Table of contents
Operational Programme Technical Assistance
1.Document content summary
2.Process of the Operational Programme Preparation
2.1 Basic documents
2.2 Process of the OP TA preparation – applying the partnership principle
2.3 Ex-ante evaluation
2.4 Strategic environmental evaluation
3.Current situation in Technical Assistance
3.1 General characteristic of situation in Technical Assistance
3.2 Analysis at the level of the priority axis 1: Preparation, management, monitoring, evaluation, informing and reinforcing of administrative capacities in these areas
3.2.1 Analysis of current situation in administrative capacities
3.2.2 Analysis of the current situation in education
3.2.3 Analysis of current situation in publicity and informing
3.2.4. Analysis of current situation in the ITMS
3.2.5 Analysis of current evaluation
3.2.6Analysis of Roma Issue
3.3 Analysis at the level of the priority axis 2 – Financial Management, Control, Reinforcing of administrative capacities in these areas
3.4 Results of the performance of the programme period of 2004 - 2006
3.5 SWOT analysis
3.6 Main disparities and development factors
4.Operational Programme strategy
4.1 Basis of the OP strategy
4.2 Global objective of the OP
4.2.1 Specific objectives of the OP
4.3 Strategy for the global objective achievement as the result of thematic and local concentration
4.3.1 Thematic concentration of contributions
4.3.2 Local concentration of contributions
5.Priority Axes
5.1 Priority Axis 1: Preparation, Management, Monitoring, Evaluation, Informing and Reinforcing of Administrative Capacities in These Areas
5.1.1 Priority Axis Objective and Focus
5.1.1.1 Priority Axis Objective
5.1.1.2 Priority axis focus
5.2 Priority axis 2: Financial Management, Control, Audit and Reinforcing of Administrative Capacities in These Areas
5.2.1 Priority Axis Objective and Focus
5.2.1.1 Priority Axis Objective
5.2.1.2 Priority Axis Focus
5.3. Indicative Division of Allocation for the OP TA According to Activities in theProgramme Period of 2007-2013
6.Horizontal Priorities
6.1Marginalised Roma Communities
6.2Equality of Opportunity
6.3Sustainable Development
6.4Information Society
7.Strategy Compliance with Policies, Documents and Objectives
7.1 Compliance with the EU Strategic Documents and Policies (Article 9 (2), General Regulation)
7.1.2 Lisbon andGöteborg Strategies
7.1.3 EC legislation in cohesion policy
7. 2 Compliance with Strategic Documents and Policies of the SR
7. 2.1 NSRF andOP
7. 2.1.1 Compliance with Strategy and Vision of NSRF
7. 2.1.2 Complementarity / Synergy with Other OP
8.Financial Plan
8.1. Financial Plan of the OP – Annual Liabilities According to Fund
8.2. Financial Plan of the OP for the Whole Programme Period According to Priority Axis and Financing Resources
8.4. Distributing the Contribution from the Fund to the EU Assistance Categories at theLevel of the OP
9.Implementation System
9.1 Authorities Involved in Programme Management and Implementation
9.1.1 Central Coordination Authority
9.1.2 Managing Authority
9.1.3 Monitoring Committee (National Monitoring Committee)
9.1.4 Coordination Authorities and Horizontal Priorities Implementation
9.1.4.1 Coordination of the Horizontal Priority ”Marginalized Roma Communities“
9.1.4.2 Coordination of the Horizontal Priority ”Equality of Opportunity“
9.1.4.3 Coordination of the Horizontal Priority ”Sustainable Development”
9.1.4.4 Coordination of the Horizontal Priority ”Information Society“
9.1.5 Participation of Regional and Local Self-Governments on the OP TA Activities
9.2 Monitoring
9.2.1 OP TA monitoring
9.3 Evaluation
9. 3. 1 Evaluation plan
9. 3. 2 Internal Evaluation
9. 3. 3 External Evaluation
9.4 IT Monitoring System for the SF and the CF
9.5 Electronic Data Exchange with the EC
9.7 Financial Management, Control and Audit
9.8.1 Financial Flows System
State treasury (ST)
Commercial bank/ ST
State treasury
9.8.2 Discrepancies
10.Annexes
Operational ProgrammeTechnical Assistance
- Document content summary
According to the EU legislation (regulations) every MemberStatebefore the beginning of theprogramme period of 2007-2013 submits to the European Commission its own framework programme document representing a reference tool for the implementation of assistance from the EU funds. Following the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion and in compliance with the Slovak national legislation the National Strategic Reference Framework has been developed stipulating national priorities to be co-financed from structural funds and the Cohesion Fund in the programme period of 2007 – 2013. Based on this document, theSlovakRepublic will be able to use the resources from the EU funds.
The SlovakRepublic was drawing the financial means from structural funds and the EU Cohesion Fund in the area of cohesion policy in the short programme period of 2004 - 2006 according to the document Community Support Framework and individual operational programmes, the Cohesion Fund Strategy, common programme documents and theprogrammes of Community Initiatives.
Major changes arise from new directives for structural funds and the Cohesion Fund for setting the management and coordination system. The use of several times bigger volume of funds from the EU funds and more stress on the achievement of strategic objectives require proper work organisation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of all processes.
The Council (EC) Regulation No. 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and theCohesion Fund and repealing the Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999 (hereinafter referred to as the ”General Regulation“) offers an initiative to individual Member States to use the funds for activities linked with the preparation, management, monitoring, evaluation, informing and control of operational programmes and also for activities linked with reinforcing of administrative capacities for the implementation (Article 46).
Provision 2 in the Article 46 provides individual Member States with the opportunity to prepare the Operational Programme Technical Assistance and/or within individual operational programmes (hereinafter referred to as the ”OP“) to use also the priority axis Technical Assistance.
By the Government Decree No. 832 of 8 October 2006 the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the SR has been approved by the Slovak Republic Government as theManaging Authority for the Operational Programme Technical Assistanceand theMinistry of Finance of the SR as the Certifying Authority and AuditAuthority.
According to the Act No. 37/2010 Coll. amending and supplementing the Act No. 575/2001 Coll. onthe organisation of activities of the government and on the organisation of thecentral public administration as amended (hereinafter referred to as the ”Act“) the names of some ministries have been changed (Section 3 of the Act), the scope of powers of some ministries has been extended (Sections 6, 9, 11 and18 of the Act) and the scope of operation of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic has been extended (Section 24 of the Act) with the effect from 1 July 2010. In result of the above law the Managing Authority for theOperational Programme Technical Assistancehas been delimited from the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the SR to the Government Office of the SR because in the Section 3 the letter e) the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development has been deleted.
The law has been again amended by the Act No. 372/2010 Coll.amending and supplementing the Act No. 575/2001 Coll. on the organisation of activities of the government and on the organisation of central state administration as amended and the Act No. 403/2010 Coll. amending and supplementing the Act No. 575/2001 Coll. on the organisation of activities of the government and on the organisation of central state administration as amendedand amending some laws.
As a result of coming into forceof the stated Act No. 403/2010 Coll. the scope of powers and competencies of the Managing Authority for the Operational Programme Technical Assistance has been transferred from the Government Office of the SlovakRepublic to the Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Regional Development of the SlovakRepublic from 1 January 2011.
The relevant changes in powers and competencies of the Managing Authority for theOperational Programme Technical Assistance are implemented in compliance with theArticle33, subsection 1 (d) of the Council Regulation (EE) No. 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, theEuropean Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999. According to the Government Decree No. 832 the SlovakRepublic has prepared the Operational Programme Technical Assistance (hereinafter referred to as the ”OP TA“) within which horizontal activities common to all the operational programmes and/or activities that need to be performed generally for all the bodies involved in management, implementation and control of operational programmes will be financed. The Operational Programme Technical Assistance(hereinafter referred to as the OP TA) was approved on6 December 2006 by theDecree of the Slovak Republic Government No.1006.
From the content point, the key parts of the document are: the current situation in theTA, OP strategy, priority axes, horizontal priorities, financial plan and implementation system.
The part ”Current Situation in TA“ describes the general characteristics of the TA situation in the current programme period of 2004 – 2006 with no independent OP TA in existence. The analysis at the priority axes level focuses on the use of financial resources for individual activities specified in more detail in the part of outcomes ofthe performance of theprogramme period of 2004 – 2006. The facts obtained are presented in the form of aSWOT analysis and lead to the definition of main disparities and factors of development.
This part is followed by the operational programme strategy including the basis for theOP strategy definition, global objective and strategy using the principle of thematic and territorial concentration for achieving the highest possible efficiency of the resources allocated.
The global objective of this operational programme is to ensure effective, efficient, and correct management,implementation, financial management, control and audit of structural funds and the Cohesion Fund in the period of 2007 - 2013. Two priority axes have been identified for this global objective achievement:
- Preparation, management, monitoring, evaluation, informing and reinforcingtheadministrative capacities in these areas.
- Financial management, control and reinforcingof administrative capacities in these areas.
An objective and focus are defined for each priority axis.With the objective of transparency this part provides an indicative distribution of the OP TA allocation to individual activities. Funds drawing according to the OP TA measures will take place according to real needs within the scope of allocation for the relevant priority axis.
The reflection of horizontal priorities of the NSRF (Marginalised Roma Communities, Equality of Opportunity, Sustainable Development and Information Society) into the OP priority axes is provided in the chapter ”Horizontal priorities“.
Legislation part focuses on the compliance of the OP TA strategy with the policies, documents and objectives of the SR and the EU.
The ”Financial plan“ describes the financial plan of the OP TA – annual liabilities according to funds, financial plan of the OP for the whole programme period according to priority axes and financing resources and distribution of the contribution from fund to the EU assistance categories at the OP level.
The Article 46 of the General Decree stipulates that the total amount for technical assistance within the OP TA and within other OP for the objectiveConvergence and for theobjective Regional Competiveness and Employment may not exceed 4% of the total allocation for these two objectives. The amount of EUR 97,601,421 has been determined for the OperationalProgramme Technical Assistance from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), i.e. 0.86% from the total allocation for the stated two objectives and the amount of EUR 17,223,780 is co-financed from the state budget in the amount of 15%.
The OP TA does not exclude the technical assistance within other operational programmes. Financial allocation for technical assistance relating to specific activities of therelevant OP will be complementarily determined within every operational programme. In respect to the stated limit of 4% and determined financial allocation from the ERDF for theOP TA the maximum amount of technical assistance is 3.13% of the EC contribution for every operational programme of the objective Convergence and 4% of the EC contribution for every operational programme of the objective Regional Competitiveness and Employment. If an entity is a managing authority of several operational programmes it is needed to comply with the condition that the sum of amounts determined for technical assistancewithin theoperational programmes does not exceed 3.13% of the allocation for such programmes for the objective 1 and 4% of the allocation for such programmes for the objective 2.
Considering the horizontal activities of the Operational Programme Technical Assistance covering the whole territory of the SR andsingle-objective nature of the OP TAcovering the objective Convergence it is necessary at financing to apply the pro rata principle determining the share of participation of the objective Regional Competitiveness and Employment on the OP TA activities.
At all the activities of the OP TA in the programme period of 2007 – 2013 the pro rata principle will be applied by means of percentage distribution of expenses for the objective Convergence and the objective Regional Competitiveness and Employment.
The final part of the OP TA describes the implementation system in the areas of management, monitoring, evaluation, ITMS, in areas of publicity and informing and last but not least in the area of financial management and control.
- Process of the Operational Programme Preparation
2.1 Basic documents
The basic document for the OP TA preparation is the National Strategic Reference Framework, National Reform Programme of the SRand Competitiveness Strategy for the SR till 2010 (the so-called Lisbon Strategy for Slovakia).
According to the Updated Convergence Programme of the SR for the years 2004-2010 the main objective of the economic policy is achieving a high and sustainable economy growth and thus also faster life standard growth in Slovakia.
The Competitiveness Strategy for the SR till 2010 follows the basic philosophy of theLisbon Strategy for the EU which is the development of economic competitiveness by means of two basic types of activities: in-depth reforms (so-called structural reforms) and adequate development policies. Just like the updated Lisbon Strategy it clearly stresses theeconomic area taking the specifics of Slovakia into consideration. Separate action plans approved by the Slovak Republic Government in July 2005 were prepared regarding the priority areas of the Strategy. The action plans define specific main duties for individual areas.
The National Reform Programme concentrates on integrated principles that would contribute most of all to the development of the innovative potential of the Slovakia´s economy, knowledge-based economy development and employment of Slovakia´s citizens.
The strategic objective for the SR for the period of 2007-2013 ”till the year 2013to improve significantly the competitiveness and performance of the regions and Slovakia´s economy while respecting the sustainable development” was approved on 29 June 2005 by the Decree of the Slovak Republic Government No.499/2006 and on 8 October 2006 it was amended by the Decree of the Slovak Republic Government No. 832/2006 ”till 2013to increase significantly thecompetitiveness, employment and performance of regions and Slovakia´s economy while respecting the sustainable development“.
Three (3) strategic priorities have been reflected within the strategic objective of the SR into the NSRF:
- Infrastructure and regional accessibility
- Knowledge-based economy
- HR
The OP TA follows the strategic priority of the NSRF SR No. 2 Knowledge-based Economy and within its scope the specific priority of Society Informatisation and strategic priority No. 3 HR in the area of reinforcing of administrative capacities of the state administration.
The OP TA by its nature and focus significantly contributes to the implementation of horizontal priorities of the NSRF:
- Marginalised Roma Communities
- Equality of Opportunity
- Sustainable Development
- Information Society
The OP TA follows the strategic objectives defined in the SR and EU documents and creates conditions for efficient management and implementation of the EU funds in the period of 2007 – 2013 thus contributing to improving the competitiveness and performance of theregions and Slovakia´s economy and employment while respecting the sustainable development.
2.2 Process of the OP TA preparation – applying the partnership principle
The OP TA is being prepared under the supervision of the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the SR in close co-operation with the Ministry of Finance of the SR.
One of the basic principles of the EU structural policy is the partnership principle that was the key at the creation of the National Strategic Reference Framework of the SlovakRepublic for the years 2007 - 2013, within the scope of which the OP TA was proposed for the implementation of the specific priorities 4.1.Preparation, management, monitoring, evaluation, informing, reinforcing of administrative capacities in these areas and 4.2. Financial management, control, reinforcing of administrative capacities in these areas.
It was also proposed in the NSRF that within the OP TA horizontal activities common to all operational programmes or the ones needed to be performed generally for all the bodies involved in the management, implementation and control of the operational programmes will be financed. In theNSRF the objective of the operational programme and its priority axes have been defined.
Entities within various working groups participated in individual stages of the NSRF preparation by means of structured professional discussion method at several levels (working group of ministers, interdepartmental working group, expert group – Partnership for National Framework, working group of experts for the update of National Strategic Reference Framework of the Slovak Republic for the years 2007 – 2013, bilateral working meetings with the representatives of self-government regions). The individual outputs were presented in the Government Council of the SlovakRepublicfor Regional Policy and Supervision of Structural Operations and in the Committee for Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund and in the Committees of the National Council of the SlovakRepublic. The space for presenting this strategic framework was also provided by regional conferences arranged by the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the SR.
The NSRF was commented on during proceedings with broad participation of social and economic partners.
The partnership principle has been applied on home level and also in relation of theSR and the EC. This meant mainly informal consulting about the content of the NSRF and operational programmes being prepared.
The co-operation on multinational level was taking place mainly by means of the V4 working group that provided for the possibility to discuss and exchange experience with other V4 countries in the areas of the SF and OP during its sessions.
The last stage of the OP TA preparation took place in close co-operation of theMinistry of Construction and Regional Development of the SR as the Central Coordination Authority(hereinafter referred to as the ”CCA“) and the Ministry of Finance of the SR as theauditand certifying authority the activities of which will be financed from this OP.