Contribution of the convergence objective Operational Programme for the Development of the Living Environment in Estonia to the EUSBSR

The Programme is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (€879 million) and the Cohesion Fund (€525 million) under the convergence objective. This forms approximately 41.3% of the total EU money invested in Estonia under cohesion policy 2007-13.

The programme aims at improving the quality of life in Estonia in environmental and social terms. Therefore, the OP lays the basis for long-term sustained growth of Estonia. Major investments will be directed into fulfilling EU directives on water, waste water and solid waste management. Furthermore, environmental protection will be improved by dedicating resources to environmental education and constant monitoring. Estonia will be better equipped to fight environmental emergencies, such as forest fires and accidents at sea – particularly with oil tankers. The OP supports energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.

The OP will also improve infrastructure for services in a large number of local communities, thus resolving important social issues hindering economic development. In addition, there will be major improvements in vocational training infrastructure, boarding school infrastructure, schools for students with special educational needs, etc. Support will be given to the modernisation and optimisation of hospital networks in order to provide better and more accessible services. Better living, learning and working conditions will also be provided for children and for adults with special psychiatric needs living in welfare institutions.

The most important measures contributing to the Strategy include:

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) programmes in Finland: Implementation process

Situation on 31 December 2010:

• 
  318 ERDF and 93 ESF-projects identified supporting the EUSBSR (5.5% of all projects)
  
• 
  Public funding committed to projects supporting the EUSBSR: ERDF Operational Programmes (OP): €144.3 million and ESF: €59.4 million = 11.0% of all commitments
  
• 
  Most important Priority Areas in ERDF Operational Programmes: B7, A1 and A5, in ESF B8.
  

The Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy has developed the monitoring system of the Structural Funds (EURA2007) to also be used in monitoring the EUSBSR implementation. Furthermore, the EUSBSR issues have been put on the agendas of all monitoring committee meetings of Finnish Operational Programmes (OPs), and relevant training, information and communication measures have taken place. The Finnish Government has also been active on Baltic Sea issues, giving a communication to the parliament on the issue (mainly on international cooperation issues) and organising the "Baltic Sea Action Summit" on 10.02.2010.

Overall in the monitoring system (by the end of 2010), there were 411 projects supporting the Strategy. This represents 5.5% of all the projects and 11% of all the funding committed to the programmes. €204 million of public funding has been committed to the (411) projects supporting the Strategy.

The South Finland OP and its priority axis 5 (28% of the financing of the Programme) can be cited as the "best practice" among the Finnish OPs. Priority 5 (which does not exist in other OPs) includes special themes that can be implemented within the entire programme area. 80% of the financing for the priority axis will be channelled into themes supporting the development of knowledge clusters and 20% for actions that support other ongoing programmes, particularly international actions. The Baltic Sea Strategy has been adopted as one of the criterion affecting the project selection for priority axis 5. This priority would also be best suited regarding international cooperation under Art. 37.6.b.

Main problems encountered

Getting a complete picture of what is happening in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is difficult.

The lack of coherent funding sources is seen as (one of) the biggest hindrance to the implementation of the EUSBSR from the Finnish perspective.

As the EUSBSR was adopted in the middle of the current programming period 2007-13, its role and contribution through the OPs couldn't be foreseen.

The second big challenge regarding the alignment of funding is that the programmes weren't initially meant to be a funding source for the international cooperation activities.

It's the Finnish opinion that the cooperation programmes (e.g. Central Baltic and South Baltic programmes) are better suited to support the Strategy than the Structural Funds OPs. However, as the resources under the cooperation programmes are almost exhausted, the mainstream SF OPs can also positively contribute to the implementation of the EUSBSR.

The first year of the implementation has been characterised by creating networks and arranging kick-offs for the Flagship Projects. From the Finnish perspective, the Strategy has advanced quite well, even in this first year. It can be clearly seen that the Strategy has succeeded best in launching activities in the sectors where there was already a strong commitment and clear/active networks and actors.

Seeing the SF as an important funding source for the Strategy is more natural in the countries where the SF have a very significant role in public financing overall. As the SF in Finland are limited, the other financing sources play a bigger role.

Estimated contribution of the EU competitiveness and employment objective OPs in Finland to the implementation of the EUSBSR based on the decided projects (for more detailed information, see fiche by OP in Finland)

	Number of projects supporting the EUSBSR	% of all the projects funded in the OP	Public funding committed (million €)	The priority most supported (%)
South Finland OP	94	10%	40.4	A5 (17%) and B7 (17%)
West Finland OP	47	4%	10	A2 (25.5%) and A5 (19.1%)
East Finland OP	105	6%	44.3	B7 (46.7%) and C12 (19%)
North Finland OP	72	4%	49.5	A1 (40.3%) and C12 (13.9%)
Åland OP	18	100%	1.0	C10 (45.3%) and B7 (37.1%)

3.1.3.2. Contribution of the competitiveness and employment objective Operational Programme "Northern Finland" to the EUSBSR

Programme Description

During programming period 2007-13, the total budget of the OP is around €1.1 billion, the Community assistance through the ERDF amounting to €311.3 million, which accounts for approximately 18% of the total Structural Funds (SF) money invested in Finland.

The region of Northern Finland, due to its permanent handicap caused by a sparse population and remoteness, benefits from a special allocation for sparsely populated areas of €35 per inhabitant per year from the ERDF, totalling €173 million during the programming period. The special allocation amount is included in the total amount of ERDF investment in the Programme.

The Programme aims to create 11 000 new jobs and 1 500 new enterprises. The aim is to use 25% of the financial framework for research and development (R&D) projects creating 1 000 new R&D jobs. 76.2% of the investment available has been earmarked for Lisbon-related expenditure, which is above the Community objective of 75% for regional competitiveness and employment regions.

The programme will be implemented through three main priorities and a technical assistance priority.

Priority 1: Promotion of business activity aims at developing productivity, creating more jobs and safeguarding existing jobs through supporting entrepreneurship and growth of enterprises and through improving access to business services and finance.

Priority 2: Promotion of innovation activity and networking, and reinforcing knowledge structures aims to activate expert networks with strong links to the national and international development projects of enterprises, universities, research institutes as well as regional businesses, and to support the creation and development of centres of excellence for key sectors.

Priority 3: Improving regional accessibility and operational environments aims to improve the accessibility and attractiveness of the region for businesses, employees and tourists by improving logistics and transport connections, services, the environment and tourist attractions.

Priority 4: Technical assistance will provide support for programme management and implementation, including technical support, communications and publicity, research and evaluation actions.

Contribution to the EUSBSR

In Northern Finland, the public funding contributes to the following Priority Areas of the EUSBSR: A1 (to reduce nutrient inputs to the sea to acceptable levels), A2 (to preserve natural zones and biodiversity), A4 (to become a model region for clean shipping), A5 (to mitigate and adapt to climate change), B7 (to exploit the full potential of the Region in research and innovation), B8 (implementing the Small Business Act: to promote entrepreneurship, strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and increase the efficient use of human resources), C10 (to improve access to, and the efficiency and security of the energy markets), C11 (to improve internal and external transport links), and C12 (to maintain and reinforce the attractiveness of the Baltic Sea Region in particular through education, tourism and health). The greatest amount of funding contributes to the A1, A4, C11 and A5 Priority Areas.

Examples of projects that support the EUSBSR in the Northern Finland OP:

Multiple use of Lake Kemijärvi and development of summer tourism, Reinforcing the natural salmon and sea trout populations in the River Iijoki (return of migratory fish species in the River Iijoki), Climate strategy for Lapland, Using bio-based reducing material in steel manufacturing processes, Innohaava (project on telemedicine for wounds), and WELMED (development of a research laboratory model for improvement of public health).

Main Priority Area ERDF million €

The total budget of the Programme is around €398.4 million, the Community assistance through the ERDF amounting to €159.4 million, which accounts for approximately 9% of the total amount invested in Finland during programming period 2007-13.

The programme aims to create 9 800 new jobs and 2 000 new enterprises. The aim is to use 12.5% of the financial envelope for research and development (R&D) projects creating 150 new R&D jobs. From the investment available, 80.4% has been earmarked for Lisbon-related expenditure, which is above the Community objective of 75% for regional competitiveness and employment regions.

The programme will be implemented through four main priorities plus a Technical Assistance priority.

Priority 1 Promotion of business activity aims at developing productivity, creating more jobs and safeguarding existing jobs through supporting entrepreneurship and growth of enterprises and through improving access to business services and finance.

Priority 2 Promotion of innovation activity and networking, and reinforcing knowledge structures aims to activate expert networks with strong links to the national and international development projects of enterprises, universities, research institutes as well as regional businesses, and to support the creation and development of centres of excellence for key sectors.

Priority 3 Improving regional accessibility and operational environments will concentrate on three central areas: a) Improvement of regional accessibility and level of well being; b) Support for tourism and related business operating environments; and c) Environmental risk management and supporting nature diversity.

Priority 4 Development of larger urban areas will focus on developing knowledge-intensive sectors and the service sector, nurturing creativity, promoting the community spirit and improving the competitiveness of the large urban areas of Western Finland.

Priority 5 Technical assistance will provide support for programme management and implementation, including technical support, communications and publicity, research and evaluation actions.