The cross-border projects undertaken by Italy and Slovenia under EU's Phare programme of cross-border cooperation for 2002 were carried out successfully, head of the regional development agency for northern Primorsko Crtomir Spacapan said on Friday.
The total value of grants for the 13 completed projects was EUR 500,000, Spacapan told the press in Nova Gorica at the presentation of the results of the projects.
All the projects were co-financed for up to 75% of its expenses with EU funds, with individual grants amounting to between EUR 10,000 and EUR 50,000, he added.
The projects, chosen among 80 applications, covered the fields of agriculture, tourism, history, environment and sports, and were obliged to have an Italian partner, Spacapan said.
The aim of such projects is to foster cross-border cooperation on the local level and to enable local authorities to continue with such schemes, according to Spacapan, who also hopes that the EU will continue to support such cooperation in its 2007-2013 budget.
Meanwhile Tatjana Rener, head of the Stanjel regional office of the national fund for small projects, said that the fund will continue operating until October next year when the 13 projects for 2003 are expected to be completed.
The projects that were chosen at the fund's 2003 tender got the means under the old conditions, before Slovenia joined the EU.
Now the applicants must cover their expenses and only get refunds after the project's completion, while previously they received 80% of the funds at the signing of a grant contract, she added.
The Interreg programme for Slovenia and Italy has so far seen two tenders under the new conditions, Rener said. She stated that the fund chose 32 out of the 100 projects that were submitted, worth a total of SIT 1.5bn (EUR 6.2m).
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