INTERREG VІ-А IPA Bulgaria-Turkey 2021-2027 - Priorities

Eligible activities and beneficiaries by priority:

P1: Environment friendly cross-border region

Specific objectives 1.1 Promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions Activities:

- Investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption throughout the industrial life cycle, including by replacing old equipment with new, more energy efficient ones;

- Investments for energy efficiency of building stock owned by enterprises, when production processes are carried out in them;

- Investments to implement digital solutions to collect and analyze data on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption at enterprise level to support data-driven decision-making;

- Investments for the implementation of energy systems for information and management in real time and applications for the final consumption of energy;

- Conducting energy efficiency audits, but only as an activity (an integral part) of projects applying technological solutions to reduce energy consumption in industrial processes and energy efficiency measures of the building stock owned by enterprises;

- Joint development of new and providing access to existing technological solutions for energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;

- Improving the exchange of know-how, good practices and information between relevant local enterprises on both sides of the border, in the field of energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;

- Joint training and provision of consulting services to enterprises in the field of energy efficiency;

Target groups:

- Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

Specific objective 1.2 Promoting the transition to a circular and resource-efficient economy

Activities:

- Development of longer-lasting and suitable for reuse, repair and recycling products, including the purchase of the relevant technological equipment. Recyclable models should be comprehensive, considering the recycling infrastructure. Regulatory authorities should match recycling quotas (eg an EU recycling rate of 75% of packaging waste by 2030) with regional capacity and plan the expansion of recycling streams in coordination with these quotas.

- Development of new business models based on renting and sharing goods and services (so-called product-as-a-service models);

- Development of circular business models to promote the creation of a tight regional chain of value creation through the use of enterprise-enterprise-consumer-consumer cooperation models;

- Development of circular business models, solutions and products on a biological basis;

- Supporting measures for knowledge sharing, design methodology, innovation labs/centres, clustering as approaches to promote circular products and circular production processes;

- Develop regional certification practices that reward regional products based on their various indicators of sustainability, environmental impact and potential for circular consumption.

Target groups:

• - Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including those organized as cooperatives and social enterprises

P2: Integrated development of the cross-border region

Specific objective 2.1 Promoting integrated and inclusive social, economic and environmental local development, culture, natural heritage, sustainable tourism and security in non-urban areas

Activities:

- Joint actions to promote entrepreneurship, digitization (including ICT-based management and production solutions such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Data Platform (CDP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) through technological modernization, participation in regional value creation chains and internationalization, implementation of new business and technological innovation models, modernization of production and information strategies, wider implementation of circularity principles and solutions, marketing and research It will be clearly communicated to potential applicants that under this priority MSMEs will not receive direct support for implementing circular economy models to distinguish this support from the other under priority 1. Legal entities other than MSMEs may apply or participate as partners in integrated projects relevant to the circular economy.

- Improving the qualifications and building new knowledge and skills of local employees and unemployed persons with work, study or training; development of new or improvement of existing remote work conditions; adopting new human resource management practices to address younger generations;

- Development of new integrated regional tourism products, where applicable, with zero environmental footprint, in order to overcome the seasonal nature of the sector, increase the number of visitors and overnight stays, improve access and quality of tourism infrastructure by strengthening links between natural and cultural sites, including by improving the bicycle network; upgrade marketing and branding practices;

- Promotion of joint actions for the development of ecosystem practices and services in the management of natural assets with tourism potential;

- Support for actions aimed at wide application of user-oriented approaches in the provision of services of general interest, as well as by including digital and ecological solutions for service in a cross-border environment;

- Taking joint action to reduce pollution and the carbon footprint and ensure clean air, water and food, as well as to adapt to climate change and to prevent and mitigate the consequences of natural and man-made disasters.

Целеви групи:

• Population in the cross-border area (population of Burgas, Haskovo and Yambol regions and Edirne and Kirklareli provinces)
• Local/regional bodies, regional structures of central public bodies;
• Citizenship;
• Non-governmental organizations;
• Research and development organizations, academic and training institutions;
• Social institutions;

P3: Safer cross-border region

Specific objective 3.1 Better migration management

The investment will take the form of a project of strategic importance related to strengthening the capacity of law enforcement institutions on both sides of the border to deal with illegal migration.

A strategic project related to strengthening the capacity of law enforcement institutions on both sides of the border to deal with illegal migration in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity will be targeted at the INTERREG priority "Safer cross-border region", Specific objective "A safer and more secure Europe".

With the increase in the number of refugees residing in Bulgaria and Turkey, as a result of the ongoing migratory pressure, the need to strengthen cross-border institutional coordination for operational cooperation in the field of established illegal internal migration has become apparent. The regional directorates of the Ministry of Interior in Haskovo, Burgas and Yambol, Bulgaria, and the law enforcement departments of the provinces of Edirne and Kirklareli, Turkey, have so far been isolated from the EU's enormous institutional and financial support in the field of illegal migration, which is mainly provided to the border authorities. The institutions listed above deal with illegal migrants apprehended on the territory of the respective country (inland detection) due to the lack of a comprehensive strategy for cooperation in the field of illegal migration and the capacity to coordinate and implement such a strategy.

The activities envisaged within this project are aimed at increasing the capabilities of law enforcement officials from both countries and at the same time increasing the cross-border impact, all of which will contribute to the achievement of the specific objective. The planned trainings will increase knowledge of the regulatory framework at international and European level and increase language skills, which will play an important role in reducing barriers due to language. The provision of specialized equipment will provide law enforcement officers with the necessary equipment to more effectively combat illegal migration. The project will help build a system in case of future crises and change the way of response from emergency-based reactions to permanent solutions, and all this can be done if the process involves key institutional actors covering the two main areas in which it is established illegal migration - at the border and inside the country.

Partners in the project will be Haskovo Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Burgas Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Yambol Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Bulgarian side, and on the Turkish side - the governor of Edirne and the governor of Kirklareli.

Activities:

- Conducting trainings, exchange of experience and good practices, study visits in order to improve institutional cooperation and capacity;

- Measures to increase security in the urban and suburban areas of the cross-border region;

- Delivery of specialized equipment/devices to improve the technical capabilities and increase the physical capacity of law enforcement officers/services in the cross-border region.

Target groups:

- Population in the cross-border region (population of Burgas, Haskovo and Yambol regions and Edirne and Kirklareli provinces);

- Visitors in the cross-border region;

- Migrants and asylum seekers;

- Public bodies and service providers;

- Enterprises;

- Potential investors and local economic operators;

- Law enforcement authorities in the border area;

Beneficiaries

- Regional Directorates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Haskovo, Burgas and Yambol;

- Law enforcement department in the provinces of Edirne and Kirklareli;

- Other law enforcement agencies.