register
LPIS System

Participants / Role
Mrs. Snezhana Blagoeva / Bulgarian Project Leader
Mrs. Lyudmila Sultanova / State expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mrs. Desislava Karchanova / Chief expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mr. Petrar Pavlov / State expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mrs. Kristina Jordanova / Senior expert Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mrs. Verginiya Bogdanova / Junior expert at Agrostatistics and Strategies Directorate in MAF, Bulgaria
Mr. Slavi Kralev / Head of Unit Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate MAF
Mr. Lubo Radev / Head of Unit General Directorate Agriculture, Forestry and Land relations MAF
Mr. Rumen Popov / Director of Institute of Agricultural Economics
Mr. Bozhidar Ivanov / Institute of Agricultural Economics to the Agricultural Academy
Mr. Stanislav Glavchev / Direct Area Payments Department, Paying agency
Mr. Maurizio Piomponi / Expert AGEA
Mr. Alfonso Scardera / Expert FADN

Project name:

Building of Analytical Capacity for the Successful Implementation of the Single Payment Schemes after 2013 (BL 2007/IB/AG/09-TL)

Reporting period: 14 December 2009 – 14 February 2010

No. / Number (name) of STE in the period covered by this Report / Number of workingdays of each STE / Area of theproject covered by
STE
(activity No and title)
1 / PL –Francesco Martinelli / 2 (25-27 January2010) / Project Coordination Costs
2 / Alfonso Scardera / 5 (07-12 February2010) / Activity A.1 – “Analytical model and methodology”
3 / Maurizio Piomponi / 3 (09-12 February 2010) / Activity A.1 – “Analytical model and methodology”
Overall n° of working days / 10

Twinning Light Contract number: BG/2007/IB/AG/09/UE - TWL

2D. TIMING AND DELAYS

Adherence to time schedule

Month
Activities / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
P.C.C. / X
A.1 / X
A.2
A.3
B.1
B.2
C.1
C.2
D.1
D.2
D.3
E.1
E.2
Activity/action Planned
X / Activity/action Performed
Activity/action Delayed by more than 3 months

Recovery of delays

Following the request made by the Beneficiary authorities, the Activity A3 originally planned during the week 01-05 March 2010 has been postponed to the week 15-19 March 2010.

There has been no major delays in the time scheduled during the reporting period.

2E. ASSESSMENT

Overall Assessment of progress

The analysis of the Bulgarian administration involved in the sector of relevance of the Project evidenced a good organization of the staff dealing with the direct payments and the market support.

The necessary working groups based on specific fields of interest, especially from the Beneficiary side, were quickly settled and launched as recommended by the Italian authorities during the Kick-Off Meeting.

This working organization permitted a successful implementation of the tasks related to the Activity A1, who has been carried out during the first STEs mission of the Twinning. The profitable completion of this Activity permitted the proper identification of the required data to analyze the development of the related scenarios.

Several data were thus evaluated from a general CAP point of view; in particular, it has been paid attention to all the information regarding the area related schemes/measures.

Issues

Co-operation between the project partners has been very good right from the beginning of the

Project. Both officials from Bulgaria and Italy were available to exchange information and experience upon the strategic topics.

However, the simultaneous activation of a technically related Twinning project at the same “Direct Payments and Market Support Directorate” of the MAF may result in an overload of working tasks for the Bulgarian team, with obvious consequences against the optimal assimilation of recommendations and suggested procedures by the Italian counterpart.

At the same time, the potential overlapping of the single activities of the two projects would seems to be able to put in danger the correct achievement of the supporting inputs by the recipients.

For this reason, the Beneficiary has requested a slow start of this project’s activities and so only one Activity (A1) was implemented during the period covered by this Report.

Nevertheless, the full launch the planned Activities as planned in the actual working plan by the coming weeks would seem to endanger the receptivity of the Bulgarian team.

Recommendations

The working group approach, as established from the beginning of the activities, has to be confirmed and carried on in order to assure the successful implementation of the first activities of the Project.

It has been displayed the need to consider the analysis from a generic point of view of the second pillar of the CAP in order to balance the obligations and benefits of direct aids during the migration from SAPS to SPS.

The parts have agreed on the necessity to build up (in a short time) a visibility strategy for the activities of the Twinning project; it could be achieved through the creation of a website system where all the requests of exchanging and monitoring advanced by the different departments can be managed. Within this web-page, all the authorized Bulgarian officers will be allowed to send any enquiry regarding the actions that would be taken within each activity of the Project. Moreover, an “open forum” inside contained by the web-page should be a facility where members can discuss how to find the solutions on the relevant matters with the STE s and input by the Bulgarian officers. This approach will permit to manage the activities of the project in a transparency way.

As regards to the above mentioned problem related to the contemporary implementation of two Twinning Projects in the same field weighing on the Beneficiary authorities, while the Italian staff is full ready to put into action the STEs missions as forecasted in the six-months based working plan, the Bulgarian staff is in the hypothesis to ensure the smooth and successful running of two Twinning projects. Those two projects are interrelatedand to get the best of them the implementation of some activities has to be based on the results of other activities.For that reason, it is suggested to take in consideration the opportunity of requesting a two-months extension of the current Project; this prolongation would permit the Bulgarian recipients to face the hard taskto organize the working activity of the two projects, so assuring the accomplishment of the predicted benchmarks and the maximum success of bothTwinning Projects. The proposed Addendum will be prepared on time, in accordance with the limits and the requirements stressed in the Twinning Manual.