Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013

Cross-Border Co-operation Programme under the European Territorial Co-operation Objective

CCI No 2007 CB 163 PO 050

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

2012

May 2013

Table of Contents 1 IDENTIFICATION ...... 3 2 OVERVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OPERATONAL PROGRAMME ...... 5 2.1 Achievement and analysis of the progress ...... 5 2.1.1 Information on the physical progress of the Operational Programme ...... 5 2.1.2 Financial information as of 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2012 ...... 8 2.1.3 Information about the breakdown of the use of the funds ...... 10 2.1.4 Assistance by target groups ...... 10 2.1.5 Assistance repaid or re-used ...... 11 2.1.6 Qualitative analysis ...... 13 2.2 Information about compliance with Community Law...... 22 2.3 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them ...... 22 2.4 Changes in the context of the operational programme implementation ...... 24 2.5 Substantial modification pursuant to Article 57 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 ...... 24 2.6 Complementarity with other instruments ...... 24 2.7 Monitoring and evaluation ...... 25 2.8 EU Strategu for the Baltic Sea Region ...... 26 3 IMPLEMENTATION BY PRIORITY ...... 28 3.1 Priority 1 Increased cohesion of the Programme area ...... 28 3.1.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress ...... 28 3.1.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them ...... 30 3.2 Priority 2 Higher competitiveness of the Programme area ...... 30 3.2.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress ...... 30 3.2.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them ...... 32 3.3 Priority 3 Active, sustainable and integrated communities ...... 32 3.3.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress ...... 32 3.3.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them ...... 34 4 MAJOR PROJECTS ...... 34 5 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ...... 34 6 INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY ...... 41 6.1 Information and publicity activities ...... 41 6.2 Media Monitoring ...... 44 7 CHALLENGES FOR 2013 ...... 45

1 IDENTIFICATION

OPERATIONAL Objective concerned European Territorial PROGRAMME Cooperation Eligible area concerned Estonia (Lõuna-Eesti, Lääne- Eesti) and Latvia (Kurzeme, Pierīga, Rīga, Vidzeme)

Programming period 2007-2013

Programme number (CCI No) 2007 CB 163 PO 050

Programme title Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013

ANNUAL Reporting year 2012 IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

Date of approval of the annual report by the Monitoring Committee

The Annual Implementation Report of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 has been prepared in accordance with Article 67 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions of the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund as well as the model provided in Annex VI of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 846/2009 of 1 September 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006 setting out rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. The Commission Regulation (EC) 1828/2006 was further amended by Commission Regulation (EC) 832/2010 of 17 September 2010. Annex I of this Regulation replaces point 2.1.2 Financial information of Annex XVIII of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006. The Programme implementation is also based on the relevant provisions of the Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Regional Development Fund.

The Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 (hereinafter also referred to as the “Programme”) is a cross-border cooperation programme including the NUTS III regions from Estonia (Lõuna-Eesti, Lääne-Eesti) and Latvia (Kurzeme, Pierīga, Rīga, Vidzeme).

The Operational Programme (hereinafter also referred to as the “OP”) for the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 was approved by the European Commission on 21 December 2007.

The Agreement between the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Latvia on the management and administration of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 came into effect in March 2009. The agreement stipulates the structure, as well as the rights and obligations of the Programme institutions and the main principles of the Programme implementation and management. In Estonia, the Ministry of the Interior hosts the Managing Authority (hereinafter also the MA), the Certifying Authority (hereinafter also the CA) and the Audit Authority (hereinafter also the AA) of the Programme. In Latvia, the Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Regional Development is the responsible institution for the Programme as of 1 January 2011.

The main contact point for the applicants and beneficiaries is the Joint Technical Secretariat (hereinafter also as the JTS), which is located in Estonia, in Tartu. The JTS is established as a separate legal entity within Enterprise Estonia (hereinafter also as the EAS). During the previous years, the JTS had the Info-point in Riga. However, as there was no practical need for the info-point anymore because all the funds had been committed by the end of 2012, the decision was taken by the MC to close down the Riga info-point as of 1 January 2013. The relations between the Programme authorities and the JTS as well as the JTS’ activities and obligations are regulated by the Administration Contract between the Estonian Ministry of the Interior and the EAS.

The overall objective of the Programme is to promote sustainable development and economic competitiveness of the Programme area through achieving an integrated and cross-border approach to economic, social and environmental development in ways, which involve and benefit local people and communities. The report includes the following annexes: 1) Information about the breakdown of use of the funds 2) List of the projects approved in 2012 3) List of supported projects during the implementation period 4) List of the projects contributing to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

2 OVERVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OPERATONAL PROGRAMME

2.1 Achievement and analysis of the progress

2.1.1 Information on the physical progress of the Operational Programme The Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 has four priority axes: priority 1: Increased cohesion of the Programme area” with two directions of support, priority 2: “Higher competitiveness of the Programme area with three directions of support, priority3: “Active, sustainable and integrated communities” with two directions of support. Priority 4 is Technical Assistance (hereinafter also the TA). The total ERDF allocation to the priorities 1 – 3 is 35 934 836 EUR. By the end of 2012 all Programme funds had been committed. As described in the Annual Implementation Report 2011, in May 2011 in Jurmala, the MC decided to allocate the funding available under the 1st and 2nd priority to the projects strategically important for both countries. This decision was taken to better focus the Programme aims and to manage the de-commitment risk. Finally six such project applications were approved by the MC at the meeting in Tartu in May 2012 or via written procedure. The projects are described in the section 6.1.2 “Qualitative analysis”.

By the end of 2012, sixty three projects had received financing from the Programme and during the year nine subsidy contracts were signed including the contracts for two strategic projects. All in all 30 amendments were formalised to the previously signed subsidy contracts. As of the end of 2012, twenty five projects had been completed with the final payments made.

With so many projects finished and several being close to submitting their final reports it is fair to make some conclusions about the overall implementation of the programme, which concerns implementation of projects. All in all, the projects have done a good job with fulfilling their promises stated in the application forms and none of the projects have been stopped or closed down before its planned end. In the Programme Document the target set for an indicator “percentage of all projects approved for funding implemented successfully” was 95%, but so far the Programme has the success rate of 100% and it should be realistic to keep it this way till the end of the Programme. Partly it is a result of a thorough assessment procedure before approval of projects - the weaker projects have been put aside already during assessment. But also a good and intensive cooperation between the projects and authorities of the Programme has supported achievement of this aim, and professional work of project teams, both on a lead partner and partner level. Naturally, the capacity of project teams has varied with some projects needing only comments and clarifications from the first-level control bodies and the JTS during the whole project cycle, while there have also been projects, who need sufficient assistance in compiling the reports or request for changes. Usually finishing the project is the most challenging part for partners, as processing the last reports might extend to a year or more after all the other project activities are completed. It means that people have already

5 other tasks, possibly some involved persons have left for other jobs etc, which makes this step of the project in some cases problematic and time-consuming. But again, for projects with cooperative and professional teams, who might have also earlier international cooperation experience and are led by strong managers, the finalisation of the projects does not pose a problem. Often such teams are led by outsourced project managers. However, as said above, all the projects have been successfully implemented so far, i.e. their objectives have been achieved, and only in a few cases have the projects lost partners during project implementation. Most common reason for stepping out of partnership has been limited financial resources, i.e. the partners have not had sufficient funds to credit their activities and wait for reimbursement. In such cases other partners have always taken over the tasks of stepped out partners and negative effects on achieving the projects’ objectives have been avoided.

In 2012 the Amendment to the Operational Programme of the Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013 was approved by the European Commission Decision C(2012) 7497. The Monitoring Committee had approved the Amendment on 28 February 2012 and before the final approval, the unofficial consultations were held with the Commission. The proposal for amendments to the Operational Programme of the “Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013” arose from different necessities – from the results of the Programme evaluation, highlighting the socio-economic changes, as well as from more technical issues related to the implementation of the Programme. Amendments to the Operational Programme were the following:

 Chapter 7.6.4. Amendment to specify requirements for signing the declaration of confidentiality and impartiality – exclusion of the principle of signing a declaration of confidentiality and impartiality when being nominated by each member of the Monitoring Committee. Only the principle of signing the declaration of confidentiality and impartiality at each meeting of the Monitoring Committee was preserved in the text of the OP.  Chapter 8.1 (d) Amendment to specify de minimis rule applicable to the Programme – the principles of granting de minimis aid to agricultural production in accordance with the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 and to the fisheries sector in accordance with the Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 were included to the text of the OP.  Amendment in the ERDF co-financing rates of Priority Axes 1 and 2 – community funding allocated for private partners under priorities 1 and 2 was decreased to 600 000 EUR in Priority Axis 1 and 500 000 EUR in Priority Axis 2; and the share of community funding allocated to public partners was increased accordingly to ensure more efficient use of ERDF funds.  Amendment in the ERDF co-financing rate to Priority Axis 4 – Technical Assistance. The amount of ERDF co-financing for Priority Axis 4 remained at the same level, as in the

original Operational Programme, but the ERDF co-financing rate was raised to 49% from 35,76%.  Chapter 10.1. ERDF co-financing rate to revenue generating projects was previously up to 50% of eligible expenditure of revenue generating projects. According to the amendment the principle of co-financing all types of legal entities participating in revenue generating projects with the co-financing rate 50 per cent was excluded from the text of the OP.

In 2012, the Member States started to design the Estonia – Latvia programme 2014-2020. Several activities in this context were implemented including formation of the Joint Programming Committee (hereinafter also “JPC”), identifying the possible cooperation areas, recruiting Programme preparation expert etc. Different activities related to the programming of the next period are described in a more detail in the chapter 2.1.6 Qualitative analysis.

2.1.2 Financial information as of 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2012

Table 1

Total funding of the Basis for Total amount operational calculating of certified programme Union expenditure Corresponding (Union and contribution paid by public Implementation national)** (Total cost) beneficiaries contribution rate in % a b c d e=c/a

Priority Axis 1 Increased cohesion of the Programme Area 26 035 355,00 Total costs 10 473 003,41 10 165 411,12 40,23%

Priority Axis 2 Higher competitiveness of the Programme area 12 579 750,00 Total costs 8 110 584,67 7 818 223,04 64,47%

Priority Axis 3 Active, sustainable and integrated communities 4 227 628,00 Public costs 2 643 534,57 2 643 534,57 62,53% Priority Axis 4 Technical Assistance 4 681 047,00 Public costs 1 703 577,75 1 703 577,75 36,39% Grand Total 47 523 780,00 22 930 700,40 22 330 746,48 48,25%

*Certified and send to the European Commission as of 17.10.2012. ** Based on Commission decision 24.10.2012

The Certifying Authority carried out its activities according to the work-plan for 2012.

The CA sent to the European Commission an annual statement for the year 2011 on withdrawal and recovered amounts, pending recoveries and irrecoverable amounts on 14.03.2012. In annual statement for the year 2011 on withdrawal and recovered amounts, pending recoveries and irrecoverable amounts the CA stated that 704,14 euros of ineligible costs were deducted from Technical Assistance Priority1 and that the programme had 2,26

1 The CA deducted these recovered ineligible TA costs 704,14 euros from the statement of expenditure No 6 that was sent to the European Commission on 17.01.2011. 8 euros of pending recoveries in the under the priority 1 and 1143,64 euros pending recoveries in priority 22.

The CA submitted 2012-2013 ERDF payment forecast to the European Commission on 09.04.2012. The indicative ERDF forecast for Estonia-Latvia Programme 2007-2013 for the year 2012 was 7 935 000 EUR and for the year 2013 it was 6 123 610.

In 2012 the CA received from the European Commission interim payments in total 8 759 577,88 EUR (the CA fulfilled 110,39% of the payment forecast). All together the CA drew up and submitted to the European Commission the certificate, statement of expenditure and application for payment three times on the following dates: 29.02.2012; 18.05.2012 and 17.10.2012. By 30 September 2012 the CA had cumulatively certified 22 930 700,40 EUR of total eligible costs to the European Commission.

The CA applied for and received bridge financing 13 130 000 EUR from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia in 2012, the repayment deadline is 2.12.2012. Most of the bridge financing was paid back to the Ministry of Finance by end of 2012; however 571 511,12 euros bridge financing has not been paid back to the Ministry of Finance. This amount will be paid back after next interim payment will be made by the European Commission. The European Commission did not make any additional prepayments to the Estonia - Latvia Programme account during the year 2012.

The CA certified 10 429 190,41 EUR (incl. eligible ERDF support 8 408 982,09 EUR) total eligible costs at project level during the period January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012. The CA had sufficient resources for making all required ERDF payments to the project beneficiaries in 2012.

In 2012 the CA was fully staffed, there was some turnover of staff in the CA. The new CA senior accountant joined the CA in 9 March 2012. There were 4 officials working for Estonia – Latvia Programme in the CA: Head of the Finance Department, Deputy Head of the Finance Department, chief specialist (part-time) and senior accountant (part- time).

The assessment of the CA is that the progress of the implementation of the Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013 in the year 2012 was good. In order to speed up the implementation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme, CA made 726 812 euros pre-payments to the projects in 2012.

2 As of 31.12.2011 there were 2 pending recoveries: project EU30063 „Back to Nature“ (total ineligible sum 2,26 euros) and project EU29867 „IAVV“ (total ineligible sum 1143,64 euros). These ineligible costs the CA deducted from the next statement of expenditure No 9 that was submitted to the European Commission on 25.01.2012 .

2.1.3 Information about the breakdown of the use of the funds The information about the breakdown of the use of the funds has been completed as foreseen in Part C of Annex 2 of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006 of 8 December 2006 and transmitted to the European Commission via SFC system.

2.1.4 Assistance by target groups By their legal status, the project applicants in 2012 represented only public sector, as only strategic projects were supported by the Programme in 2012. The six supported projects, which were pre-selected by the Member states, are all carried out by different publicly financed bodies, as can be seen from the table below . Altogether they involve 43 partners – 38 from Latvian and 15 from Estonia. In total, the division of ERDF commitments between target groups is as follows (in EUR):

Table 2: Assistance by target groups

TOTAL 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Local public authorities 8 258 274 23% 1 483 118 19% 452 721 7% 49 943 1% 2 323 425 19% 3 949 067 71% Regional public authorities 1 786 523 5% 879 388 11% 113 844 2% 0 0% 793 291 7% 0 0% Environmental bodies 1 576 620 4% 0 0% 228 779 5% 164 617 4% 1 140 751 9% 42 473 1% Universities and research institutions 1 441 046 4% 183 426 2% 274 776 4% 0 0% 982 844 8% 0 0% State agencies 5 634 371 15% 349 995 4% 901 739 14% 2 971 112 70% 380 482 3% 1 031 043 19% Other public bodies 13 327 684 36% 5 483 802 65% 2 861 862 45% 0 0% 4 982 020 41% 0 0% NGOs 3 882 241 11% 0 0% 1 281 583 20% 1 066 805 25% 1 206 911 10% 326 942 6% Private partners 687 838 2% 0 0% 200 219 3% 0 0% 307 592 3% 180 027 3% Total 36 594 597 100% 8 379 729 100% 6 315 523 100% 4 252 477 100% 12 117 316 100% 5 529 552 100%

Examples of the projects implemented in the framework of the Programme Project FoodArt organized a number of specialized trainings for farmers and food growers, teaching them different methods that would help them sell their locally grown products to gourmet restaurants in nearby cities and finding new markets. Põlva region farmer Ly Kaasik from Põhjala farm in Southern Estonia participated in Food Art hands-on training about baking, herbs and spices. Already by Christmas time the product that she designed during the training sessions – tea „The Christmas Warmth” („Jõulusoojus” in Estonian became a seasonal bestseller. The farm managed to produce around 1500 packages for the holidays, all sold out in markets in Tallinn and Võru. The project promises to bring many other success stories in the area of food in the future.

ICT DCNet project focused on establishing better connections between the IT and business sectors in Estonia and Latvia. The most visible and also most successful creation of this project were three Demo Centres – hubs for information and communication technology service developers – in Riga, Tartu and Ventspils. Each of the centres specializes in providing a slightly different service, for instance, Riga Demo centre focuses on robotics testing, Tartu Demo Centre’s focus is mobile and location based services, and Ventspils is more specializing for showcasing high technology products. All three centres are now up and running and available for business clients that want to test their product prototypes or software applications as well as other audiences, seeking to learn more about locally designed technologies.

Local Artists for Regional Development project, which aimed to educate and motivate artists in the regions to become more active in selling their art, has not only been recognized by its immediate target audiences but also beyond. In December 2012 this project, implemented jointly by Cesis and Tartu received an international „Cultural Award 2012 ” from the Union of Baltic Cities. This annual award is given to a Baltic sea region city for active and innovative work in culture and was awarded to Tartu and Cesis for for joint cultural cooperation and involving of local artists living in the regions into the cultural life of the society. The justification of the award also notes the contribution of cultural activities towards other areas, for instance, economy, social sphere and city environment.

Connecting Stende and Võhma project concluded in 2012 with opening of an open air stage in Stende on the European Cooperation Day 2012. Similar stage earlier has been constructed also in Võhma. Both towns have a long-lasting cooperation, which started in 2001 and in 2012 was even more active thanks to the project, during which a number of exchange visits between various groups of people - dance groups, choirs, youth choirs and craftspeople – were organised. The main events – Latvian Days in Võhma and Estonian Days in Stende – already took place for the second year in a row and are bound to become a tradition in the future, thus uniting these two rural communities long beyond the official project duration. The project also helped both towns with marketing – new logos were established for attracting visitors, as well as a special table game was developed, thus creating an interest about cooperation across borders among younger Stende and Võhma inhabitants.

2.1.5 Assistance repaid or re-used

The CA made one reclamation decision for project EU29902 “Protolab” on 23 January 2012. Total ineligible costs were 4788,58 EUR, including ineligible ERDF support 4070,29 EUR and ineligible co-financing 718,29 EUR. Tartu Science Park Foundation paid back ineligible ERDF support 4070,29 EUR on 24 January 2012. The contracting authority Tartu Science Park Foundation did not respect the following provisions of the Estonian Public Procurement Act: § 39 section 1; § 38 section 2 in conjunction with section 1 and § 47 section 1 and section 2. Legal basis for the recovery

11 decision was decree of the Government of Estonia No 278 “Conditions and procedure of recovery and reimbursement of assistance and submission of information concerning irregularities in granting and using assistance” §11¹ section 4. Tartu Science Park Foundation also did not perform correctly the requirement arising from the Subsidy Contract for the implementation of the project of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 § 3 point 2 to implement the project with the requisite care, efficiency, transparency and diligence, in line with best practice in the field concerned and in compliance with the contract: this is related to the ineligible alcohol costs.

Table 3: Detailed breakdown of ineligible costs based on 23.01.2012 “Protolab” reclamation decision

Ineligible costs Sum (in euros) Incl. ineligible ERDF Incl. ineligible co- support for public financing for public sector sector 5% from Termoskale 266,67 226, 67 (85%) 40 (15%) UAB (procurement No 111513) contract for furnace 5 333,37 € (without VAT) 5% from all other 1 394,10 1 184,98(85%) 209,12(15%) contracts (27882,02 €) of procurement No. 111513 5% from contract 2 980 2 533(85%) 447(15%) with Fastems UAB No. 09/07/03-1 on 03/07/2009 for universal turning lathe NEF 400 in sum 59600 € (without VAT) (procurement No. 114451) 50 % of the costs of 147,81 125,64 (85%) 22,17 (15%) alcohol beverages (Wild Grupp OÜ invoice No. 90 on 06/10/2009 and OÜ Püssirohukelder invoice No. 1458 on 13/01/2009. Total sum 295, 61 (VAT included)) Total 4 788,58 (100%) 4 070,29 (85%) 718,29 (15%)

2.1.6 Qualitative analysis The implementation of the Programme continued actively in 2012. There were two MC meetings held in 2012, both in Estonia - in Tartu in May and in Pühajärve, in December. The MC made altogether six funding decisions in 2012.

Three funding decisions in the total amount of 5 029 999 EUR were made at the MC meeting in May when the following three strategic projects were approved: 1) Project “Improvement of traffic conditions on Ape-Mõniste connection road between Riga-Pskov and Võru-Valga-Valmiera transport corridors (Reconstruction of road Ape–Mõniste)”; 2) Project “Coastal and maritime spatial planning in Pärnu Bay area in Estonia and coastal municipalities of Latvia (Coastal and maritime spatial planning)”; 3) “Renovation of Valga-Valka railway station (WRS)”. Three funding decisions in the total amount of 3 349 730 EUR were made by the MC via written procedure: 4) Project “Development of Estonian – Latvian and Latvian – Estonian dictionary (DICTIONARY)” (Priority 1); 5) Project “Building Cross-border Capacity to Perform Joint Activities in Tough Environment (JATE)” (Priority 1); 6) Project “Development of water tourism as nature and active tourism component in Latvia and Estonia (Riverways)“ (Priority 2). In total, the ERDF commitment to the six projects was 8 379 729 EUR.

The first MC meeting was held in Tartu, Estonia on 11 May, where additionally to the approval of the applications of the strategic projects, the main decisions were related to the changes in the Programme Manual specifying some implementation and reporting requirements:

1. Setting a threshold for costs of alcohol beverages allowed to be reported by project partners. The formulation added to the Programme Manual is: “Alcoholic beverage are eligible only together with a meal and in moderation, forming up to ¼ of the respective invoice” (Chapter 5.3.4. Travel and Events);

2. Defining the situations when the MA has the right to decrease a project budget (Chapter 8.9 De-commitment Rule). The following was decided: Budgets of the projects which have spent less than 60 % of their planned funding by the end of the 1st project year will be reduced by the unused amount of the 1st year, unless a sound justification for non-reduction is provided by the LP. The JTS follows the spending rate and in case of such significant under-spending, the projects will be individually contacted;

3. Amending and simplifying the reporting procedure in case partners have no costs to report (so called zero costs report) (Chapter 9.1. Submission of Progress Reports);

4. Changing the procedure for declaring costs by allowing the reporting of the costs from the previous milestone and specifying that the division of project budget into work packages is indicative (Chapter 9.1. Submission of Progress Reports);

5. Setting forth the rules for applying the flat rate in reporting administration costs according to the decision of the MC made in October 2011, approved by the European Commission in April 2012 (adding a new chapter 9.2. Use of flat rate for reporting administration costs).

- These decisions were taken to better manage the Programme implementation as well as to facilitate the reporting procedure in order accelerate carrying out the project activities and the use of funds.

The MC approved the guidelines for preparation of reclamation decisions in the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013.

The second MC meeting in 2012 was held in Pühajärve, Valga County, Estonia on 4 December where the main decisions were the following:

1. In relation to the Programme’s commitments and expenditure, the MC asked the JTS to contact the project “Seto-Suiti Renaissance”, which was the first project in the reserve list of the 3rd priority by the decision made by the MC at the meeting on 13-14 December 2011 and inquire whether the project partners are still able to carry out the project. To date, the partners have confirmed the readiness to implement the project. Also they have fulfilled the conditions set by the MC and the project application was approved by the MC at the meeting on 13-14 May 2013.

2. Taking into account the amendments to the Operational Programme, the MC made the following decisions:

To approve the principle of continuation of the use of pro-rata based shares to national contribution of Priority Axis 4 (Technical Assistance), as agreed in the Agreement between the Estonian Ministry of the lnterior, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Latvia on the management and

administration of the Estonia - Latvia Programme 2OO7-2013 CCI No.2OO7 CB 163 PO 050. New co-financing levels are as follows: - Estonian national contribution will be 20.62% of the total TA budget, which is 40.43% of the total member states’ contribution to national co- financing budget to Priority Axis 4 (Technical Assistance). - Latvian national contribution will be 30.38% of the total TA budget, which is 59.57% of the total member states’ contribution to national co-financing budget to Priority Axis 4 (Technical Assistance).

3. Concerning the Riga Information Point, the MC decided: 3.1. Close the office of the Information Point of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 at the State Regional Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter also SRDA) as of 1 January 2013. 3.2. Stop covering costs related to the office space of the Information Point from the technical assistance budget of the Estonia – Latvia Programme as of 1 January 2013, which have been approximately 2500 EUR/year. 3.3. Stop covering costs of the support staff of the Information Point at SRDA, which have been approximately 5800 EUR/year. 3.4. Close the Information Point of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013 according to the host agreement by Enterprise Estonia and State Regional Development Agency, i.e. on 31 December 2013.

Preparation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020

In 2012, the programming of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020 started. The Member States decided to form the Joint Programming Committee for the preparation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020 and it was established in March 2012. The JPC consists of the representatives of the ministries and regional public authorities, five persons from both countries. The JPC discusses all the issues related to the programming and is the decision-making body for the preparation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020.

In 2012, two JPC meetings took place: in March in Riga, Latvia and in October in Tallinn, Estonia. The main issues of discussion included the working procedures of the JPC, and mainly steps to be taken for the preparation of the new programme. It was decided to have stakeholders’ seminars on prior agreed topics (see below in this chapter), start elaborating of the content of the thematic objectives and decide on the investment priorities.

The activities of the JPC were included as a separate section into the work-plan of the Programme and EUR 150 000 was allocated from the TA budget to the new programme’s preparation activities during the 2012, 2013 and 2014 if necessary. The work-plan and the TA budget were approved by the MC on February 6, 2012.

The JTS of the current Programme supports and provides services to the JPC, including organisation of the meetings, conducting written communication, preparing documents etc. In 2012, two JPC meetings were held.

The Member States also decided to recruit a programme preparation expert – a person who is responsible for writing the Programme document as well as for the coordination and supervision of all activities related to the preparation of the new Programme. The vacancy of the programme preparation expert was announced in May and following the interviews, the programme preparation expert started to work at the JTS office in Tartu on 13 August 2012.

The preparation of the new Programme also implies carrying out the ex-ante assessment involving the Strategic Environmental Assessment. The JTS launched the first tender on 17 July with a deadline of 15 August. However, the first tender was not successful and the second one was launched on 9 November with the deadline of 3 December 2012. Three offers were received and consequently a contract was awarded to the consortium of companies CPD (Estonia) and Safege Baltija (Latvia).

Stakeholders’ involvement One of the most challenging tasks of the programming process is to design the content of the new programme. As the first step, the Member States had to agree on the cooperation areas based on the 11 thematic objectives as presented in Article 9 in the proposal of the Regulation by the European Parliament and the Council laying down common provisions for the European Social Fund, for the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural development and Fisheries Fund covered by Common Strategic Framework. The areas were identified via consultations with the regions and the Member states decided to research the following fields further:

1) Education (including higher education, vocational education, hobby schools, adult education (based on the TO 10) 2) Transport networks and accessibility including physical transportation and ICT (based on the TO 9) 3) Environment and green economy renewable energy, energy saving, energy independency (based on the TO 6) 4) Business development and competitiveness (based on TO 3) 5) Employment and labour market needs combined with the lifelong learning (based on TO 8)

Four of these five seminars were organised in 2012.

The early involvement has ensured transparency and pro-activeness, as the information about the Programme preparation is proactively accessible. In general, the constant communication with the stakeholders helps indicating priorities, specifying information and

16 needs within each priority topic, and compiling situation analyses upon which the content of the programme will be designed.

The overall objectives of the seminars were to identify on a bottom-up basis the main problem areas and sub-themes in the specific fields, and the possible solutions, actions and measures that could be supported from the next Estonia-Latvia programme. The seminars were organised as moderated discussions and group work, using a brainstorming methodology. During the seminars 2-3 brainstorming sessions were organised which were focusing on the following issues: identifying the main problems, suggesting possible actions for the next programme period and coming up with concrete ideas for possible projects, which could be submitted during the next programme. Finally, the participants were asked to vote for the ideas they considered most important.

The first seminar was held with the stakeholders and experts in the field of education, and took place on 27 June 2012 in Salacgriva, Latvia with 42 participants. During the seminar 3 brainstorming sessions - individual and in group - were organised.

In the first session the participants identified a large number of existing problems, which were grouped by the moderators into 5 areas:

1. Quality and Content of Education. The problems identified under this sub-topic reflected the general idea that the quality of the education needs to be improved on all levels, starting with primary and secondary education and finishing with higher education. 2. Better Links between Education and Labour Market. The topic highlighted mostly the challenges how to better adapt the focus and content of education with the real needs of companies. 3. Building joint vision and strategy for Estonia-Latvia cooperation. The topic highlighted lack of coordination and planning between Estonian and Latvian policy makers in the area of education. Many problems in both countries could be better addressed if it would be done jointly and with shared resources. 4. Life-long learning and continuing education. The main problems identified were related to the shortage and accessibility of life-long learning possibilities. Another major problem area was linked to the fact that e-learning possibilities are not effectively used and properly promoted. 5. Role of education for regional development. This topic highlighted mostly the problems related to the role educational institutions in local and regional development.

The actions that were voted as the most important for cooperation were: strengthening cooperation of vocational education centres (ranked 1st); support increased qualification of teachers and adaption of teaching curricula to industry/business needs (ranked 2nd); integrating real business elements into education (ranked 3rd).

Concrete project ideas identified as most important were: elaboration of Estonian-Latvian language teaching materials (ranked 1st); vocational schools networking (teachers trainings and exchanges) (ranked 2nd and 3rd); joint training of specialists for cross-border (business) projects (railway, wind parks etc.); future strategic projects between Estonia and Latvia (ranked 2nd and 3rd).

The second seminar was held with the stakeholders and experts in the field of transportation and accessibility, which took place on 18 October 2012 in Valga, Estonia. The discussion seminar was held in a group of 24 experts and specialists from relevant ministries, regions, local authorities and road administrations. The seminar also took into account the outcomes of the Latvia - Estonia Intergovernmental Commission meeting that was held a week earlier on 9-10 October in Pärnu, Estonia.

The discussion was structured under three topics; the problems and the ideas were mapped relevantly. With each topic, the discussion followed three aspects: - Strategic plans in the state level (members of ministries) - Plans and needs on the local level with cross-border impact (members of municipalities) - Concrete ideas, objects and their estimated approximate cost.

• Railways. To apply for railway projects was not considered to be reasonable as the states have more resources from other funds (Cohesion fund, TEN-T) to finance bigger railway projects. Programme resources should come to the local level.

• Waterways. Very much related to the tourism (e.g. yachting as tourism segment, connect all small harbours – agree on standards for harbours, improve the infrastructure (similar standards – access to water, electricity), marketing campaign. As for the ferry lines: the programme should not support daily operating activities, but investments and infrastructure.

• Roads. It was discussed to be reasonable to support roads that connect bigger towns rather than small roads with low density of traffic; key word is connectivity. The bottlenecks on existing roads, dangerous places in the border area should be identified and improved. To see the bigger complex picture: e.g. link to education when the number of schoolhouses is decreasing: access to schoolhouses, cycle roads to connect villages and small towns etc.

Taking into consideration that the financial capacity of the Estonia – Latvia programme is relatively small for large investments, it might be reasonable to concentrate on either 1-2 bigger strategic investment objects or several smaller scale service improvement activities in the area of transport and accessibility. The rating of the listed objects and ideas emphasised the cooperation interest in sea area (passengers and ferry lines - 8 points; yacht and tourism development at ports - 7 points), which are also strongly related to the tourism development.

The third seminar was held with the stakeholders and experts in the field of environment and green economy, which took place on 6 November 2012 in Valmiera, Latvia. Altogether 30 persons participated representing the range of specialists from the relevant ministries, local authorities, and environmental organisations. The discussions were held under 5 following sub-topics that were identified after grouping all indicated problems from the first individual brainstorming:

- Energy - Urban planning, waste management - Nature protection - Water and coastal issues - Awareness and education Most important measures and actions mentioned were the following: using renewable energy sources, renewable energy planning; saving energy in buildings; green infrastructure; water, parks, recreational area (riverbanks etc.) - to make it attractive for people; eco traffic system in urban and rural areas; bicycle paths (urban and rural); re-designing brown areas (industrial and military fields); waste management; development of joint methodology for ecosystem service (assessment and evaluation); work out joint set of management rules for cross-border protected areas and joint visitors’ infrastructure (nature centres); pilot projects and good practices for managing cultural heritage sites (both privately and publicly owned); generate local nature products and services for tourists, support for product development, branding, marketing; best practice in management of Natura 2000 sites; the Baltic Sea coast protection.

The seminar showed the high importance of the issue of energy and resource saving, yet the investments are too big and cross-border effect needs to be specified. Awareness and education on green economy is needed and this could be implemented as a supportive activity in parallel with any other action. Urban planning and waste management is important, but organising this in cross-border cooperation is a challenge as the country- specific regulations could be an obstacle. Nature protection was the most common cooperation area.

The forth seminar was held with the stakeholders and experts in the field of business support, and took place on 28 November 2012 in Kopra Farm, Viljandi County, Estonia. The focus of the discussion was on supporting the SMEs, therefore it targeted the representatives of organisations and authorities in the programme area that were involved with supporting the SMEs on a daily bases.

The seminar focused on the following subtopics: public sector’s support to businesses; business to business activities; capacity of SMEs: product development, R&D, innovation; life in rural areas. The most important actions and measures to overcome the problems mentioned in the seminar were the following:

- Creating a meeting point (15 points). Physical and virtual meeting place for SMEs, start- ups, unions, local government, investors, etc. Purpose: to consult, coach, network, exchange, finance. - Separate small project fund for border areas (12 points). To consider both land and sea border. - Clustering (9 points). Joint marketing / tender etc. - Market research projects (5 points). Virtual networks. Business meetings. - Creating risk capital (5 points). Fund for export, start-up’s, fast growing businesses. - Regional marketing (5 points). Cross border marketing. - Developing rural infrastructure (incl. business infrastructure) (4 points).

It was emphasised at the seminar that support for the SMEs is most effective when comprising a strong practical output and impact for small businesses daily action. Therefore practical benchmarking trips lead by competent coordinators, social events for trust building, and individual contacts can be the most beneficial methods for long term impact, and are highly valued among SMEs. The results of the seminars will be further discussed by the JPC members in order to finalise the selection of topics and to meet the needs of the area in the best possible way.

Impact of the projects on the Programme environment

As the programme period nears its end and many projects have already been completed, the Programme authorities continue to hear positive stories about the impact of the implemented projects. Most project implementers and beneficiaries agree that the projects have left an impact on their communities and helped develop connections and products that otherwise would have not been possible. According to several impact interviews that were conducted in 2012 with the partners of the finished project and also written feedback that has been received, projects not only achieved their intended goals but lied ground for other future cooperation activities between Estonians and Latvians either in other territorial cooperation programmes, in business contacts or just in the area of cultural and social exchange.

Protolab network partners in Tartu, Ventspils and Ogre noted that the project helped them establish a cross-border network of prototyping laboratories, thus sharing individual experiences and specializing in various areas of prototyping. Now partners can easily direct potential clients to the best possible service provider. Also, the establishment of the network is helping these specialized laboratories to cooperate with clients from the business and research sectors not only in their home markets but also internationally.

Representatives of the project admitted said the project implementation period coincided with the economic recession, and the project funds and challenges helped their

20 organizations to survive through the toughest times, when the funding from other sources was minimal or non-existent. The laboratories were able to develop also during those slower times and now, when the economies have recovered, are ready to provide services to innovative companies. The greatest benefit from the project, as all three sides noted, are the contacts with partners in the neighbouring country, which have already been used in putting together and implementing other joint projects as well as development of business relations. Estonian partners from Tartu are finding ways to the Latvian clients through partners in Ogre and Ventspils, while Latvian partners find new markets for prototyping services in Estonia and even Scandinavian countries through their Tartu counterparts.

Representatives from Cultural Cooperation for Intermediates project similarly value most the contacts established across the borders. They point out that some of the cultural traditions, started during the project, are now continued on a voluntary basis. Now it has become easy to pick up the phone and call their counterparts across the border and invite them to perform at a local cultural event. The infrastructure that has been renovated in the framework of the project helps attract more people to the social and cultural activities in the community, claims the director of one of the renovated culture houses. In some cases the number of people participating in local cultural groups have doubled. Simple investments into infrastructure, such as renovation of bathrooms or instalment of lighting equipment in small rural culture house are still talked about and appreciated by the beneficiaries.

Alūksne – Haanja Uplands project representatives told that besides improved contacts with the neighbours, the project helped to upgrade the qualifications of many skiing and biathlon trainers and judges. They are now able to find work opportunities and although it was one small part of the project, it changed the lives of many individuals in the situation of economic recession and unemployment in the region. They are able to find jobs for training or judging. Some of the traditions of visiting competitions across the border were created with the help of the project.

Est-Lat-Pharma project representatives have told us that the project has helped them establish new working contacts between pharmaceuticals industry and research bodies in Estonia and Latvia. Now the cooperation in this fast growing and developing industry is much smoother than before, which also helps to develop new products and attract new customers from new markets, including in Western Europe.

In general the effect created by the projects is usually greater than the project partners expected during the preparation process, as cross-border cooperation and new contacts have widened their horizon and created new opportunities. In many cases the intensity of cooperation is high also after the end of the project with project partners clearly benefiting from it. While most of the benefits often stay within partner organisations or within a limited group of experts, there are also projects with wider and more visible impact. The most

21 intensively used public sites improved with the help of the Programme are probably the reconstructed cross-border roads in south-western Estonia and Northern Latvia, and large recreational area in the centre of Valga/Valka on the border of Estonia and Latvia. But also small-scale cooperation projects, which have altogether attracted tens of thousands of spectators and participants in the fields of singing, dancing, art, handicraft, various sports and youth cooperation have increased visibility of the Programme in the border area and enlivened the idea of cooperation in the region. Last, but not least, the Programme has also managed to support entrepreneurship in the region, which initially did not go so smoothly. The projects like Good Fruit, ProtoLab Networks, BaltOrgPotato, Food Art, Buy Local, SIB Net and Est-Lat Pharma have all contributed to development of entrepreneurship and supported especially small companies to define and fulfil their plans.

2.2 Information about compliance with Community Law The Programme has been set up and is implemented according to the relevant Community legislation: Regulation (EC) no 1080/2006 of 5 July 2006 on the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Regional Development Fund; Council Regulation (EC) no 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006; Commission regulation (EC) No 1828/2006 of 8 December 2006 setting out rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; Commission Regulation (EC) No 846/2009 of 1 September 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; Commission Regulation (EU) No 832/2010 of 17 September amending Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006. The applicable legislative acts are available on the Programme web-site and appropriate provisions have been included into the Programme Manual. In addition, the subsidy contract signed between the Managing Authority and the lead partner lists all relevant Community legislation as well as refers to the Estonian and Latvian national legislation to be followed in the implementation of the projects.

The changes in the Community and national legislations are followed on a regular basis and if necessary, the approved legislative changes will be incorporated in the Programme documents. So far there have been no problems with the implementation of the operational programme regarding Community Law.

2.3 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them In 2012, some significant problems were identified by the second-level audit. These concern two projects: “Baltic small harbours network” (“Baylink”) and “Raising the attractiveness and competitiveness of North Kurzeme in Latvia and Saaremaa Island in Estonia by improving tourism environment and its offer using the natural advantages of coastal municipalities” (One vacation – Two Countries”).

Regarding the project “Baylink”, the contracting authority, Mersrags Port Authority has not followed the certain provisions of the Latvian national legislation and of the Subsidy Contract signed for the implementation of the project. The infringements concerned the following:

 Incorrect amendments of the employment contracts of some employees of the Mersrags Port Authority. These amendments stipulated overtime work for the project, whereas overtime work according to the Regulation No 89 adopted on 27 January 2009 of the Cabinet of Latvia is ineligible.

 The requirements set for the project manager in the project application and in the tender documents were not followed thus the selection of the best possible candidate was not ensured.

Regarding the project “One vacation – Two countries”, the case concerned the Estonian partner, Kuressaare Municipality. One sub-objective of the project was to get the Blue Flag for the beaches of Kuressaare municipality and for Ventspils city (LV). However, by the time of the application for the Blue Flag by Kuressaare municipality, the Estonian organisation “Keep the Estonian Sea Tidy”, which coordinated the Blue Flag application procedure, had withdrawn its membership from the international organisation granting the Blue Flag certificate. Unfortunately the Kuressaare Municipality was not aware of this situation. In this case the amendment to the Subsidy Contract should have been formalised in order to change the sub-objective, however this was not done. Yet Kuressaare Municipality had implemented all activities and made all investments related to this sub-objective, which considerably improved the conditions of the beach therefore making it more attractive for the tourists as well as for the local people. However, it is only in the competence of the Foundation of the Environmental Education to tell whether the activities were sufficient for the obtaining the Blue Flag. As a result of these infringements the error rate of the of the audited operations was 6,32%.

The Programme authorities have seriously considered these findings and taken measures to improve the management system. The procedures of the first level control are re-checked and special attention is paid to the verification of procurements. The procurement checklists have been reviewed to ensure that all procurement types are covered. Also the need for the procurement expert in the Programme is assessed. The JTS reinforces its monitoring system – in addition to the Programme consultant and the project partner, the site visit reports will be reviewed and signed also by the Head of the Secretariat. The Programme Manual will be further complemented by the cases requiring the amendments of the Subsidy Contract.

However, it could be mentioned that measures taken in 2011 to decrease the risk of de- commitment (e.g. introduction of flat rate for administration costs, pre-payment system),

23 which were described in the Annual Report 2011, have helped to achieve the target level of expenditure to avoid de-commitment till the end of the Programme. Nevertheless, the JTS will continue close monitoring of the spending rate of projects and will ask also quarterly updates from the project partners on their expenditure plans to be able to react quickly in case the risk of de-commitment rises again.

2.4 Changes in the context of the operational programme implementation In order to monitor changes in the context of the operational programme implementation, 10 context indicators have been listed in the programme document. Mostly the trends of context indicators reflect macro-level developments in Estonia and Latvia, and more specifically also in the programme area. In 2012 both Estonia and Latvia showed clear evidence of coming out of economic recession. The first signs of passing recession were visible already in 2010 and 2011 and in 2012 these trends continued. Compared to 2011 unemployment rate decreased from 10,80 % to 10,24 % in the programme area in Estonia and from 13,88 % to 13,65 % in the programme area in Latvia, the growth of GDP per capita was 5,6 % year on year in Estonia and 9,9 % year on year in Latvia; and increasing number of enterprises and NGOs in the programme area both in Latvia and Estonia.

Also more specific context indicators show positive trends, including growing number of households with internet access in the programme area, by 69,61 % in Estonia and 68,70 % in Latvia in 2012 compared to 2011 and steady raise in number of tourists, both domestic and foreign by 7,9 % in Estonia and 17,2 % in Latvia in 2012 compared to 2011.

2.5 Substantial modification pursuant to Article 57 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006

There have been no cases of investments in infrastructure or productive investments, undergoing substantial modifications, caused by a change in the nature of ownership or cessation of productive activities, affecting the nature or the implementation conditions of the operation or which gave to a firm or a public body an undue advantage in 2011 – as stipulated in paragraph 1 under Article 57 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006, amended by Regulation (EU) No 539/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 June 2010.

2.6 Complementarity with other instruments As in 2012 only strategic projects were supported by the Programme and these strategic projects were pre-selected by the member states, initially the member states checked that the projects, were not financed from any other sources.

During the assessment procedure, in order to avoid double financing, the JTS checks the projects stored in Enterprise Estonia database, which have a link with the project applications submitted under Estonia – Latvia Programme and may have received financing from the ERDF or ESF. In addition similar checking is performed in SFOS system, which is an operative system of Structural Funds in Estonia, managed by the Ministry of Finance and includes information on the projects financed under ERDF, ESF and CF. On the Latvian side, similar procedures are carried out by Latvian National Responsible Authority. More precisely, Latvian National Responsible Authority carries out cross-checking with the relevant ministries to find out, whether similar activities have already been financed by other financing sources. Also the lead partners confirm by signing the application form, that the project, either in whole or in part, has not received or will not receive any complementary EU funding during the whole duration of the project. In addition the applicants are asked to describe any links to on-going and/or finalised related programmes, projects and activities, and explain the added value to be created through a particular project. None of the strategic projects received financing in the field of agriculture in 2012 therefore there was no need to do cross-checking with the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board, which was done during the previous years.

2.7 Monitoring and evaluation The general basis for all the actions related to the proceedings of the project applications and reports are the Programme Manual and rules of procedure of the Monitoring Committee. The technical tool for the proceedings regarding project application and monitoring of the projects is Navision (internal electronic database of the Enterprise Estonia for project related information, adjusted for the needs of Estonia – Latvia Programme). All documents related to different project processing steps are uploaded in Navision, which enables to follow the progress of a particular project.

On a project level, the JTS is carrying out regular site visits to each running project. On average each project is visited ca 2 times by the JTS during its implementation. The Programme consultants also try to participate in project meetings (especially kick-off meetings), events or openings of investment objects. These visits significantly help the JTS staff to get a real overview of the project activities and partners, and establish stronger working relationship with the project staff. During the site visit, the “Site visit form” is completed, where the results of the visit are described. In 2012 the JTS carried out 30 site visits to projects.

The site visits are also carried out by Estonian and Latvian first-level control bodies. They, inter alia, check the accuracy of the accounting system and the correct filing of documentation including public procurement documents, verify themselves on the existence

25 of the goods and services procured or delivered during the Programme. In 2012, total 38 site visits were carried out by Estonian and Latvian first-level controllers.

The first-level controllers check the partner reports and ultimately issue a confirmation on the acceptance of the report to the lead partner of the project. Relevant information is also sent to the project partner. On the basis of the approved partner reports the lead partner compiles a progress report, which is sent to the JTS for approval and for further submission for a payment. Each progress report, when submitted for a payment to the CA, is accompanied by a letter signed by the Head of the JTS confirming that the project has been so far duly implemented, is in accordance with all set requirements and the applied amount comprises of eligible expenditure only.

On the Programme level, the Managing Authority follows, through information received from the JTS, FLC or from Navision, the implementation of the projects. The Managing Authority submits a confirmation letter to the Certifying Authority on due implementation of the Programme bi-annually. The letter is accompanied by a site visit table, which summarises the information of the visits carried out by JTS and FLC as well as by the table on the implemented audits. In case some shortcomings are identified, a deadline is provided for their elimination in the site visit, and in the audit table.

2.8 EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013 includes South, and West Estonia NUTS III regions and North, West and part of the Central Latvia NUTS III regions. Thus the Programme area is quite limited. Also most of the projects are of rather local character and impact, focusing on the cooperation of local municipalities, foundations, NGOs in the border regions of the two countries. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is targeted at a macro-region and should have a trans-national or at least inter-regional impact. Because of its local focus, the Programme does not contribute directly to the implementation of the EUSBSR, as the small projects do not have a wider trans-national impact.

However, as both countries are situated in the Baltic Sea region and the Estonia - Latvia Programme is called forth to improve the situation in the border areas of Estonia and Latvia, it has been decided to take EUSBSR on board to the extent it is considered appropriate and feasible for the Programme. The projects which results have a wider impact and can be used in the whole Programme territory or beyond it or which could create new development potentials in the area the project is implemented have been identified as contributing to the EUSBSR. The projects’ objectives and activities should also directly comply with the priority areas of the Action Plan concerning the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The labelling is done in cooperation between National Responsible Authorities, Joint Technical Secretariat and Managing Authority.

Altogether 11 projects have been considered to have a link to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, and these links have been noted on the Programme website (at each project description). In 2012, one new project was identified as contributing to the EUSBSR: „Costal and Maritime Spatial Planning”. The table including the projects contributing to the EUSBSR is added as Annex 4 to the report.

In 2012 the Programme Information Manager participated in two EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and at one of them presented Estonia – Latvia Programme storytelling example – a documentary segment about the Reconstruction of Karksi-Nuia – Seda River cross-border road, thus sharing the Programme experience in communicating its contributions to the EUSBSR.

3 IMPLEMENTATION BY PRIORITY

Chart 1: Financial overview at the end of 2012

3.1 Priority 1 Increased cohesion of the Programme area

3.1.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress

Table 4: Overview on the fulfilment of indicators under the 1st priority

Achievement – 2012 (based on Programme Fulfil- Indicator Objective Baseline project target - ment % 2007 application 2015 - 2012 forms)

Priority 1 1.Number of projects Improved physical creating new or connectivity of the improving the existing Programme area 0 5 10 50% cross-border transport connection links

2.Number of projects Improved physical improving access to ICT connectivity of the 0 3 10 30% networks or services Programme area

3.Number of projects Enhanced joint developing joint use of management of public infrastructure services and resources 0 9 5 180% in the Programme area

4.Number of projects Enhanced joint developing management of public collaboration in the services and resources 0 10 5 200% field of public services in the Programme area

5.Number of projects Enhanced joint finding joint solutions management of public to similar services and resources 0 9 10 90% environmental in the Programme area problems

6.Number of people Increased knowledge participating in joint and capacity of the education or training target group 0 2134 300 711% activities

Table 5: Priority 1 by direction of support ERDF ERDF % of ERDF Direction of support committed committed committed ERDF paid allocation 2012 total ERDF 1.1 Reducing isolation through improved internal 4 949 994 12 091 680 54% 4 296 675 and external connectivity of the Programme area 21 914 737 1.2 Enhancing joint management of public 1 629 735 10 151 476 46% 4 963 124 services and resources Total 6 579 729 22 243 156 100% 9 259 799

In total, twenty one projects have been supported under priority 1 – seven projects under direction of support 1.1 and fourteen under direction of support 1.2. In 2012 five projects of strategic importance to Estonia and Latvia were approved under priority 1, three under 1.1 and two under 1.2. At the end of 2012, the amount over-committed under this priority was 328 419 EUR. Although, the over-committed amount is steadily decreasing, as all the finished projects report certain under spent sums, priority 1 might face a small shortage of funds in the end of the Programme, which can be up to 67 000 EUR based on the newest forecasts. However, on the Programme level no shortage of funds should appear in the end of the period, thus re-allocation of funds between priorities should be sufficient for covering a possible shortage under priority 1 in 2015.

As it was predicted in the annual report of 2011, major improvements took place concerning the payment rate of priority 1 in 2012. While by the end of 2011 only 2.88 MEUR were paid

29 out to the beneficiaries, by the end of 2012 more than 9.25 MEUR are paid out, which constitutes over 42% of the ERDF allocation for the priority. It means that the payment amount was more than two times higher in 2012 than during all the previous years of the Programme. Mostly it was caused by large payment requests of road construction projects.

Also the status with fulfilment of indicators has improved under priority 1, as five out of six strategic projects approved in 2012 belong under priority 1. Especially the increased fulfilment rate of two indicators with the lowest rates („Number of projects creating new or improving the existing cross-border transport connection links“ and „Number of projects improving access to ICT networks or services“) must be appreciated. Nevertheless, these two indicators remain with the lowest fulfilment rates with the reasoning provided in the annual reports for 2010 and 2011.

3.1.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them

There were no significant problems encountered related to priority 1.

3.2 Priority 2 Higher competitiveness of the Programme area

3.2.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress

Table 6: Overview on the fulfilment of indicators under the 2nd priority

Achievement – 2012 (based on Programme Fulfil- Baseline Indicator Objective project target - ment % 2007 application 2015 - 2012 forms)

Priority 2 1.Number of projects Increased overall promoting economic 0 11 15 73% entrepreneurial spirit competitiveness of the and skills Programme area 2.Number of projects Increased overall supporting the economic development of competitiveness of the 0 12 20 60% economic activities Programme area with higher value added 3.Number of projects Increased overall encouraging the economic 0 7 10 70% development of cross- competitiveness of the border trade Programme area

4.Number of co- Increased overall operation projects economic between enterprises competitiveness of the 0 9 10 90% and research or Programme area education institutions 5.Number of new or Increased improved joint tourism attractiveness of the 0 20 20 100% products or services Programme area for visitors 6.Number of projects Increased developing joint use of attractiveness of the infrastructure Programme area for 0 6 10 60% visitors

7.Number of Increased capacity of entrepreneurs business operators in benefiting from the the Programme area 0 942 300 314% projects aimed at improving the business environment 8.Number of people Increased knowledge participating in joint and capacity of the 0 2475 1400 177% education or training target group activities

Table 7: Priority 2 by direction of support

% of ERDF ERDF committed ERDF Direction of support committed ERDF paid allocation 2012 committed total ERDF 2.1. Facilitating business 0 3 581 215 33% 2 748 276 start-up and development 2.2. Increasing the attractiveness of the 1 800 000 6 716 603 62% 3 889 869 Programme area 10 426 615 2.3. Enhancing employable skills and 0 475 600 5% 250 829 human resources Total 1 800 000 10 773 419 100% 6 888 974

Altogether sixteen projects have been financed under priority 2, nine under direction of support 2.1, six under direction of support 2.2 and one under direction of support 2.3. One strategic project was approved in 2012, which belongs under direction of support 2.2. At the end of 2012, the amount over-committed under this priority was 346 804 EUR. However, the over-committed amount is steadily decreasing, as all the finished projects report certain under spent sums. Based on current forecasts up to 110 000 EUR could remain unspent under priority 2 by the end of the Programme, unless these funds are allocated for additional activities of the already running projects, as there is no reserve list of projects

31 under priority 2, or re-allocated to priority 1, which might face a small shortage of funds in the end of the period.

The payment rate under priority 2 continues to be good with 2/3 of the total ERDF allocation of the priority being paid out by the end of 2012.

The status with fulfilment of indicators has not changed much compared to 2011, still the only project approved under direction of support 2.2. has made a significant shift in fulfilment rate of the indicator “Number of new or improved joint tourism products or services” from 25% last year to 100% this year. For the rest of the indicators more explanations have been provided in annual reports for 2010 and 2011.

3.2.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them

There were no significant problems related to priority 2.

3.3 Priority 3 Active, sustainable and integrated communities

3.3.1 Achievement of targets and analysis of the progress

Table 8: Overview on the fulfilment of the indicators under the third priority

Achievement – 2012 (based on Programme Fulfil- Indicator Objective Baseline project target - ment % 2007 application 2015 - 2012 forms)

Priority 3 1.Number of projects Improved availability of improving services for services in the 0 17 10 170% the communities Programme area

2.Number of projects Increased activity of increasing the activity the local communities 0 26 10 260% of local communities

3.Number of rural Increased activity of municipalities involved local communities in in project the Programme area 0 41 80 51% implementation

4.Number of non- Increased activity of governmental local communities in organisations involved the Programme area 0 45 40 113% in project implementation

5.Number of Increased social and participants benefiting cultural integration of from joint social and the people in the 0 51984 40000 130% cultural activities Programme area

6.Number of people Increased knowledge participating in joint and capacity of the education or training target group 0 8625 300 2875% activities

Table 9: Priority 3 by direction of support

ERDF ERDF % of ERDF Direction of support committed committed committed ERDF paid allocation 2012 total ERDF 3.1 Improving the environment for active and 0 1 433 857 40% 959 582 sustainable communities 3 593 484 3.2. Promoting grass-root 0 2 144 166 60% 1 416 059 level actions Total 0 3 578 022 100% 2 375 641

Altogether twenty six projects have been financed under this priority, seven projects under direction of support 3.1 and nineteen projects under the direction of support 3.2. In 2012, no projects were approved under priority 3. Although it was predicted in the Annual Report of 2011 that at least one of the priority 3 projects from the reserve list can be approved in 2012 it did not happen as there was not enough funding released from under spending of finished projects yet. Compared to last year’s financial status of priority 3 with over- commitment of 87 774 EUR the situation is more promising at the moment with 15 462 EUR ready to be committed, but this is not sufficient for the first project in the reserve list, which requests 107 310 EUR ERDF support. Based on the spending forecasts submitted by the lead partners of the running projects such sum should be available by the time all the running projects are finished, but hopefully the project could be contracted already earlier, i.e. within 2013, to allow full implementation of the project before the closure of the Programme. Thus, the JTS continues close monitoring of the spending rates and forecasts of running projects under priority 3 and as soon as sufficient funds are available the first project in the reserve list will be contracted.

The payment rate under priority 3 continues to be good with 2/3 of the total ERDF allocation of the priority being paid out by the end of 2012.

As no projects were financed under priority 3 in 2012, the situation with fulfilment of indicators has not changed and relevant chapter of previous annual report covers the topic.

3.3.2 Significant problems encountered and measures taken to overcome them

There were no significant problems related to priority 3.

Chart 2: Share of each direction of support to the total funding

4 MAJOR PROJECTS

Financing of major projects is not applicable in the framework of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013

5 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The overall allocation of Technical Assistance in the Programme is 6 413 396 EUR with the Community funding being 2 293 713 and national co-financing 4 119 683 EUR. The Community share made up 35,76% of the total allocation but as mentioned before in the report, with the Amendment of the Operational Programme the ERDF allocation was raised up to 49%.

The total approved TA budget for 2012 was 626 732 EUR. In total, the eligible expenditure of the TA was 452 940 EUR in 2012. For the period 2007-2012 the total eligible expenditure of the TA amounts to 2 170 209 EUR. These figures reflect the sums confirmed by the First Level Control bodies. The certified amounts are provided in the chapter 2.1.2 above, in table 1.

TA budget and work plan for 2012 were approved by the Monitoring Committee on 6 February 2012. TA budget was amended once in 2012, the following amendments were approved at the MC meeting on 4 December 2012:

Amendments to the budget of the Joint Technical Secretariat

1. Budget line “Labour costs”:  The annual planned sum for the budget line “Labour costs” was decreased from 249 600 EUR to 232 600 EUR, as the staff costs of Tartu office were not used in planned extent due to leaving of one programme consultant in June 2012, whose position was not filled during the second half of 2012, and parental leave of the head of the JTS during the second half of 2012.  Costs of the programme preparation expert for Estonia - Latvia Programme 2014- 2020 were added, as since August 2012 an expert has been employed at the JTS. 2. The annual planned sum for the budget line „Office expenses“ was increased from 29 400 EUR to 30 400 EUR , because the costs for announcing the vacancy of the programming expert’s position at the JTS had not been planned in the JTS budget. 3. Annual planned sum for budget line „Publicity and marketing“ was increased from 57 100 EUR to 73 100 EUR, as the costs for celebrating the European Cooperation Day and producing a documentary movie about the Estonia - Latvia Programme was more expensive than planned. 4. Room rent and catering at other meetings organised by the JTS was added under the budget line “Programme Meetings’ costs”, because JTS organised a meeting in Tartu in July 2012 for information managers of CBC programmes active in Estonia and Latvia in order to coordinate European Cooperation Day celebration activities. 5. Budget line “External expertise, analysis”:  Monitoring implementation of approved projects was added, as in the end of June 2012 one of the programme consultants left the JTS and her employment contract was terminated. However, the consultant has helped the JTS to conclude processing of several projects – DemoFarm, FireSafe, ICT DCNet, Skills Centre and SIB-Net – in the frames of a service contract.  Assistance to the acting head of the JTS and programme preparation expert was added, because the head of the JTS is working for the JTS in the frames of a service contract during his parental leave from June 2012 till May 2013.

Explanation of the JTS budget The labour costs included: 1) Staff costs of an information manager, assistant, 4 programme consultants, programme preparation expert and the head of the JTS, all full time positions; 2) 1 full time information point manager and part-time support staff of the State Regional Development Agency; 3) Staff costs of the position of 1 controller of the Latvian FLC;

4) Staff training costs.

Office expenses included: 1) Office costs of the JTS office in Tartu (rent, utilities, stationary), office equipment, communication costs, costs for publishing job offers; 2) Office costs of the Information Point in Riga (rent, utilities, stationary), office equipment and communication; 3) Office costs of 1 Latvian FLC controller's position.

Travel and accommodation costs included: 1) Travel and accommodation costs of the JTS staff; 2) Travel and accommodation costs of the FLC staff for participating in 4 trainings; 3) Travel and accommodation costs of 1 Latvian FLC controller's position; 4) Travel and accommodation costs of the Monitoring Committee (MC) members, related to participation in the MC meetings; 5) Rent, fuel and maintenance of a car of the JTS.

Programme Meetings’ costs included: 1) Room rent and catering at 2 MC meetings in Estonia; 2) Room rent and catering at 1 meeting between Estonian and Latvian FLCs and the JTS; 3) Room rent and catering at a few other working meetings organised by the JTS in connection with implementation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme.

Database costs included: 1) Development of the database of Enterprise Estonia according to the needs of the Estonia - Latvia Programme.

External expertise, analysis costs included: 1) Translation and interpreting costs; 2) Assessment of construction documentation attached to project applications by construction expert; 3) Workshops on communication and seminars in Estonia and Latvia on procurement issues – altogether 6 trainers; 4) Monitoring implementation of approved projects; 5) Assistance to the acting head of the JTS and programme preparation expert.

Publicity and marketing costs included: 1) Annual conference of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013; 2) Promotion of the ETC day; 3) Partner day to for partners of the running projects;

4) Events for partners of the running projects – seminars on reporting and publicity requirements and on communications and procurement issues; 5) Website developments; 6) Newsletter design and translation; 7) Production of promotional materials (pens, reflectors, bags, stickers, flags).

Total sum for publicity and marketing costs for 2012 was a bit higher than that of 2011, as for the first time the European Cooperation Day was celebrated in Europe and for the Estonia – Latvia Programme it meant subcontracting production of several documentary clips on the results of the projects and organising an annual conference in Võru, Estonia focusing on the cross-border cooperation, its benefits and challenges.

Explanation of the MA, CA, AA budget

Labour costs included: 1) Labour costs of 2 full time employees in the MA, 2 part-time employees in the CA with work load up to 60%, 1 full time employee in the AA; 2) Staff costs of the position of 1 controller of the Estonian FLC; 3) Ca 5 per cent for fringe benefit.

Wages of the employees of the MA, AA and CA for 2012 remained on the same level as in 2011, following the principles of the personnel policy of Estonian Ministry of the Interior. However, as the workloads of the employees have increased and one full time position was added to the First Level Control from the beginning of 2012, the total amount of labour costs has increased.

Taking into account the phase of implementation of the Programme and the need to manage de-commitment risk, the work load of the two employees of the CA increased due to the increase of payment and pre-payment volume to the project partners as well as keeping an account of amounts recoverable and withdrawn. Both employees of the CA spent up to 60% of their time for the Estonia - Latvia Programme, in total this makes up 1.2 work load for two persons.

Office expenses included: 1) Costs of translation; 2) Communication costs (landline and mobile phone costs); 3) Transportation costs; 4) Overhead costs – room rent etc; 5) Purchase of bureau equipment – 1 table and 1 dictophone to the CA, 1 laptop computer and 1 laptop battery for the MA, workplace for 1 FLC controller if necessary;

6) Room rent and catering at the meetings related to the Programme implementation, including meetings of the Recovery Committee by the Certifying Authority, with the Group of Auditors by the Audit Authority etc; 7) Costs related to trainings of the MA, AA, CA and 1 Estonian FLC controller’s position, including MS Project software training, training and CGAP exam for the employee of the Audit Authority etc; 8) Expertise – the following costs have been planned to the TA budget:  MA has planned 2 000 EUR for legal advice etc;  AA has planned 500 EUR for expertise related to the auditing of operations.

Travel and accommodation costs include: 1) Travel and accommodation costs of the staff, including  Travel and accommodation costs of 1 Estonian FLC controller's position;  Travel and accommodation costs of the Programme Authorities to MC meetings;  Travel and accommodation costs of the Programme Authorities, related to participation in trainings in Estonia and abroad, including Interact-type of trainings;  Travel and accommodation costs of the MA include attending COCOF meetings, MA network meetings etc;  The costs of the AA for attending the meetings of the Group of Auditors and carrying out site visits of the operations;  The costs of the Programme Authorities regarding participation in the activities related to the preparation of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 20014-2020 and in the Joint Programming Committee meetings.

Budget for the preparation of the cross-border programme between Estonia and Latvia for the period 2014-2020 In addition to the costs of the Programme Authorities the TA costs also included the preparation of the next co-operation programme between Estonia and Latvia for the period 2014-2020. The MC decided to allocate 150 000 EUR to cover the programming activities in the years 2012, 2013 and in case of need in 2014.

The total available amount for programming activities is entered into the TA budget of the Estonia - Latvia Programme 2007-2013 separately under ‘Preparation of the cross-border programme between Estonia and Latvia for the period 2014-2020’. The detailed budget of the programming activities was compiled and approved by the JPC. The budget of the programming activities includes, but is not limited to the following types of costs:

Travel and accommodation costs: 1) Travel and accommodation costs of the members of the Programming Committee.

Programme Meetings’ costs: 1) Room rent and catering at the meetings of the Programming Committee; 2) Room rent and catering at the meetings with the stakeholders.

External expertise, analysis costs: 1) Elaboration of the Operational Programme for the next period; 2) Carrying out the ex ante evaluation.

Table 10: Technical Assistance in 2012

Eligible expenditure 2007- Planned budget 2012 Eligible expenditure 2012 Total eligible expenditure 2007-2012 2011 Program- Program- Program- Tartu Tartu ming Tartu ming Tartu ming Total Riga IP Total Riga IP Total Riga IP Total Riga IP office office 2014- office 2014- office 2014- 2020 2020 2020 Joint Technical Secretariat Staff costs 773 651 661 076 112 575 232 600 178 600 54 000 180 062 158 125 21 937 953 713 819 201 134 512 0 Office expenses 137 311 114 699 22 612 30 400 24 400 6 000 24 230 20 719 3 511 161 541 135 418 26 123 0 Travel and accommodation 78 685 64 288 14 397 39 872 20 380 10 000 9 492 22 000 17 947 3 914 140 100 685 82 235 18 311 140 Programme Meetings (MC) 24 031 24 031 0 33 960 10 800 23160 12 126 4 277 7849 36 157 28 308 0 7 849 Database 39 856 39 856 0 3 000 3 000 0 1 499 1 499 0 41 355 41 355 0 0 External expertise, analysis 152 056 152 056 0 32 050 32 050 0 13 612 13 612 0 165 668 165 668 0 0 Publicity and marketing 132 626 132 626 0 73 100 73 100 0 65 797 65 797 0 198 423 198 423 0 0 Reserve 0 0 0 11 383 0 0 11383 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 JTS TOTAL 1 338 217 1 188 632 149 585 456 365 342 330 70 000 44 035 319 328 281 977 29 361 7 989 1 657 544 1 470 609 178 946 7 989 Managing Authority, Audit Authority, Certifying Authority Labour costs 302 765 0 0 113 224 0 0 106 882 0 0 409 647 0 0 Office costs 31 670 0 0 21 940 0 0 5 862 0 0 37 532 0 0 Travel and accommodation 44 617 0 0 35 203 0 0 20 868 0 0 65 485 0 0 MA/AA/CA TOTAL 379 052 0 0 170 367 0 0 133 612 0 0 512 664 0 0 TOTAL JTS + MA/AA/CA 1 717 269 1 188 632 149 585 626 732 342 330 70 000 44 035 452 940 281 977 29 361 7 989 2 170 209 1 470 609 178 946 7 989

Table 11: Overview on the fulfilment of indicators under the Technical Assistance

Priority 4. Technical assistance

Baseline Achievement Programme Fulfilment % Indicator Objective 2007 – 2012 target - 2015 - 2012

1.Percentage of all Efficient assessment, projects approved for selection and 0 100% 95% 100% funding implemented monitoring procedures successfully of the Programme 2.Number of events, Increased knowledge seminars and trainings and capacity of the organised for the target group about the publicity, information Programme 0 83 32 259% and capacity building about the Programme 3.Number of Increased knowledge 1 200 participants to different and capacity of the 2732, thereof at Programme events target group 0 including least 50% 228% (conferences, 1835 female female workshops, seminars, trainings)

6 INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY

6.1 Information and publicity activities

The information and publicity activities have been carried out in 2012 in accordance with the Communication Plan approved by the European Commission in January 2009. The focus of 2012 activities has been on showcasing the Programme results through featuring project partners and their achievements to various target audiences. The following information, publicity and communication events were carried out by the Programme in 2012:

 An annual event of the Programme: International Conference on Border Areas “Joint Experiences – New Challenges” on September 18-19, 2012 in Võru, Estonia, with about 200 participants;

 Annual partner day 2012 – event for the partners of approved projects on June in Sangaste, Estonia;

– Information seminars for the partners of the approved projects (2 in Riga, Latvia and 2 in Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia);

– Specialized trainings for partners of the approved projects on procurement and communication issues (2 events in Riga and Inčukalns, Latvia, and 2 events in Viljandi and Tartu, Estonia);

– Production and broadcast of “Better Neighbours” documentary on ETV1, ETV2 in Estonia and LTV1 and Re:TV in Latvia to an audience of more than 80,000 viewers;

– European Cooperation Day 2012 events during which project partners demonstrated their achievements to local communities, all together 16 events in Estonia and Latvia;

– Programme newsletter – 2 editions, each in English, Estonian and Latvian;

– Regular updates of the Programme website, about a 100 stories on Programme and project activities;

– Regular posts on newly established Programme social media pages on Facebook and YouTube;

– Media activities in relation to approved projects.

In 2012, the main focus of all communication activities was communicating successful implementation of projects and results achieved. The goal was to address broader audiences, beyond the usual people involved in the Programme and project implementation. Three man target groups were addressed:

- Programme stakeholders – all Programme authorities and people involved in implementing the projects; - Local communities – people from the regions that are directly benefiting from the activities implemented by the project partners; - General public – people from all walks of life that are interested in the results of territorial cooperation and that potentially might be interested in submitting projects during the next period.

Events for Programme stakeholders include all seminars and the Partner Day, as well as the Programme’s annual event, International Conference on Border Areas „Joint Experiences – New Challenges” that was organized around the European Cooperation Day to discuss the results and future challenges of territorial cooperation in the area, attended by about 200 participants from Estonia and Latvia. Stakeholders also received the newsletter and other materials that were sent out through Programme internal communication channels, reaching more than 2000 people each time.

Local communities in the areas where projects are implemented had an opportunity to participate in European Cooperation Day 2012 local open doors events, during which project partners presented their work to people in their communities. It included open

42 lectures, open houses, small markets and demonstrations of project achievements. Local communities also received news about the projects from the media.

For the general public in Estonia and Latvia the Programme prepared a 45-minute documentary “Better Neighbours” about 8 projects that was broadcast on Estonian and Latvian public television channels and re-run on Estonian Public Television’s channel ETV2 and Latvian Regional Television. In addition to TV, the documentary could be seen at Programme events, on social media and web channels.

The Programme website www.estlat.eu was constantly updated, with around 100 news items on running project events and Programme activities. New sections for European Cooperation Day 2012, Planning for 2014-2020, International Conference on Border Areas, Documentary “Better Neighbours” have been added. Estonian- and Latvian-language sections have been significantly updated, including videos in Estonian and Latvian. Social media plug-ins were integrated into the website, allowing people to share our news easier on Facebook, Twitter and Latvian site Draugiem.lv, and inviting them to follow the Programme on Facebook. The website was also presented in European Commission competition RegioStars 2012, where it was selected among the finalists for the award in the area of communication. All together from January 1 until December 31, 2012 the website was visited by 14,720 unique visitors, 47% of whom returned to the site several times. 41% of all visitors were from Estonia, 33 % from Latvia, 20% from other countries, mostly in the European Union. Most popular things viewed on the website were news about the newly approved projects, Programme documentary “Better Neighbours” and Programme vacancy announcements.

The Programme website also contains a special section on each project, listing the project beneficiaries, contact persons, short project descriptions and project budget. These sections are frequently updated with the newest available information that is received from the beneficiaries, for instance, project newsletters and photographs are uploaded on these sections. The most prominent news items also get highlighted on the Programme start page in section „Project news”.

Programme social media channels were established on Facebook and YouTube. Facebook page featured hundreds of posts, among them news, photos and videos from the Programme events, project events and other Estonia – Latvia cooperation related activities. By the end of its first year, the Programme Facebook page had 200 followers and potential reach of about 50,000 people, mostly from Estonia and Latvia. The most popular post on Facebook page was a photo gallery from filming of “Better Neighbours” – about 400 people saw, liked and commented this gallery. Most followers are from Riga, Tartu and Tallinn; majority of them in the age groups between 25-34 (30%), 35-44 (17%) and 18-24 (15%). The Programme YouTube channel features all Programme filmed material – promo videos for European Cooperation Day (that the Programme arranged to be dubbed in the Baltic languages for our use), Programme documentary segments, conference presentations and

43 impact interviews with completed project partners. In 2012 the Programme uploaded 51 videos on YouTube that were shared later on other web and social media platforms. Total number of views at the end of the year was 4,426.

The Programme newsletter was issued in February and October 2012, each time in the English, Estonian and Latvian languages. Since 2012 the newsletter is electronic and web based. The aim of the newsletter was to inform various target groups about the latest developments in the Programme, including European Cooperation Day 2012 and the planning of the new Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020.

Programme has continued to actively organize various special activities for the target group of the supported and running projects.

Two Communication Seminars took place in spring 2012 – one in Riga, Latvia and one in Viljandi, Estonia, to provide partners of the running projects training in basic communication activities, which are important for the visibility and overall success of the projects and Programme. Project partners are very important source of information about the Programme, and they are the ones who have the possibility to carry further the message about the benefits and impact on the regional development supported by the Programme.

Joint Partner Day was organized in Sangaste, Estonia in June 2012, in order to provide the partners of the supported and running projects with networking opportunities, as well as to give them a chance to discuss various unclear and challenging project administration issues together with the Joint Technical Secretariat and first-level control bodies.

Following the financing decisions, four seminars for partners of the approved projects were held in Estonia and Latvia in spring and fall of 2012. These were mainly focused on the newly supported projects, but also attended by interested partners of the previously supported and running projects. Seminars involved the LV and EE first-level control institutions and focused on the reporting requirements, eligibility rules and various other administrative requirements, providing guidance and explaining in detail each partner’s obligations during the project implementation. Separate seminars on procurement issues were held in Estonia and Latvia for project partners.

6.2 Media Monitoring

In 2012, the Programme was covered by at least 12 media outlets and stations, but the Programme-funded projects received much more extensive coverage, especially in local and regional media outlets. The Programme does not use professional media monitoring services, but monitors media, using its own resources, therefore not all media impressions can be precisely counted.

Programme publicity mostly consisted of coverage about European Cooperation Day 2012 events, Programme website nomination for RegioStars Award and the International Conference on Border Areas. The largest media exposure last year was demonstration of the documentary about Programme projects in Estonia and Latvia. In Estonia, the documentary was demonstrated on ETV1 and ETV2, and in Latvia by LTV 1 and Re:TV all together reaching the total audience of more than 80,000 people.

The information about the Programme’s supported projects and their activities has constantly been disseminated by the project partners and reflected in various printed, audio-visual and internet media, on the web sites of partners and other relevant institutions.

Due to the Programme’s focus on regional development, the project activities mostly take place outside the capitals and are often aimed at specific communities in the regions. Therefore local and regional media are the main target group for project stories and most interested in reflecting the project developments.

In 2012, there has been coverage of various events organized by the running projects in local media, in some cases also in national media. For example, Cēsis regional newspaper Druva wrote about Artists for Regional Development project on several occasions, Tartu Postimees wrote about SIB Net and ICT DC Net projects, Elu24.ee wrote about the activities of Young Active Creative and Ziemellatvija.lv covered Art School Walk project. Some projects have received also the attention of National Media, for instance Baltorgpotato project has been covered on Latvian Television and in Latvijas Avize, while several projects on the Estonian side have been noticed by Estonian Public Broadcasting, Postimees and Õhtuleht (road construction projects, Radio Classics, SIB Net). The partners of the project Eagles Cross Borders have been active communicators and the project has received nationwide coverage on several occasions both in Estonia and Latvia.

7 CHALLENGES FOR 2013

The key word for 2013 will be programming of the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2014-2020. A series of important decisions have to be taken in 2013, including the focus of the next Programme and its financial allocations, at the same time compilation of the programme document, ex ante evaluation and strategic environmental assessment of the new Programme will be underway. As the JTS and the MA are in charge of managing the programme preparation process, it will without doubt be their main challenge in 2013.

In parallel to the preparation of the new Programme, also equal importance should be paid to the closure of the current Programme. The closure group will be formed of the representatives of the MA, CA, and AA specifying the responsibilities of each member. It will be further ensured that all information necessary for performing the closure is orderly and available, and that an adequate audit trail is kept.

Implementation of the strategic projects should be closely followed. The authorities of the Programme must receive confirmation from the partners of the strategic projects that all of them are ready and have the capacity to carry out the planned activities in a timely and correct manner, as due to their special status among supported projects some partners might be less prepared for the daily realities of project partners, including reporting and following all the eligibility rules. By the beginning of 2013 all six strategic projects have received an approval from the MC, a few have started their activities, but none of them has submitted a report yet.

As the Programme will try out something new as an annual major information event, the JTS has to be thorough, careful and flexible in carrying out related tenders in time with good quality results, e.g. production of attractive animated infographics about the Programme and its results.

Annex 2 to the Annual Implementation Report 2012

Categorization of Funds 2012

Allocated Priority Form of Economic Community Objective Theme Finance Territory Activity Location Contribution ETC 03 01 08 03 EU 966107 ETC 03 01 08 22 EU 1402543 ETC 05 01 08 22 EU 229979 ETC 08 01 08 06 EU 139900 ETC 09 01 08 03 EU 314699 ETC 09 01 08 22 EU 1141668 ETC 13 01 08 21 EU 693098 ETC 16 01 08 11 EU 399999 ETC 23 01 08 11 EU 9499026 ETC 30 01 08 11 EU 1305180 ETC 39 01 08 21 EU 1227920 ETC 43 01 08 12 EU 237468 ETC 51 01 08 21 EU 2204847 ETC 53 01 08 21 EU 430000 ETC 53 01 08 22 EU 279014 ETC 54 01 08 22 EU 3191670 ETC 55 01 08 22 EU 5045696 ETC 57 01 08 20 EU 389833 ETC 57 01 08 22 EU 1281074 ETC 59 01 08 20 EU 547005 ETC 59 01 08 22 EU 256670 ETC 60 01 08 20 EU 1406478 ETC 60 01 08 22 EU 444410 ETC 62 01 08 01 EU 548787 ETC 62 01 08 22 EU 399400 ETC 67 01 08 20 EU 184997 ETC 71 01 08 20 EU 158714 ETC 75 01 08 18 EU 122430 ETC 75 01 08 20 EU 528300 ETC 76 01 08 19 EU 1617687 ETC 85 01 08 00 EU 761680 ETC 86 01 08 00 EU 84560

Annex 2 to the Annual Implementation Report 2012

List of Projects approved in 2012 in the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013

Direction MC LP LP county/ Partners Project title/ short name ERDF funding LP name LP type of support meeting country district EE LV Total Valga Town Local public VVRS 1.1 399 999, 41 Tartu* EE Valga 1 1 2 Government authority Reconstruction of Road Ape- Estonian Road National public 1.1 4 200 000, 00 Tartu EE Harju 1 1 2 Mõniste Administration authority Coastal and maritime spatial Estonian Ministry National public 1.2 430 000,00 Tartu EE Harju 2 4 6 planning of the Interior authority The Institute of the National public DICTIONARY 1.1 349 994,70 WP1** EE Harju 1 1 2 Estonian Language authority State Fire and Rescue Service of National public JATE 1.2 1 199 734,81 WP2 LV Rīga 1 1 2 the Republic of authority Latvia Kurzeme Planning Regional public Riverways 2.2. 1 800 000,00 WP3 LV Saldus 9 30 39 Region authority

*MC meeting in Tartu was held on 11 May 2012 ** WP is an abbreviation for “Written procedure” WP1 – decision was taken via written procedure on 13 July 2012 WP2 – decision was taken via written procedure on 19 October 2012 WP3 – decision was taken via written procedure on 20 December 2012

Annex 3 to the Annual Implementation Report 2012

List of supported projects in the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013

direction Partners ERDF MC LP LP county/ Project title/ short name of LP name LP type funding meeting country district Tota support EE LV l Saulkrasti 1) Towards the Blue Flag on Baltic beaches / Beach Kuressaare, Local public 2.2. 1 626 891 Latvia Municipality Saulkrasti 2 5 7 Hopping 2008 authority Council 2) Increasing the attractiveness of Valga-Valka / Kuressaare, Valga Town Local public 2.2. 1 970 465 Estonia Valga 1 1 2 IAVV 2008 Government authority 3) Activating vital and healthy community by Kuressaare, Haanja Rural Local public promoting winter sports in Aluksne-Haanja 3.1. 287 385 Estonia Võru 1 1 2 2008 Municipality authority Uplands/Aluksne -Haanja Uplands (AHU) 4)Towards cross-border sports communities / Kuressaare, Local public 3.1. 285 600 Latvia Ape Area Council Ape 2 1 3 SPORTBORDER 2008 authority 5)Increasing competitiveness of Estonian and Estonian Public Latvian food industry based on new and improved Kuressaare, 2.1. 720 500 Estonia University of Life equivalent Tartu 2 4 6 local fruit and berry product development / 2008 Sciences body GoodFruit 6) Continuous cultural cooperation on the Estonian- Kuressaare, Alūksne Local Local public Latvian border-area / Cultural Cooperation for 3.2. 291 975 Latvia Alūksne 2 3 5 2008 Municipality authority Intermediates/

7) Increasing Competitiveness of Estonian and Public Latvian Mechatronics sector through creation of Haapsalu, Tartu Science 2.1. 913 750 Estonia equivalent Tartu 1 2 3 Integrated Network of Product Development, 2008 Park body Training and Testing Centres / Protolab Network 8) Rising the Attractiveness and Competitiveness of Liepāja, Ventspils City Local public Northern Kurzeme in Latvia and Saaremaa Island in 2.2. 713 895 Latvia Ventspils 1 2 3 2009 Council authority Estonia / One Vacation - Two Countries 9) Promotion of Local Communities of Stende and Haapsalu, Talsi Municipality Local public 3.1. 275 665 Latvia Talsi 1 1 2 Võhma / Connecting Stende and Võhma 2008 Council authority Foundation Tartu 10) Elaborating joint tools for environmental Public Liepāja, Environmental education as efficient mean of management of 1.2. 554 760 Estonia equivalent Tartu 3 2 5 2009 Education protected areas / Back to Nature body Centre State Forest Public 11) Unknown cultural heritage values in common Liepāja, 1.2. 805 371 Estonia Management equivalent Harju 1 2 3 natural and cultural space / Cultural heritage 2009 Centre body State Fire and National 12) Awareness Rising of Voluntary Firemen Work Liepāja, 3.2. 251 762 Latvia Rescue Service of public Rīga 1 4 5 and Safety Issues / FireSafe 2009 Latvia authority The Road 13) Eliminating the infrastructure barriers on all- National Liepāja, Administration of round development of border areas / 1.1. 5 175 779 Estonia public Pärnu 1 1 2 2009 the Western Reconstruction of Karksi-Nuia - Koni road authority Region of Estonia 14) Supporting the Song and Dance Festival Euregio Pskov- Public Liepāja, Tradition in Estonian-Latvian Border Areas / SDF - 3.2. 107 277 Estonia Livonia, section equivalent Valga 1 1 2 2009 Song and Dance Festivals Estonia body 15)Development of Cross-Border Choir Singing Liepāja, Võru Parish Local public 3.2. 280 585 Estonia Võru 2 3 5 Culture / Singing Neighbours 2009 Government authority Public 16) Go cycling through Vidzeme and Southern Liepāja, Vidzeme Tourism 2.2. 1 447 668 Latvia equivalent Cēsis 2 10 12 Estonia / ViSoEst by bike 2009 Association body

17) Promotion of the ball sports tradition in the border region through formation of a close Liepāja, Alūksne Local public 3.1. 291 975 Latvia Alūksne 3 2 5 cooperation network between ball sports fans of 2009 Municipality authority Estonia and Latvia / Cross Border Ball 18) Increasing the attractiveness of Madona and Polva territories through cooperation in active Liepāja, Madona Local public tourism and developing tourism marketing and 2.2. 404 592 Latvia Madona 1 1 2 2009 Municipality authority skiing infrastructure / Active tourism- attractive feature of Madona and Põlva 19) Sustainable use of local natural resources and The Union of Public cultural heritage for business development in 2.1. 408 708 Dikļi, 2009 Estonia Setomaa Rural equivalent Põlva 1 1 2 Setomaa and Ape regions / BUY LOCAL Municipalities body 20) Development of Latvian-Estonian network for Latvian Rural Public demonstration of environmentally friendly farming 1.2. 755 271 Dikļi, 2009 Latvia Advisory and equivalent Rīga 1 2 3 practices/DEMO FARM Training Centre body 21) Cross-border transmission of best special Public Võru Järve teaching, knowledge and social protection / Easy 3.2. 42 441 Dikļi, 2009 Estonia equivalent Võru 1 1 2 School together body Regional 22) Small Innovative Business Promotion Riga Planning 2.1. 477 520 Rīga, 2009 Latvia public Rīga 2 4 6 Network/SIB Net Region authority Entrepreneurship 23) Boosting Cross-border Entrepreneurship in Life Development Non profit Sciences & Medicine related to Biotechnology and 2.1. 279 081 Rīga, 2009 Estonia Centre for oriented Tartu 3 3 6 Medical ICT between Estonia and Latvia / Boost Biotechnology organisation BioBusiness and Medicine Public Mērsrags Port 24) Baltic small harbours network / BayLink 1.1. 1 360 805 Rīga, 2009 Latvia equivalent Mērsags 1 3 4 Authority body Non profit NGO Anni 25) Mentally disabled child among us / TOLERANCE 3.2. 200 512 Rīga, 2009 Estonia oriented Tartu 2 1 3 Playground organisation 26) Promotion of the use of sustainable and low Valga Town Local public energy buildings and constructions in Latvia and 1.2. 289 524 Rīga, 2009 Estonia Valga 2 4 6 Government authority Estonia / Active through Passive!

27) Development of Cross-Border Co-operation Latvian Non profit Among the Grassroots for Development of Community 3.2. 184 997 Rīga, 2009 Latvia oriented Rīga 4 5 9 Sustainable Latvia - Estonia Borderland Initiative organisation Communities / Still active Foundation National Estonian Rescue 28) Valga-Valka Joint Rescue Capacity / VV JRC 1.2. 1 991 935 Rīga, 2009 Estonia public Harju 1 1 2 Board authority National Riga Technical 29) Unified ICT Network for Innovations / ICT DCNet 1.1 537 481 Latvia public Rīga 2 3 5 University Pärnu, 2010 authority Marine Systems Public 30) Gulf of Riga as a resource for Wind Energy / Institute at 1.2 1 227 920 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia equivalent Tallinn 4 3 7 GORWIND Tallinn University body of Technology Public 31) Developing Estonian-Latvian Medical Area / University of 1.2 1 522 237 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia equivalent Tartu 4 2 6 DELMA Tartu body Ogre Business Non profit 32) Increasing Competitivenss of Estonian and 2.3 475 600 Pärnu, 2010 Latvia and Innovation oriented Ogre 1 2 3 Latvian Mechatronics Sector / Skills Centre incubator organisation 33) Improving Sustainability and Vitality of Local Non profit Motorcycle Club Communities by Developing Co-operation in Youth 3.2 135 151 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia oriented Valga 1 1 2 K&K NGO Amateur MotoCross / MOTO organisation Non profit 34) Festival "Friendship Through Football" / FFF 3.2 50 596 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia NPO FC Santos oriented Tartu 1 2 3 organisation 35) Media Literacy - 21st Century Approach to Tartu Local public 3.2 49 943 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia Tartu 1 1 2 Education / MLEDU Municipality authority Laser class Non profit 36) Cooperation of Young Sailors and Coaches of 3.2 129 626 Pärnu, 2010 Latvia association oriented Rīga 2 2 4 Estonia and Latvia / Young sailors Latvia organisation Estonian Non profit 37) Improving Sustainability and Vitality of 3.2 141 358 Pärnu, 2010 Estonia Orienteering oriented Tallinn 1 1 2 Orienteering on a Local Level / Est-O-Lat league Federation organisation

38) Eliminating the infrastructure barriers in Western region National Jūrmala, Estonian-Latvian border areas / Reconstruction of 1.1 2 626 802 Estonia of Estonian Road public Pärnu 1 1 2 2011 the road Kilingi-Nõmme - Mazsalaca Administration authority 39) Bringing Estonia and Latvia Together on National Jūrmala, Estonian Health Emergency Ambulatory Medical Services / BEST 1.2 95 450 Estonia public Tallinn 2 2 4 2011 Board TEAMS authority Non profit Jūrmala, Latvian Fund for 40) Eagles cross borders / Eagles 1.2 299 217 Latvia oriented Rīga 1 1 2 2011 Nature organisation 41) Towards joint management of the Latvian Institute Public Jūrmala, transboundary Gauja/Koiva river basin district / 1.2 718 435 Latvia of Aquatic equivalent Rīga 3 4 7 2011 Gauja/Koiva Ecology body Nature National 42) Tuned nature management in transboundary Jūrmala, 1.2 274 776 Latvia Conservation public Salacgrīva 1 1 2 area of Estonia and Latvia / Green Corridor 2011 Agency authority National Jūrmala, National Botanic 43) Smart Botanic Gardens / SmartGardens 1.2 399 487 Latvia public Salaspils 2 2 4 2011 Garden of Latvia authority 44) Baltic Organic Potato for the World Markets / Jūrmala, Ltd. "Aloja Private 2.1 254 488 Latvia Limbaži 2 5 7 BALTORGPOTATO 2011 Starkelsen" partner Estonian Non profit 45) INTEGRATED BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN Jūrmala, Business 2.1 229 979 Latvia oriented Rīga 2 3 5 SOUTH ESTONIA AND NORTH LATVIA/ DELBI 2011 Chamber in organisation Latvia 46) Promotion of cross-border partnership between Jūrmala, Private Estonia and Latvia for development of antiviral 2.1 139 900 Estonia TBD-Biodiscovery Tartu 1 1 2 2011 partner drugs / EstLat Pharma 47) Developing rural food businesses competitivness Jūrmala, Sigulda Local public 2.1 314 700 Latvia Sigulda 2 2 4 by cross-border artisan food networking /FOODART 2011 Municipality authority Municipal agency Public 48) Local Artists for Regional Development/ Artists Jūrmala, "Cesis Culture 3.2 116 514 Latvia equivalent Cēsis 1 2 3 for Development 2011 and Tourism body center" Non profit 49) Improving Estonian-Latvian citizen education Jūrmala, Estonian Urban 3.2 48 493 Estonia oriented Tallinn 1 1 2 and urban development / Est-Lat urban activists 2011 Lab organisation

50) Development of cooperation between Estonian- Jūrmala, Sindi Town Local public 3.2 28 875 Estonia Pärnu 1 1 2 Latvian youth hobby modelists/Hobby slot car racing 2011 Government authority 51) Support to West Estonian-Latvian youth Non profit Jūrmala, NGO Ventspils initiatives and co-operation. / Youth initiatives and 3.2 149 996 Latvia oriented Ventspils 1 1 2 2011 Youth Council co-operation organisation 52) Development of Valka Art School as common Valka Regional Sigulda, cross-border cultural education centre / Art School 3.1 122 430 Latvia Municipality public Valka 1 1 2 2011 "Walk" Council authority 53) Promoting Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems Latvian Non profit in Estonia-Latvia cross-border area to improve the Sigulda, 3.1 97 631 Latvia Association of oriented Rīga 1 2 3 environment for active and sustainable 2011 Spatial Planners organisation communities / (D)rain for life 54) House of Sounds - renovation of instrumental Non profit Sigulda, Pārdaugava Folk music traditions in Vidzeme and South Estonia / 3.1 113 824 Latvia oriented Rīga 1 1 2 2011 Music Society House of Sounds organisation 55) Developing of cross border trade network / Idea Sigulda, Apes Local public 3.2 73 041 Latvia Ape 1 1 2 on the border 2011 municipality authority Public 56) Promotion of youth involvement in professional Sigulda, 3.2 94 415 Latvia Latvian Radio equivalent Rīga 1 1 2 classical music performance / Radio Classics 2011 body 57) Vital Communities by Promotion of Youth Skills Sigulda, Põlva Town Local public 3.2 117 071 Estonia Põlva 2 3 5 and Involvement / Young Active Creative 2011 Government authority Tartu, Valga Town Local public 58) Renovation of Valga-Valka railway station / WRS 1.1 399 999 Estonia Valga 1 1 2 2012 Government authority 59) Improvement of traffic conditions on Ape- National Mõniste connection road between Riga-Pskov and Tartu, Estonian Road 1.1 4 200 000 Estonia public Harju 1 1 2 Võru-Valga-Valmiera transport corridors / 2012 Administration authority Reconstruction of Road Ape-Mõniste 60) Coastal and maritime spatial planning in Pärnu National Tartu, Estonian Ministry Bay area in Estonia and coastal municipalities of 1.2 430 000 Estonia public Harju 2 4 6 2012 of the Interior Latvia / Coastal and maritime spatial planning authority Via written The Institute of National 61) Development of Estonian – Latvian and Latvian – 1.1 349 995 procedure, Estonia the Estonian public Harju 1 1 2 Estonian dictionary / DICTIONARY 2012 Language authority 62) Building Cross-border Capacity to Perform Joint Via written State Fire and National 1.2 1 199 735 Latvia Rīga 1 1 2 Activities in Tough Environment/ JATE procedure, Rescue Service of public

2012 the Republic of authority Latvia 63) Development of water tourism as nature and Via written Regional 1 800 000 Kurzeme active tourism component in Latvia and Estonia / 2.2. procedure, Latvia public Saldus 9 30 39 000,00 Planning Region Riverways 2012 authority

EE lead partners 31 EE LV Total TOTALS Partners LV lead partners 32 106 162 268

Annex 4 to the Annual Implementation Report 2012

Projects contributing to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in the Estonia – Latvia Programme 2007-2013

No Project number and Relation to the Priority Area Description of the project Lead Partner ERDF funding National Co- title (PA)of the EU Strategy for (LP)/partners (P) /EUR financing the Baltic Sea Region /EUR 1. EU 30086 PA 11: To improve internal Reconstruction of cross-border road LP: Estonian Road 2 715 568,61 479 217,99 Eliminating the and external transport links from Karksi-Nuia (EE) to Rūjiena (LV). Administration infrastructure barriers The reconstruction is aiming at re- P: Ministry of on development of establishing proper transport link Transport of the the border areas between Central Estonia and Latvia to Republic of Latvia /Reconstruction of facilitate economic development and road Karksi-Nuia – increase tourism potential. Seda river 2. EU31404 PA 11: To improve internal Improvement of internal and external LP: Mersrags Port 1 360 804,70 Public: Baltic Small Harbours and external transport links connectivity of the Programme area Authority (LV); P: 185 256,30 Network / BayLink and reduction of hindrances of the Kurland Ltd (LV), AS Private: existing maritime border. New Saarte Liinid (EE), 311 019 maritime connections through ADA Ltd (LV)

development of small harbours infrastructure are created. It will open new cross-border business opportunities, employment facilities and international passenger flow.

3. EU34711 PA 10: To improve the access Fostering more efficient use of the LP: Marine Systems 1 227 919,99 216 691,76 Gulf of Riga as a to, and the efficiency and wind energy by providing decision Institute at Tallinn resource for wind security of the energy makers and potential developers of University of energy (GORWIND) markets wind parks in the Gulf of Riga with Technology (EE); P: University of Tartu reliable marine wind information from (EE), Estonian high resolution remote sensing data. University of Life Research institutes of both countries Sciences (EE), Latvian carrying out the project plan to University, Latvian complement the technical data and Institute of Aquatic wind measurements with the Ecology. information on wintering and habitat area for seals, migrating and breeding birds.

4. EU29881 PA 8: Implementing the Raising the general competitiveness of LP: The Estonian 720 500 EUR Public: Increasing Small Business Act: to the local fruit and berry businesses that University of Life 94 500 Sciences; P: Pūre competitiveness of promote entrepreneurship, form an important agricultural industry Private: Estonian and Latvian strengthen SMEs and Horticultural Research 185 000 in both countries. The project will set up food industry based increase the efficient use of Center (LV), Association on new and improved resources. and develop Estonian-Latvian Fruit and Berry Product Development Partnership of local fruit and berry Kandava, farm Piladzi, product Competence Centre to ensure the (LV) farm „Lāses", and development/ producers’ accessibility to and raise the Berry Farming LLC (EE) GoodFruit competitiveness of their production in the market. The project will introduce novel storage methodologies and provide upgraded infrastructure and know-how for product development for both Estonian and Latvian companies.

6. EU31398 PA 8: Implementing the Promotion of new innovative high LP: Riga Planning 477 519,80 84 268,20 Small Innovative Small Business Act: to growth firms by encouraging Region (LV); P: Ventspils University Business Promotion promote entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial creativity, providing Network /SIB Net strengthen SMEs and College (LV); needed knowledge and evaluating the increase the efficient use of Ventspils High technology Park (LV); resources. needs for early stage finance to cover “death valley” between academic and Stockholm School of Economics in Riga educational world and business (LV), Tartu Science incubators in the regions; to create Park (EE); Institute of efficient matching mechanisms for Baltic Studies (EE) investors and idea holders in two investor forums and team building event 7. EU29852 PA 12: To maintain and Improvement of the overall LP: Saulkrasti 1 626 890,65 287 098,35 Towards the blue flag reinforce attractiveness of attractiveness, environment and safety Regional Council (LV); P: Audru on Baltic Beaches / the Baltic Sea Region in of the beaches along the coast of the Beach hopping particular through Municipality (EE), Gulf of Rīga by (1) raising the standards education, youth, tourism, Carnikava Municipality (LV), culture and health of the beaches in partner municipalities using Blue Flag as a benchmark, Häädemeeste Municipality (EE), focusing on lifeguarding and beach Jūrmala City Council safety; (2) increasing the awareness of (LV), Salacgrīva visitors about the partner Regional Council (LV) municipalities as attractive tourism destinations. 8. EU29904 PA 12: To maintain and Raising attractiveness and LP: Ventspils City 713 894,60 125 981,40 Raising the reinforce attractiveness of competitiveness of North Kurzeme in Council (LV); P: Kuressaare City attractiveness and the Baltic Sea Region in Latvia and Saaremaa Island in Estonia competitiveness of particular through Government (EE), by improving its tourism potential, Northern Kurzeme in education, youth, tourism, Talsi Region Tourism using the natural advantages of the Information Centre Latvia and Saaremaa culture and health (LV) Island in Estonia by coastal municipalities. The aim is to

improving tourism achieve Blue Flag certificates for the environment and its beaches of Ventspils and Kuressaare offer using the natural municipalities and to ensure joint advantages of coastal visibility of the North Kurzeme region municipalities /One Vacation Two and Saaremaa Island as an attractive Countries tourism destination for a broader target audience.

9. Eliminating the PA11: “To improve internal To improve the road conditions LP: Estonian Road 2 626 802,27 538 019,75 infrastructure barriers and external transport links” between Kilingi-Nõmme and Maszalaca Administration; P: Ministry of in Estonian-Latvian towns in order to satisfy the local border areas/ Transport of the needs and turn the region more Reconstruction of the Republic of Latvia road Kilingi-Nõmme - attractive and accessible place for Mazsalaca transport and tourism

10. Towards joint PA3: “To reduce the use and To enhance the management of shared LP: Latvian Institute 718 435,26 147 149,39 management of the impact of hazardous surface and groundwater resources by of Aquatic Ecology; P: Ministry of the transboundary substances” development of a joint river basin Gauja/Koiva river Environmental management plan for the basin district / Protection and Regional Gauja/Koiva transboundary Gauja/Koiva river basin district. More specifically: to get unified Development of Latvia; boundaries of transboundary water University of Latvia, bodies; to clarify and set common Institute of Biology; water quality objectives for the basin Baltic Environmental district; to harmonise the approaches Forum Latvia; Baltic Environmental and methods for the key aspects of Forum Estonia, river basin management plans; select Tallinn University of cost efficient measures for Technology; Estonian University of Life improvement of water status; provide Sciences

information and public involvement in water management

11 Coastal and maritime 1) PA Agri - Reinforcing Preparation of a maritime spatial plan LP: Estonian 430 000 88 072,29 spatial planning in sustainability of agriculture, and a strategic environmental Ministry of the Pärnu Bay area in forestry and fisheries; assessment in Pärnu Bay area in Interior; Estonia and coastal P: Engure 2) PA Bio – Preserving Estonia; municipalities of Minicipality Latvia / Coastal and natural zones and Preparation of a maritime spatial Council (LV) maritime spatial biodiversity, including planning methodology; Kurzeme planning planning* fisheries Preparation of of the methodology on region (LV) 3) PA Energy – Improving the functional linkage between marine and Pärnu County access to, and the efficiency coastal territories; Preparation of Government (EE) and security of the energy guidelines for minimization of coastal Pāvilosta Municipality Self- markets erosion impacts in Latvia; Government 4) PA Ship – Becoming a Preparation of management plans for (LV)Roja model region for clean the Natura 2000 areas – nature Municipality shipping reserves “Ovīši” and “Užava”; Pilots in Council (LV) 5) PA SME – Promote Pāvilosta, Roja and Engure entrepreneurship and municipalities. strengthen the growth of SMEs 6) PA Transport – Improving internal and external transport links

*The labelling was done pursuant to the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region ACTION PLAN, February 2013 version.