MEUSAC today organised an information session on the European Structural and Investment Funds for 2014-2020.
The session consisted of a series of presentations on:
· the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
· the European Social Fund (ESF),
· the Cohesion Fund (CF),
· the European Agricultural Funds for Rural Development (EAFRD), and
· the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
The session was moderated by Abigail Psaila Mamo, CEO of the GRTU – the Malta Chamber of SMEs. It was also addressed by the Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Council Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, Dr Ian Borg, and by MEUSAC Head Dr Vanni Xuereb.
In his address, Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg stated that on the 1st of April this year, Malta submitted its first official draft of the Partnership Agreement to the European Commission where three main funding priorities were identified: economic development, environmental sustainability and social well-being.
During the past few months, thorough negotiations and bi-lateral discussions were undertaken with the European Commission regarding the Partnership Agreement submitted and, Dr Borg announced that a final draft of the Partnership Agreement was re-submitted yesterday to the European Commission and is expected to be approved and adopted in the coming weeks.
The Parliamentary Secretary also stated that by the end of this calendar year the Government will be in a position to issue the first schemes that will provide many dividends to various sectors of our society.
The Head of MEUSAC highlighted the EU funding assistance that is being provided by MEUSAC to assist local councils and NGOs to tap into EU funds.
Dr Xuereb stated that over €28 million in EU funds have been invested in 238 projects for the benefit of our communities also thanks to MEUSAC’s assistance.
The presentations were delivered by Jonathan Vassallo (Director General of the Planning and Priorities Co-Ordination Division – PPCD), Malcolm Vassallo (Project Manager- Funds and Programmes Division – FPD) and Christopher Magri (Director Funds – FPD).
This session was the fourth in a series of information sessions on EU funding opportunities titled: EXPLORE. The next EXPLORE session, which will focus on the Environment, will take place on Tuesday, October, the 7th from 5pm.
This project is financed by the European Union under the Management Partnership between the European Commission and MEUSAC.