Posted by meb at February 28th, 2007

A total of 2.3 billion euros worth of EU grant funds have been allocated to Turkey to support the country’s harmonization process until 2010 within the framework of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, Dr. Holger Schröder from the Delegation of the European Commission to Turkey revealed in Istanbul yesterday.

The funds will be distributed among five main fields; institution building, cross border cooperation, regional development, human resources development and rural development. The EU is hoping to facilitate Turkey’s preparation for EU membership by funding projects in these fields.

The EU has allocated approximately 1 billion euros of grant funds to Turkey since 2004. All projects and grant funds had a single objective “ preparation for EU membership,” Schröder told business daily Referans.

Pointing out to the importance of prioritizing less-developed regions with the allocation of funds, Schröder said, “This is important for two reasons: The first is to help Turkey, as a whole, to reach the economic standards of the EU. And [the second is] also to try to decrease gaps we have within Turkey.”

Assessing impacts:

The EU supports reforms and development in key sectors and EU funds are allocated on a project basis. Among the large range of immediate beneficiaries are ministries and other governmental organizations, municipalities, civil society, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), the unemployed and vulnerable groups, school children and farmers.

Schröder underlined the importance of assessing the impact of the funds. He said they were closely monitoring what has been achieved at the end of each project. “It doesn’t matter how much money is spent in the project but what results have been achieved with the project. For any 1 euro invested, in fact 3-4 euros of wealth should be created,” he added.

When achievement is unsatisfactory, Schröder, noted, then they reshape future projects accordingly. According to Schröder, a good example of a success story was the Active Labor Market Strategy Program by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR). The program has received 40 million euros from the EU as well as 10 million euros of domestic public funds. The project duration was October 2003 to June 2006 and, according to the preliminary results of the impact assessment, so far 34 percent of the final beneficiaries of the scheme who were previously unemployed have now found work or established their own businesses.

The EU and Turkey currently decide jointly which projects should be financed. However, Schröder cautions, the applications are selected on a highly competitive basis and projects need to be well prepared.

The fund allocation process is supervised by the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) and the Delegation of the European Commission, he added.

Source: İREM KÖKER / ISTANBUL - Referans