Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme Greece – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme 2007-2013 CCI : 2007 CB 16 I PO 009 OCTOBER 2011 0 Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme Glossary of Acronyms Acronym Description CBC Cross-Border Co-operation CC Candidate Countries ERDF European Regional Development Fund IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance NP Neighbourhood Programme PCC Potential Candidate Countries ICT Information and Communication Technologies WLAN Wireless Local Area Networks NUTS Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization PHARE Poland, Hungary, Assistance for Restructuring their Economies ISPA Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession SAPARD Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature 1 Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme Table of Contents Legal Basis ............................................................................................................................. 6 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 7 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 The Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme .... 10 1.2 Eligible Areas ............................................................................................................... 11 1.3 The Programming Process ............................................................................................ 14 2 Analysis of the socio-economic environment ........................................................................ 17 2.1 Demography and spatial patterns .................................................................................. 17 2.2 Geography and Environment ........................................................................................ 19 2.3 Economy ..................................................................................................................... 23 2.4 Education and R&D ...................................................................................................... 28 2.5 Accessibility ................................................................................................................. 30 2.6 Health and Social Protection ......................................................................................... 32 2.7 Culture ........................................................................................................................ 32 2.8 Administration and planning capacity ............................................................................ 33 2.9 Lessons learnt in the former programming periods ......................................................... 34 3 SWOT Analysis ................................................................................................................... 36 4 Programme Strategy .......................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Strategy Framework ..................................................................................................... 39 4.2 Application of EU principles ........................................................................................ 40 4.3 Objectives and Priorities ............................................................................................... 41 4.4 Financial allocation per priority...................................................................................... 45 4.5 Quantification of objectives ........................................................................................ 45 4.6 Compliance and complementarity with other policies and programmes ............................ 47 4.7 Bilateral Co-operation and Agreements between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ..................................................................................................................... 55 2 Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme 4.8 Main findings of Ex-ante Evaluation and Strategic Environmental Assessment .................. 57 4.8.1 Main findings of the Ex-ante Evaluation .............................................................. 57 4.8.2 Main findings of the Strategic Environmental Assessment .................................... 58 4.8.2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 58 4.8.2.2 The Community’s Strategic Framework - The Directive 2001/42 ............................. 58 4.8.2.3 National Legislative framework ............................................................................ 60 4.8.2.4 Environmental objectives ..................................................................................... 65 4.8.2.4.1 The Gothenburg Strategy on Sustainable Development ...................................... 65 4.8.2.4.2 6th Environment Action Programme .................................................................. 66 4.8.2.5 Priority Axes ....................................................................................................... 67 4.8.2.6 Conclusions from the Greece – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Programme Analysis ....................................................................................................... 67 4.8.2.7. Alternative possibilities for the programme implementation .................................. 68 4.8.2.8 Existing Environment Situation ............................................................................. 70 4.8.2.8.1 Geography and Morphology .............................................................................. 70 4.8.2.8.2 Protected Sites ................................................................................................. 72 4.8.2.8.3 Population - Demographic elements .................................................................. 75 4.8.2.8.4 Economic structure .......................................................................................... 77 4.8.2.8.5 Economy - Production ...................................................................................... 78 4.8.2.8.6 Infrastructure .................................................................................................. 79 4.8.2.9 Assessment and Evaluation of the Programme’s Impacts ....................................... 82 4.8.2.10. Measures to mitigate environmental impacts ...................................................... 85 4.8.2.11 Environmental Monitoring System ...................................................................... 88 5 Priorities and Measures ....................................................................................................... 90 5.1 Priority 1: “Enhancement of cross-border economic development” .................................. 90 5.2 Priority 2: “Enhance the environmental resources and cultural heritage of the programme area” ................................................................................................................................ 93 3 Greece/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme 5.3 Priority 3: Technical Assistance ..................................................................................... 95 6 Publicity and Visibility ......................................................................................................... 96 7 Financial Tables ................................................................................................................. 97 7.1 Annual commitment in the programme .......................................................................... 97 7.2 Indicative breakdown by priority axes and by year ......................................................... 98 8 Implementing provisions ................................................................................................... 101 8.1 introduction ............................................................................................................... 101 8.2 Managing Authority .................................................................................................... 101 8.3 Certifying Authority .................................................................................................... 103 8.4 Audit Authority........................................................................................................... 104 8.5 Joint Technical Secretariat .......................................................................................... 107 8.6 Intermediate Body ..................................................................................................... 110 8.7 National IPA Coordinator ............................................................................................ 110 8.8.National Authorising Officer ........................................................................................ 110 8.9 Operating Structure ................................................................................................... 112 8.10 Audit Authority (responsible for the report and opinion for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) ................................................................................................................