In the City Hall in Subotica, the opening of the Second Call for Proposals of the Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia-Serbia for the period 2014-2020 has officially been marked. This is a European Territorial Cooperation Programme, which continues the successful cooperation between Croatia and Serbia. The programming area covers the areas of four counties of north-eastern Croatia and five districts of north-western Serbia, with about 2.3 million inhabitants. The total budget of the Programme is EUR 40 million, and the budget is provided from EU funds and additional funds from participating countries. The project preparation coordinator is the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia, while it is operatively implemented by the Agency for Regional Development of the Republic of Croatia, as the Managing Authority, and the Ministry of European Integration, as the National Body in the Republic of Serbia.
The conference was attended by Assistant Minister of European Integration in the Government of the Republic of Serbia Mihajilo Dašić, Assistant Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia Kristina Bilić, Joanna Kirylo, task manager for the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme in the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy in the European Commission, Stella Arneri, Director of the Agency for Regional Development of the Republic of Croatia, Anđelka Hajdek from the Programme Managing Authority and Davor Skočibušić, Head of the Joint Secretariat of the Programme.
The objective of the Programme is to strengthen the social, economic and territorial development of the cross-border area. The budget of the Programme is intended for projects related to four thematic priorities: employment, social inclusion and healthcare, environment, risk prevention and energy production, tourism, cultural and natural heritage, competitiveness and development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The participants of the gathering from state, municipal and city institutions and associations from the territory of Croatia and Serbia have been informed about the content and objectives of the Programme and on the Second Call for Proposals, while a good example of the implementation of the project from the First Call for Proposals has been presented. Ivana Anđelković from the Tourist Organisation of the City of Subotica and Miroslava Babić from the City of Subotica have presented the Project S.O.S. that will be implemented for the next two years, by the end of August 2019. The Project will evaluate the common cultural heritage of Osijek and Subotica through the revitalisation of the heritage from the period of secession, and its integration at the cross-border level and through the promotion of a new common tourism product on the market. One of the project activities is the preparation of technical and strategic documentation for the restoration of the Art Nouveau building of the City Hall, where the ceremonial conference was held.
More information about the Programme is available at http://www.interreg-croatia-serbia2014-2020.eu/
