Summary of the 6th monitoring committee meeting

The 6th Monitoring Committee of the programme was held on 27 June 2017 in Košice.

The main theme of the meeting was the negotiation and approval of the list of submitted applications (SKHU/1601) for Priority Axis 1 - Nature and Culture and Priority Axis 2 - Improving Cross-border Mobility. Summarizing the results of the professional assessment carried out by independent experts from Hungary and Slovakia, the Joint Secretariat has prepared the ranking list of the submitted applications. The members of the committee did not reach agreement on the proposed list of suggested projects for funding, as several questions have arisen regarding the rules for the selection and approval of project proposals. Negotiations on this point of agenda were suspended by the members of the MC in the forthcoming July 2017 meeting. The committee members repeatedly indicated that the evaluation process needs to be amended.

The next point of the agenda for the meeting was the presentation of an expert appointed by the European Commission responsible for the programme, Mr Szokolai Zsolt, who presented the Open Data Platform of the European Structural and Investment Funds, which collects the results of the used resources and presents them through infographics.

As noted in the summary of the 5th Monitoring Committee meeting, the Annual Progress Report of the Programme has now been approved unanimously by the members of Monitoring Committee.

The draft of the Call for Proposals and related documents developed under Priority Axis 3 (Promoting Sustainable and Quality Employment and Supporting Labour Mobility) were discussed by the members of the MC. Proposals made at the previous meeting were incorporated by the Joint Secretariat into the documents. The members of the Monitoring committee complemented the evaluation process with further concrete proposals and were trying to align the conditions for project proposals with the regional needs and opportunities. The active work and contributions of the Monitoring committee members has opened up further opportunities for the preparation of the call for proposals. After discussing and incorporating the contributions and proposals of the members, the documents of the Call for Proposals will be re-negotiated again. The documents will be finalized at the next meeting.

The Monitoring Committee approved the revised strategies for the umbrella projects of the Small Project Fund submitted in the first round of the Call for proposals or within the second round of the call together with the evaluation table.

The members were informed about the programme's obligations under the N + 3 rule. This information will be updated following the closure of the 1st Call for Proposals (after the knowledge of the approved list of project proposals for funding and their funding requirements within all priority axes).