STRATEGIC REPORT 2018 Supplemented
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Strategic Report for Republic of Poland EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 20142014----2021202120212021 Abbreviations glossary AA - Audit Authority ABW - Internal Security Agency ACP – Association of Polish Cities, Poland AIBA - National Agency of International Education Affairs, Lichtenstein CA – Certifying Authority ACN - Arts Council Norway CN – Concept Note COPE - European Projects Implementation Centre, Poland CZSW - Central Board of the Prison Service, Poland DA - Norwegian Courts Administration DPP – Donor Programme Partner DSB - Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection EEA FM – European Economy Area Financial Mechanism FFI - Norwegian Defence Research Establishment FMC – Financial Mechanism Committee FMO – Financial Mechanism Office FRSE - Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Poland HDIR - Norwegian Directorate of Health IA - Irregularities Authority IFR – Interim Financial Report IN - Innovation Norway IPO – International Partner Organisation JCBF – Joint Committee for Bilateral Funds JD - Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security KDI - Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service KRS - National Council of the Judiciary of Poland KS - Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities MCS - Management and Control System MIiR - Ministry of Economic Development, Poland MKiDN - Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Poland MoU – Memorandum of Understanding MŚ - Ministry of Environment, Poland MS - Ministry of Justice, Poland MSWiA - Ministry of Interior and Administration, Poland MZ - Ministry of Health, Poland NCBiR - National Centre for Research and Development, Poland NCN - National Science Centre, Poland NEA - Norwegian Environment Agency NVE - Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate OS - National Energy Authority of Iceland NFM - Norwegian Financial Mechanism NFOŚ - National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, Poland NFP - National Focal Point in Poland NMFA – Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs NO Emb – Embassy of Kingdom of Norway in Poland OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PA – Programme Agreement PARP - Polish Agency for Enterprise Development PDP – predefined project PO – Programme Operator RA - Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage RANNIS - Icelandic Centre for Research RCN - Research Council of Norway SG – Border Guards, Poland SIU - Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education Uds.C – Office for Foreigners, Poland 1 1.1.1. Executive summary Norwegian Financial Mechanism and EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 in Poland were launched upon signing on December the 20th, 2017, Memoranda of Understanding for both instruments. The documents indicated priority sectors, organisation scheme and main responsibilities of the signing parties. Likewise in the recent financial perspective, the contribution serves both reduction of economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and strengthening of bilateral relations between the Donor states and Poland. In accordance with Article 2.6 of the Regulation, the National Focal Point submits this Strategic Report to provide information on the progress made, challenges met and risks foreseen while implementing the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 in Poland. Meanwhile, as 2 programme agreements were concluded in March 2019, and thus implementing phase is yet ahead, no results are to be reported under this report. With this document however, Polish Focal Point’ s aim is to present works on programmes development and milestones to be achieved, identify challenges and address main risks in the accomplishment of the programmes’ objectives. In general, 2018 was a programming year in Poland and the Concept Note for all 9 programmes 1 were prepared by POs and discussed with all the stakeholders. As a result, until end of March 2019, six CNs for Education , Culture , Local Development , Research , Business Development and Innovations , Home Affairs were officially submitted to Donors and received positive Donor assessment and entered the PA preparation phase. The Education programme and Local Development programme are the first, where PAs were signed between NFP and the Donors. For other programmes – Health , Justice and Environment, Energy and Climate Change the programming process is still ongoing, in line with the settlements with the Donors.. The bilateral cooperation has been launched. After organising the first meeting of Joint Committee for Bilateral Fund and the Work Plan approval, the first bilateral initiatives started their implementation. The engagement of the Bilateral Funds in one of the the largest international business conferences in Central Europe, organized yearly since 2011 - European Forum for New Ideas in Sopot, on September the 26 th -28 th , 2018 can become a visible example. The works on building the implementation system for EEA and Norway grants were ongoing. Polish Focal Point elaborated on the description of the management and control system covering National Focal Point, Certifying Authority, Irregularities Authority and Audit Authority and having recently obtained FMO positive opinion, fulfilled the obligation determined in Article 5.7.1 of the Regulation. Moreover, Polish side secured budget for the prefinancing of the activities within all Polish Programmes and Funds and provided the Programme Operators with guidelines on management costs, open call and application assessment, Bilateral Fund implementation and public procurement to support POs and make the process of implementation transparent and coherent. As for the risk management issue, the time factor has been identified as the most important risk. The longer the programming period is, the less time is devoted to the implementation, being a key phase delivering the set results and objectives. Here the tight cooperation with all stakeholders at Polish and Donor side level and the ability to close already agreed issues within the programmes and to enter next steps in the programming process is crucial. It’s worth noting that quality of the programming process was preserved at every stage. The next 2019 year is expected to be indeed the first year of the actual implementation of the EEA and Norway Grants in Poland. 1 Education , Culture , Local Development , Research , Business Development and Innovations , Home Affairs, Health , Justice , Environment, Energy and Climate Change 2 It will be a year, when the programmes launching events are planned and the general public is then to be informed about the open calls. The main promotional event opening the 3 rd perspective of the EEA and Norway Grants in Poland is planned for the Autumn 2019. 2. Political, economic and social context In 2018 the Polish government (of the right-wing coalition of Law and Justice 2, United Poland 3 and Agreement /Poland Together 4) was headed by Mateusz Morawiecki, who took the office in December 2017, replacing Beata Szydło, who was moved to the post of deputy prime minister. The tasks of the coordination of the implementation of the EEA and Norway Grants, as in the previous years, were performed by the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development, headed by Jerzy Kwieciński. Among the most important events of 2018 in Poland, in the context of the implementation of the EEA and Norway Grants, the local elections should be indicated in particular. The outcome of the elections in question, held in October 2018 for Law and Justice was 34,13%, whereas Civic Coalition (Civic Platform together with .Modern) received 26.97% of votes. Given that the local government units are the potential beneficiaries in a few programmes of the 3 rd edition of the Financial Mechanisms in Poland, including the programmes with the largest budgets like the ‘Local Development’ or the ‘Environment, Energy and Climate Change’, efficient management of the local government units by their new rulers may be of high importance also for the Financial Mechanisms. In December 2018, the Polish Council of Ministers adopted the assumptions of Polish foreign policy for 2019. This document was a basis for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to prepare the government’s information on foreign policy directions, articulated as the exposé of the Polish MFA, Jacek Czaputowicz, in parliament – in March 2019. The themes that remain among the most important goals of Polish foreign policy are concentrated in the so-called triad – firstly, security, understood as measures to expand own defence capabilities, strengthen the potential of allied relations within NATO and the European Union, and conduct an active regional policy; secondly, development, comprehended as an activity supporting the building of the economic and social power of the Republic of Poland in the European Union; thirdly, strengthening the favourable image of Poland, its credibility on European and global scale. The goals formulated in this way seem to be largely consistent with the general objective of the EEA and Norway Grants of reducing economic and social disparities in Europe, as well as the objectives set for the particular programmes. 2019 will be a year of double elections in Poland – in spring (May 26) the elections to the European Parliament will be held, and in autumn (between October 12 and November 12) – elections to the Sejm and the Senate (Polish parliament). Going into the social and economic context of the implementation of the EEA and Norway Grants, it should be noted that in the process of monitoring the cohesion