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EUROPEAN UNIONCommittee of the RegionsJASPERS - Joint Assistance toSupport Projects in EuropeanRegionsFactsheetAn online course (MOOC) for regional and local authoritiesJASPERS at a glanceJASPERS (Joint Assistance to Support Projects inEuropean Regions) is a technical assistance initiativeaimed at improving the quality of investmentssupported by EU funds (the European RegionalDevelopment Fund, the Cohesion Fund, and theInstrument for Pre-accession Assistance - IPA). It isa partnership between the European Commission,the European Investment Bank and the EuropeanBank for Reconstruction and Development.JASPERS provides independent expert adviceand capacity building support to publicauthorities and final beneficiaries on how toplan, develop and implement high qualitylarge investment projects to be co-financed byEuropean Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF),as well as programmes and sector strategies thatdeliver EU policy objectives.and capacity-building support to publicauthorities and final beneficiaries of projects tobe funded by the ESIF. This mandate covers theEU Member States that have received JASPERSsupport in the programming period 2007-2013(Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia),and it is now extended to eligible regions in allEU Member States, with priority given to lessdeveloped and transition regions.JASPERS has already extended its advisory andcapacity building support to eligible regionsin France, Italy and UK, and is in discussions toexpand activities to Ireland, Spain and Portugal.MandatesJASPERS assists beneficiary countries under threeseparate mandates:1. Under its largest and oldest mandate fromDG Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO),JASPERS provides independent expert adviceclick to zoompage 1 of 5
EUROPEAN UNIONJASPERSJoint Assistance to Support Projects in European RegionsIn addition to this, JASPERS has developedprocedures to provide an Independent QualityReview service, according to the requirementsof the Common Provisions Regulation Nr.1303/2013 of 17 December 2013 (CPR), andrelevant Commissions’ implementing acts. TheCPR provides Member States with a new optionfor the approval of major projects, involvingappraisal (Independent Quality Review - IQR)by independent experts. The Commission hasindicated that JASPERS is an appropriate bodyto undertake the IQR. This service is available forall Member States intending to use EuropeanStructural and Investment Funds to supportmajor projects.Since 2015, at the request of the EuropeanCommission, JASPERS also carries out anappraisal of all major projects submitted directlyby the Member States to the Commission whichdo not follow the IQR procedure. Thereby,JASPERS screens all major projects submitteddirectly to the Commission.2. The JASPERS IPA mandate supports‘enlargement countries’ in developinginvestments to be funded by the IPA funds,and JASPERS’ assistance is available to all IPABeneficiaries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Improvement of Gdańsk SeaPort rail connection, PolandThis project concerns the modernisation of therailway section between Pruszcz Gdański and theGdańsk Northern Port, with a total length of 12 km.Apart from track modernisation, the main part ofthe project is the construction of a new bridge overthe Martwa Wisła River that will allow an almostthreefold increase in capacity.Committee of the Regionsthe Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,Kosovo , Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.3. Alongside the DG REGIO and IPA mandates,a new mandate was agreed with DG Mobilityand Transport (DG MOVE) in 2015 on JASPERSassistance for transport projects to befinanced by the Connecting Europe Facility.Priority areas in 2014-2020In the 2014-2020 programming period, JASPERSoffers three types of services: Project preparation support and strategicadvice: JASPERS’ experts provide projectpreparation support, from the identification ofprojects to the submission of the request for EUFinance. Advisory services are now available toeligible regions in all EU Member States and inpre-accession countries. Training, thematic support and knowledgesharing: JASPERS provides capacity buildingsupport and advice on horizontal issues, suchas cost-benefit analysis (CBA), climate change,state aid or environmental issues, relevant tomore than one project or more than one country.This is delivered by the JASPERS Networkingand financial analysis, the project structure andscope, engineering and environmental aspects ofthe project, and the application for grant funding.This assignment was completed in July 2015.This section provides rail access to the eastern banksof the Gdańsk Sea Port and improved links to majorfreight railway lines in Poland. JASPERS reviewed thefeasibility study, the traffic forecasts, the economicAn online course (MOOC) for regional and local authoritiespage 2 of 5
EUROPEAN UNIONJASPERSJoint Assistance to Support Projects in European RegionsPlatform and Competence Centre by meansof training, seminars, webinars, videos, anelectronic library, facilitated discussion fora,Communities of Practice, and any other actionsand events that promote knowledge sharingand capacity building. Independent Quality Review: JASPERS canprovide the independent quality review ofmajor projects made available as an optionfor Member States envisaged by the CommonProvisions Regulation for ESI funds (RegulationNo 1303/2013 of the European Parliament andof the Council of 17 December 2013). The IQRfunction is available to all Member States whichintend to use EU Structural and InvestmentFunds to support major projects.Committee of the RegionsGovernance and organisationJASPERS is managed by the EIB and supervised by aSteering Committee comprising representativesfrom its partner institutions. The SteeringCommittee is responsible for setting the strategicdirection, deciding on major policy issues relatingto JASPERS and approving its work programme ata general level.JASPERS is organised into divisions on the basisof sectors and functions, with experts from eachdivision located across the regional officesaccording to their main countries of focus.JASPERS’ headquarters are in Luxembourg, withoffices in Brussels, Bucharest, Vienna, Warsaw andSofia, close to clients and counterparts.Vilnius City Western Bypass(Lithuania)click to zoomJASPERS potentially works with all stakeholdersinvolved in planning, preparing and deliveringinvestment projects using EU grant funds.The Vilnius City Western Bypass Stage III project,located along the North-South TEN-T corridorin the west of Vilnius (Lithuania), contributesto strengthening the local economy and itscompetitiveness and supports the developmentof the city. JASPERS reviewed and assisted withthe preparation of the grant application andits annexes in order to ensure its completeness,consistency and quality. This assignment wascompleted in December 2015.An online course (MOOC) for regional and local authoritiesThe primary recipients of JASPERS’ advice arefinal beneficiaries acting as project promoters,but advice can also be requested by managingauthorities and intermediate bodies. JASPERSassistance is made available free of charge.Examples of JASPERS supportJASPERS provides a range of advisory servicesthat include, but is not limited to:page 3 of 5
EUROPEAN UNIONJASPERSJoint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions Advice on preparing sector strategies andupstream project screening to assess theirviability and suitability for EU co-financing Support for the preparation of groupedinvestment schemes to meet particular policyobjectives, such as the energy efficiency ofbuildingsCommittee of the RegionsSolid Waste BIKARAC IIproject (Croatia) Review of project feasibility studies and otherproject-related documentation (e.g. CBA, EIA,etc), and recommendations for improvement Sector-specific knowledge of best practices inengineering, economics, the environment andrelated EU policies and directives Review of the project application andannexes before submission to the EuropeanCommissionApart from its traditional advisory function,JASPERS provides a range of capacity buildingservices, both during project preparationassignments and through its dedicatedNetworking and Competence Centre.For more information JASPERS main website JASPERS Annual Report 2015 JASPERS Networking and Competence CentreThis web-portal provides comprehensiveinformation on capacity building activities pastand planned, and access to JASPERS guidancedocuments, publications and learning materials,including e-presentations and proceedings Data and statistics about JASPERS activities European Commission’s Directorate-General forRegional and Urban PolicyFor background on EU Regional Policy supportedby JASPERSAn online course (MOOC) for regional and local authoritiesThe Bikarac II project will improve wastemanagement for the 110 000 people livingin Sibenik-Knin County in Croatia, located incentral part of northern Dalmatia. This willsignificantly improve the quality of life of localcommunities affected by the continued operationof uncontrolled waste disposal sites and will alsobring the county in line with the requirements ofthe European Union.JASPERS helped Croatia’s EnvironmentalProtection and Energy Efficiency Fund inpreparing the project and the application forfunding by providing timely methodologicalguidance, participating in technical discussionsand reviewing the intermediate and final versionsof the project documents. This assignment wascompleted in September 2015.page 4 of 5
EUROPEAN UNIONJASPERSJoint Assistance to Support Projects in European RegionsCommittee of the RegionsWorkshop on theimplementation of the WaterFramework Directive inprojectsThis international workshop was organisedby the JASPERS Networking and CompetenceCentre and involved over 100 officials from 20 EUMember States, representatives of the EuropeanCommission and JASPERS partners.The aim of the workshop, held in June 2015,was to present concrete experiences, highlightgood practices and discuss challenges for theattainment of environmental objectives under theWater Framework Directive when preparing newprojects for the 2014-2020 financial perspective.The workshop was organised in close cooperationwith DG Environment and DG Regional Policyand presented concrete case studies and goodpractices from selected Member States related tohydropower, river navigation, floods managementand river restoration projects.DisclaimerThe content of this document and any opinions expressed therein do notnecessarily represent the official position of the European Committee of theRegions (CoR). It is addressed to the participants of the online course (MOOC) ofthe CoR on “EU budget and funding for EU regions and cities“. Reproduction andtranslation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source isacknowledged and the CoR is given prior notice and sent a copy.An online course (MOOC) for regional and local authoritiesManuscript completed in October 2016European Committee of the Regions Directorate for CommunicationRue Belliard/Belliardstraat 99–101 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel Belgiumwww.cor.europa.eu European Union, 2016page 5 of 5
JASPERS screens all major projects submitted directly to the Commission. 2. The JASPERS IPA mandate supports 'enlargement countries' in developing investments to be funded by the IPA funds, and JASPERS' assistance is available to all IPA Beneficiaries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
