GIUNTA PROVINCIALE DI TORINO

Transcript

1 GIUNTA PROVINCIALE DI TORINO Verbale n. 10 Adunanza 16 marzo 2010 OGGETTO: PROGRAMMA INTERREG IV C PROGETTO PROSESC. APPROVA- ZIONE DEL PROGETTO E RELATIVA PROGRAMMAZIONE PER INCA- RICO DI CONSULENZA. ADESIONE IN QUALITÀ DI PARTNER. (U.PR. EURO 4.000,00.=) Protocollo: /2010 Sotto la presidenza del dott. ANTONIO SAITTA si è riunita la Giunta Provinciale, regolarmente convocata, nella omonima Sala, con l'intervento degli Assessori: GIANFRANCO PORQUEDDU, UMBERTO D OTTAVIO, CARLO CHIAMA, ALBERTO AVETTA, MARCO BALAGNA, UGO PERONE, MARIAGIUSEPPINA PUGLISI, ROBERTO RONCO, ALESSANDRA SARTORIO, IDA VANA e con la partecipazione del Segretario Generale BENEDETTO BUSCAINO. E assente l Assessore PIERGIORGIO BERTONE. Il Presidente, riconosciuta legale l'adunanza, dichiara aperta la seduta. A relazione dell Assessore Vana. Visti: - il Regolamento Commissione Europea n. 1083/2006 dell 11 luglio 2006 (G.U.C.E. L. 210 del 31 luglio 2006) che riporta le disposizioni generali sui Fondi Strutturali comunitari ed il Regolamento attuativo dello stesso n. 1828/2006 dell 8 dicembre 2006 (G.U.C.E. L 371 del 27 dicembre 2006); - il Regolamento CE n del 5 luglio 2006 (G.U.C.E. L. 210 del 31 luglio 2006) relativo al Fondo Europeo di Sviluppo Regionale (FESR), in particolare il Capo III il quale stabilisce disposizioni specifiche relative all obiettivo cooperazione territoriale europea ; - la Decisione della Commissione europea C (2007) 4222 dell 11 settembre 2007 di approvazione del Programma operativo INTERREG IV C; - la Decisione del Monitoring Committee del 5 novembre 2009 che approva le proposte della second call dei Programmi INTERREG IV C;

2 - la Comunicazione del 4 febbraio 2010 con cui l Autorità di Gestione ed il Monitoring Committee confermano l approvazione finale del progetto PROSESC Producer services for European Sustainability and Competitiveness. Considerato che nel sopra citato progetto denominato PROSESC della durata di 36 mesi, dal 1 gennaio 2010 al 31 dicembre 2012, presentato dalla Regione di Stoccarda in qualità di partner capofila, è coinvolta la Provincia di Torino insieme ad altri soggetti, sia enti pubblici sia agenzie di sviluppo locale a livello europeo, tra cui l Università di Hertfordshire, il dipartimento governativo per i cambiamenti climatici della Slovenia, il Ministero della Innovazione e dell Industria e la Fondazione CEAGA della Galizia, il Pannon Novum Westtransdanubian Regional Innovation dell Ungheria, il Norfolk County Council, la West Regional Development Agency della Romania, appartenenti a sette Stati membri dell Unione europea. Considerato che il progetto ha l obiettivo di trasferire le best practices e le conoscenze tra i partners del progetto per delineare delle politiche di sviluppo in grado di accrescere la competitività dei territori, e di individuare strategie innovative nell ambito della mobilità sostenibile. Lo scambio di know-how e di esperienze del network internazionale ha la finalità di migliorare il trasporto su strada attraverso tecnologie innovative, di prodotto e di processo, in grado di ridurre l emissione di gas nocivi in atmosfera, nonché di incrementare la sicurezza del trasporto di merci e persone, nel rispetto dei vincoli ambientali. I risultati del programma triennale di PROSESC saranno utili per la redazione di una guida sulle politiche di sviluppo e sulle best practices a favore delle generazioni future, in linea con le raccomandazioni contenute nell Agenda di Lisbona e di Goteborg, ed accogliendo le indicazioni della politica comunitaria e della recente strategia formulata dalla Commissione europea per il Rilevato che, come si evince dal dossier progettuale, tra le azioni indicate nel timeplan è prevista la partecipazione della Provincia di Torino alle seguenti iniziative: incontri periodici tra i partners; workshop e study visits; diffusione e comunicazione delle varie attività attraverso il sito internet dedicato; partecipazione ad eventi scientifici e a manifestazioni di rilievo internazionale, tra cui convegni e conferenze sui temi oggetto del progetto; predisposizione di periodici report sull implementazione del progetto. Visto che il progetto PROSESC è stato approvato in via definitiva dal Monitoring Committee del Programma INTERREG IVC con lettera datata il 4 febbraio 2010, inviata alla Regione di Stoccarda in qualità di partner capofila. Preso atto che il costo totale del progetto ammonta ad euro ,12= così finanziato: Fondi FESR pari ad euro ,20=; Contropartite pubbliche nazionali dei partners pari ad euro ,92=. Rilevato che, per lo svolgimento delle attività sopradescritte, la Provincia di Torino dovrà garantire un impegno finanziario complessivo di euro ,00= così ripartito: euro ,00= finanziati dall Unione europea attraverso il Fondo FESR; euro ,00= finanziati con Fondi nazionali provenienti dal Ministero dell Economia e delle Finanze.

3 Dato atto che la partecipazione al progetto sarà formalizzata mediante la sottoscrizione di apposito accordo di partenariato con il capofila e gli altri partners del progetto, denominato Partnership Agreement, ed il cui testo, che contestualmente si approva, è allegato in bozza quale parte integrante e sostanziale della presente deliberazione. Il fac simile di accordo che si approva è quello predisposto per i programmi INTERREG IV C, pubblicato sul relativo sito internet. Considerato che la realizzazione del progetto PROSESC rispetterà il sistema di gestione e controllo dei programmi di cooperazione transnazionali ed interregionali di cui alla delibera CIPE n. 158 del 21 dicembre 2007, l accordo sul sistema nazionale di gestione e controllo tra Governo, Stato, Regioni e Province autonome rep. n. 187/esr del 29 ottobre 2009, la circolare della Ragioneria Generale dello Stato-IGRUE del mese di giugno 2008, ed ogni altra disposizione normativa che sarà adottata in materia. Preso atto che il sopra menzionato accordo sul sistema nazionale di gestione e controllo tra Governo, Stato, Regioni e Provincie autonome rep. n. 187/esr del 29 ottobre 2009 prevede, tra l altro, che i singoli beneficiari provvedano, nel rispetto della normativa comunitaria e nazionale, ad affidare le attività di verifica ex art. 16 del Reg. (CE) 1080/2006 a soggetti particolarmente qualificati in possesso dei necessari requisiti di professionalità, onorabilità ed indipendenza, iscritti da almeno tre anni all Albo dei dottori commercialisti ed esperti contabili, sezione A, o in alternativa, al Registro dei Revisori contabili. Ritenuto pertanto, per quanto sopra espresso, di ottemperare a quanto previsto sia dalla Procedura per l individuazione e la contrattualizzazione dei certificatori delle spese, approvata dal Sistema nazionale di controllo per i programmi INTERREG IV C, sia dalla circolare della Ragioneria Generale dello Stato IGRUE, che prevedono la designazione del controllore di primo livello da parte del Soggetto beneficiario. Preso atto che lo Stato italiano ha optato per un sistema decentralizzato dei sistemi di controllo di primo livello, come si evince dalla scheda agli atti divulgata dal Segretariato Tecnico Congiunto dei programmi INTERREG IV C. Occorre pertanto provvedere alla designazione di una figura particolarmente qualificata, con adeguate competenze sui programmi comunitari e conoscenza approfondita del controllo della spesa del programma INTERREG, così come previsto nei regolamenti dei fondi strutturali e come richiesto nel Manuale operativo e nel Manuale per la rendicontazione dei progetti INTERREG IV C. Il professionista individuato, iscritto da almeno tre anni all Albo dei dottori commercialisti ed esperti contabili, sezione A, o in alternativa, al Registro dei Revisori contabili, deve altresì comprovare l eccellente conoscenza della lingua inglese ed essere in possesso dei requisiti di professionalità, onorabilità, indipendenza secondo quanto meglio precisato all Allegato 1 del citato accordo tra Governo, Stato, Regioni e Province autonome rep. n. 187/esr del 29 ottobre Attesa la necessità di procedere alla realizzazione di quanto sin qui descritto, e considerato che, come risulta dalla dichiarazione del Dirigente del Servizio Programmazione attività produttive e Concertazione territoriale, d intesa con il Direttore dell Area Attività produttive, è necessaria una professionalità specifica, non rinvenibile nell ambito del personale interno alla Provincia, anche tenuto conto della impossibilità di derogare a quanto indicato nel progetto approvato dal Monitoring Committee del programma INTERREG, che prevede di avvalersi di un esperto controllore esterno per i controlli di primo livello, in considerazione del fatto che il professionista preposto al controllo di primo livello non deve intervenire in alcuna fase del procedimento di gestione della spesa dell Ente, ai fini di garantire il requisito dell indipendenza previsto dalla normativa, e pertanto si rende necessario conferire un

4 incarico ad un esperto, secondo le procedure di selezione comparativa previste dagli artt. 58, comma 2, e 59 del vigente Regolamento per l accesso agli impieghi. Considerato, peraltro, non conveniente acquisire, in via permanente, maggiori risorse umane, attesa la temporaneità e la necessità dell indipendenza della prestazione oggetto del presente incarico. Atteso che, per l affidamento dell incarico professionale sopra descritto, è stato previsto nel budget del progetto un compenso massimo al lordo di oneri previdenziali e IVA pari ad euro 4.000,00= che trova copertura al cap del Peg 2010 intervento bilancio Dato atto che il suddetto importo di euro 4.000,00= sarà reimputato sull apposito capitolo di Peg ed all intervento del bilancio 2010 ad avvenuto recepimento in Bilancio dei finanziamenti comunitari e nazionali di cui sopra. Rilevato, inoltre, in considerazione delle prestazioni oggetto di incarico, che quest ultimo dovrà essere svolto nel termine previsto dalla normativa comunitaria per l espletamento della completa rendicontazione del progetto. Richiamati: l art. 110, comma 6, Testo Unico sull Ordinamento degli Enti Locali, approvato con D.Lgs. 18 agosto 2000, ai sensi del quale, per obiettivi determinati e con convenzioni a termine, possono essere previste collaborazioni esterne ad alto contenuto di professionalità; l art. 7, commi 6, 6-bis, 6-ter, del D. Lgs. 30 marzo 2001 n. 165 che individua i presupposti di legittimità per l affidamento di incarichi esterni, demandando ai regolamenti dei singoli enti locali l adeguamento a tali principi; l art. 3, comma 55, Legge Finanziaria 2008, come modificato dall art. 46 del D.L. 25 giugno 2008, n. 112, in quanto previsto dalla Relazione previsionale e programmatica alle linee d intervento del programma 79 - funzioni strategiche finalizzate al sostegno dello sviluppo economico del territorio provinciale e nel Peg 2010, all obiettivo strategico 207, risultato atteso rafforzamento delle reti, in particolare quelle immateriali ; l art. 62, comma 2, del vigente Statuto, ai sensi del quale, per esigenze cui non si possa far fronte con personale in servizio, la Provincia può provvedere in via eccezionale, temporanea e non continuativa, mediante incarichi professionali, alla soluzione di specifiche problematiche relative a questioni determinate, e delimitate, stabilendo preventivamente la durata, luogo, oggetto e compenso della collaborazione. Richiamato, altresì, il Regolamento per l accesso agli impieghi come modificato dalla D.G.P. n /2008 del 4 marzo 2008 e dalla D.G.P. n /2008 del 20 maggio 2008, ed in particolare l art. 2 ai sensi del quale la Provincia può acquisire prestazioni di lavoro mediante contratti di lavoro autonomo e/o consulenza, finalizzati a soddisfare esigenze cui non sia possibile far fronte con il personale in servizio, in via eccezionale; nonché gli artt. 53 e ss. dello stesso Regolamento che definiscono criteri, modalità e procedure per il conferimento di incarichi individuali, con contratti di lavoro autonomo. Dato atto che, a norma del Regolamento da ultimo citato, la competenza per l affidamento dell incarico in oggetto spetta al Dirigente del Servizio Programmazione attività produttive e Concertazione territoriale, previa programmazione della Giunta provinciale. Ritenuto pertanto necessario, alla luce di quanto sopra esposto, avviare la procedura per l affidamento dell incarico come sopra dettagliato, e provvedere contestualmente alla programmazione dello stesso.

5 Dato atto, infine, che l affidamento oggetto della presente programmazione avviene nel rispetto di quanto stabilito dall art. 3, comma 55, Legge Finanziaria 2008, in quanto previsto nel piano dei fabbisogni. Dato atto che l implementazione dei servizi necessari alla realizzazione del menzionato progetto avverrà nel rispetto della normativa vigente e del Regolamento per la disciplina delle acquisizioni in economia di forniture e servizi, approvato dal Consiglio provinciale con propria deliberazione prot. n del 15 maggio Tenuto conto che la Relazione previsionale e programmatica per l anno 2010 prevede - alle linee di intervento del programma 79 - funzioni strategiche finalizzate al sostegno dello sviluppo economico del territorio provinciale e che nel Peg 2010, all obiettivo strategico 207, sono attribuite strategiche funzioni al fine di favorire il rafforzamento delle reti, in particolare quelle immateriali. Acquisiti i pareri favorevoli in ordine alla regolarità tecnica e contabile rispettivamente del Responsabile del Servizio interessato e del Responsabile di ragioneria, ai sensi dell art. 49 comma 1 del Testo Unico delle leggi sull Ordinamento degli Enti locali, approvato con D.lgs. del 18/08/2000 n Visto l art. 34 del Testo Unico delle leggi sull Ordinamento degli Enti locali approvato con D.lgs. 18/08/2000 n Visto l art. 134, comma 4, del citato Testo Unico e ritenuta l urgenza; con voti unanimi, espressi in forma palese, la Giunta Provinciale DELIBERA 1) di approvare in qualità di partner - nell ambito del programma INTERREG IV C l adesione al Progetto denominato PROSESC Producer services for European Sustainability and Competitiveness, di cui si allega la scheda progettuale (ALLEGATO A) per farne parte integrante e sostanziale; 2) di dare atto che il costo totale del progetto ammonta ad euro ,12= così finanziato: euro ,20= finanziati dall Unione europea attraverso il FESR; euro ,92= contropartite pubbliche nazionali dei partners del progetto; 3) di dare atto che per lo svolgimento delle attività sopradescritte, la Provincia di Torino dovrà garantire un impegno finanziario complessivo di euro ,00= finanziato come segue: euro ,00= attraverso il Fondo FESR, che saranno accertarti e contestualmente impegnati, ai sensi dell art. 183, 5 comma, del T.U. con successivo atto, ad avvenuto recepimento in bilancio del finanziamento stesso; euro ,00= finanziati con Fondi nazionali provenienti dal Ministero dell Economia e delle Finanze, che saranno accertarti e contestualmente impegnati, ai sensi dell art. 183, 5 comma del T.U. con successivo atto, ad avvenuto recepimento in bilancio del finanziamento stesso; 4) di approvare lo schema di Partnership Agreement tra il capofila ed i partners del progetto, che costituisce parte integrante della presente deliberazione (ALLEGATO B), secondo il fac simile predisposto per i programmi INTERREG IV C e pubblicato sul relativo sito internet;

6 5) di dare atto che il Partnership Agreement sarà firmato dal Presidente della Provincia di Torino in qualità di legale rappresentante di questo Ente, in applicazione dell art. 107 del Testo Unico delle leggi sull ordinamento degli Enti locali approvato con D.lgs. 18/08/2000 n. 267, e dell art 35 dello Statuto della Provincia, apportando eventuali modifiche su elementi non sostanziali laddove se ne ravvisi la necessità; 6) di dare attuazione al progetto mediante l adozione di tutti gli atti che si renderanno necessari al fine della gestione tecnico-operativa, amministrativa e contabile da parte del Dirigente del Servizio Programmazione Attività Produttive e Concertazione Territoriale; 7) di approvare il ricorso ad un incarico di collaborazione autonoma, da espletarsi nel termine previsto dalla normativa comunitaria per la completa rendicontazione del progetto, tramite affidamento ad un soggetto che rispetta i requisiti richiesti dalla normativa e dai documenti operativi citati in premessa, reperito mediante una procedura comparativa, ai sensi del Capo XI del vigente Regolamento per l accesso agli impieghi, ed in particolare degli artt. 58 e seguenti; 8) di definire che tale incarico sarà svolto per un compenso al lordo di oneri previdenziali, IVA ed eventuale rimborso spese, di euro 4.000,00=; 9) di prenotare la spesa di euro 4.000,00= al cap del Peg 2010 intervento bilancio 2010; 10) di dare atto che il suddetto importo di euro 4.000,00= sarà reimputato sull apposito capitolo di Peg ed all intervento del bilancio 2010 ad avvenuto recepimento in Bilancio dei finanziamenti di cui al precedente punto 3); 11) di prevedere che nelle lettere di invito e/o nell avviso pubblicato sul sito istituzionale dell ente sia indicato che la stipulazione del contratto nonché ogni altra obbligazione giuridica siano subordinati alla preventiva valutazione del Collegio dei Revisori dei Conti ai sensi dell art. 1, comma 42, della legge 311/2004; 12) di demandare a successivo provvedimento del Dirigente del Servizio Programmazione Attività Produttive e Concertazione Territoriale l affidamento dell incarico di cui ai punti precedenti; 13) di dare atto che l implementazione dei servizi necessari alla realizzazione del menzionato progetto avverrà nel rispetto della normativa vigente e del Regolamento per la disciplina delle acquisizioni in economia di forniture e servizi, approvato dal Consiglio provinciale con propria deliberazione prot. n del 15 maggio 2007; 14) di dichiarare il presente provvedimento immediatamente eseguibile con successiva votazione separata, espressa e favorevole di tutti gli intervenuti. Letto, confermato e sottoscritto. In originale firmato. Il Segretario Generale f.to B. Buscaino Il Presidente della Provincia f.to A. Saitta

7 Acronym Title of the project PROSESC Producer Services for European Sustainability and Competitiveness Type of intervention Type 1: 'Regional Initiative Project' X Type 2: 'Capitalisation Project' Colour code white field grey field Fields to be completed by Applicant Fields not to be completed or data automatically transferred / calculated from another field The Excel protection must not be removed. Damaged Application Forms will be declared ineligible. -1-

8 Table of Contents Cover Page General Instructions for filling in the application form Checklist for submission Section 1: Project Summary Section 2: Detailed Description of the Project 2.1 Rationale 2.2 Policy context 2.3 Management and coordination Section 3: Components 3.0 Component Preparation activities 3.1 Component Component Component Component Component 5 Section 4: Budget 4.1 Budget overview by budget lines and components (in EUR) 4.2 Payment forecast 4.3 Specification of budget line External expertise and services 4.4 Specification of budget line Equipment Section 5: Partnership -2-

9 General Instructions for filling in the application form This application form is part of the application pack for INTERREG IVC applicants. Before filling in this Form, please also read all programme related documents, especially: a) the INTERREG IVC Operational Programme and b) the programme manual. In particular, the programme manual will provide you with further guidance on the way to develop an INTERREG IVC project and to prepare the application form. The two above mentioned documents are available on the programme web site ( Paper version Application form The application form must be completed, printed out, dated, signed by a duly authorised representative of the Lead Partner, and stamped with the stamp of the Lead Partner s institution. It should be sent together with the annexes (cofinancing statements) by mail/courier to the INTERREG IVC Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) at the latest by the end date of the call. This will be checked through the date of postal stamp on the envelope. The JTS address can be found on the programme's web site: Co-finaning statements Co-financing Statements in original or fax version must be included in the mail sent to the JTS for all partners listed in Section 5 of the application form. The standard form of the co-financing statement available on the Programme website must be used, no amendments to the text are allowed. Any amendments to the text of the form will lead to the ineligibility of the application. The amount of national co-financing indicated in the co-financing statements must be identical to the amount indicated for each partner in section 5 of the application form. Electronic version An electronic version of the completed application form must be sent by to the JTS at the latest by the end date of the call at the following address: application@interreg4c.eu The electronic and paper version of the application form must be identical. Technical instructions Applicants are asked to complete only the white fields of this application form. For technical reasons, most of the white fields have been split up into 2 or 3 sub-fields. As soon as the first sub-field is filled in, please continue in the next sub-field. Grey fields are not to be completed. For the grey fields, certain information will automatically be transferred to these sections after details are entered in other fields of the application form. Formulae for automatic calculations have been included in the relevant fields. These fields cannot be changed or edited. All input fields (white fields) are locked in order to ensure that all applicants have the same amount of space for describing their project and answering the questions. The number of characters (with spaces) is limited to 1000 characters per field. Any text exceeding this space will not be visible in the printout and therefore cannot be taken into account when assessing the operations. All input fields must be filled in unless stated otherwise in the instructions field. As different Sections of the application form depend on the type of interventions, it is strongly recommended that the applicants start by selecting the type of intervention they are applying to. Certain questions in the application form must be answered by marking a tick-box. When clicking on the box, an arrow will appear. Please click on the arrow and select the option provided in the drop-down field, which will appear on the screen. If you want to use a bullet point list in any of the input fields, please press Alt+Enter. If you want to paste and copy information in the document, please select the content of the cell and not the cell itself. Application forms with error messages or with uncompleted sections will automatically be declared ineligible. -3-

10 Please make sure that you have fulfilled the requirements listed below before submitting the documents. X 1. X 2. Checklist for submission The electronic version of the completed application form is submitted via to application@interreg4c.eu by the end date of the call at the latest. The paper version of the completed application form and the relevant annexes (co-financing statements) is sent to the JTS in Lille by the end date of the call at the latest (proof of the sending date has to be provided). X 3. X 4. X 5. X 6. X 7. X 8. X 9. The electronic and paper versions of the application are identical. All documents are in the working language of the programme (English). The paper version includes the completed application form and the relevant annexes (co-financing statements) in one single package/envelope. The paper version is not bound in order to ease later photocopying for the JTS. Co-financing statements in original or fax version are submitted for all partners including the Lead partner. They are dated and singed by hand. The standard form presented in the programme manual has been used and besides the fields to be filled no amendments to the text have been made. The information in the fields to be filled (acronym, title, name of institution, partner no and co-financing amount) corresponds exactly to the information provided in the application form. All partners participating in the operation, i.e. including partners from third countries, are listed in section 5 of the application form with their institution s name in original and English languages. The application form is dated and signed by hand by a duly authorised representative of the Lead Partner. X 10. The application form is dated and if available stamped. X 11. X 12. The applicant has verified that all fields have been filled in and no error messages appear. X 13. The applicant has verified the compliance of the application with the eligibility criteria of the INTERREG IVC programme described in the programme manual. The Lead Applicant is involved either as partner or as lead partner in a maximum of five applications submitted in the same call. -4-

11 Section 1: Project Summary 1.1 Acronym: 1.2 Title of the project: 1.3 Type of intervention: PROSESC Producer Services for European Sustainability and Competitiveness Regional Initiative Project yes 1.4 Duration Please indicate when the operation will start and finalise its activities. Concerning the start date, the following elements should be taken into consideration. Projects should be ready to start their implementation as soon as possible after the decision of the IVC Monitoring Committee and in any case within a maximum of two months from the date of decisions. Decisions on projects are expected to be taken within eight months after the end date of each call. For the recommended duration of projects, please refer to the programme manual. Start: beginning of Closure: end of TOTAL N MONTHS: Sub-theme selected: Please select the sub-theme the project focuses on. Please note that only one sub-theme can be chosen. Priority: 1: Innovation and the knowledge economy Sub-theme: Innovation, research and technology development -5-

12 1.6 Brief summary of the project Please provide a brief summary of the project s background, objectives, partnership, main activities and expected outputs and results. It is strongly advised that this field is filled in after the entire Application Form has been completed. Should the project be approved, this summary will be published on the programme s website. Thus, it should be clear, self-explanatory and without references to other parts of the Application Form or to other documents. The project aims to establish a network of regional and local policy-makers and development authorities, which will improve the European public support strategies and policies regarding environmental sustainability and competitiveness of road transport by supporting knowledge-intensive producer services sector. The network shall stimulate improvement of regional strategies and policies through the exchange of know-how and good practices. It will lead to a better understanding of innovation dynamics in road transport sector and accommodate the transfer of academic and expert know-how on cluster support to regional policy-makers. Befittingly to the project aims all the partner regions possess characteristics of regional lead markets for innovation-inducing producer services for road transport. The project will establish working groups to analyse producer services in detail, to identify and exchange good practices and to seek policy improvements. The contribution of producer services to sustainable road transport, regional innovativeness and cross-sectoral synergies will be the leading thematic interests. The findings will be disseminated through visiting programs, seminars, reports and conferences. An important contribution will be made by the academic partner of the project, which will provide the state-of-the-art expertise on producer services, regional economies and cluster policies. In order to stimulate an additional transfer of know-how to policy-makers, PROSESC will also organize seminar workshops with leading academics and high-ranking experts of Europe. The seminar topics shall cover clusters and agglomerations, models on cross-sectoral regional development, European expertise on cluster facilitation, services innovation and sustainable mobility scenarios. Through the project activities, the effectiveness of regional strategies and practices supporting services innovation and manufacturing competitiveness will be improved. The project shall assist partner regions to upgrade their policies and their regional industries for the target of sustainable road transport. The geographical distribution and regional characteristics of project partners reflect the diversity of European landscape in terms of development and policy experience. A special emphasis will be laid on the dissemination and valorisation of project activities and outcomes. In all activities, the involvement and participation of other European regions, experts from the industry, regional stakeholders, R&D institutes and other relevant parties will be strongly encouraged. -6-

13 1.7 Partnership information Number of partners not financed under INTERREG Number of partners financed under INTERREG IVC IVC Austria: 0 EU-MS: 0 Belgium: 0 Switzerland: 0 Bulgaria 0 Others: 0 Cyprus: 0 Czech Republic: 0 Denmark: 0 Estonia: 0 Finland: 0 France: 0 Germany: 1 Greece: 0 Hungary: 1 Ireland: 0 Italy: 1 Latvia: 0 Lithuania: 0 Luxembourg: 0 Malta: 0 Netherlands: 0 Poland: 0 Portugal: Romania Slovak Republic: Slovenia: 1 Spain: 1 Sweden: 0 United Kingdom: 2 Total: 8 Norway: 0 Total number of partners: 8 Overview of project partners (details of the partnership have to be filled in in Section 5) Institution country Partner budget Stuttgart Region ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: LP Economic Development DE Corporation , ,50 TOTAL: P2 University of Hertfordshire UK ERDF Funding: ,00 EU Nat. Cofi ,00 Other: TOTAL: P3 P4 Government Office of Climate Change General Directorate for R+D+i. Ministry for Innovation and Industry. Government of Galicia SI ES ERDF Funding: ,80 ERDF Funding: ,00-7- EU Nat. Cofi ,20 EU Nat. Cofi ,00 Other: Other: TOTAL: ,00 TOTAL:

14 P5 P6 P7 Pannon Novum Westtransdanubian Regional Innovation Non-profit Ltd. Province of Turin Norfolk City Council HU IT UK ERDF Funding: ,35 ERDF Funding: ERDF Funding: ,00 EU Nat. Cofi ,77 EU Nat. Cofi EU Nat. Cofi ,00 Other: TOTAL: ,12 Other: TOTAL: Other: TOTAL: ,00 P8 Regional Development Agency - West Region RO ERDF Funding: ,55 EU Nat. Cofi ,45 Other: TOTAL: ,00 P9 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P10 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P11 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P12 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P13 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P14 P15 ERDF Funding: ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P16 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P17 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P18 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P19 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: -8-

15 P20 P21 P22 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P23 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P24 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P25 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P26 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P27 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P28 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P29 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P30 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P31 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P32 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P33 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P34 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: -9-

16 P35 P36 P37 ERDF Funding: ERDF Funding: ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi EU Nat. Cofi EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: Other: TOTAL: Other: TOTAL: P38 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P39 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: P40 ERDF Funding: EU Nat. Cofi Other: TOTAL: -10-

17 1.8 Project budget (in EUR) (based on the partner budget described in Section 5) Amount ERDF Funding ,20 National Public Co-financing ,92 Total budget eligible to ERDF ,12 Norwegian Funding Norwegian Co-financing Total Budget Norway INTERREG IVC BUDGET ,12 Other funding TOTAL BUDGET , Lead Partner confirmation By signing the Application Form the Lead Partner hereby confirms that the project neither in whole nor in part has or will receive any other complementary EU funding (except for the funding indicated in this Application form) during the whole duration of the project. the project is in line with the relevant EU and national legislation and policies of the countries involved. all partners in the partnership receiving funding from the INTERREG IVC programme (ERDF or Norwegian funding) fulfil the criterion of a public body or a body governed by public law as defined in the Programme Manual. all partners described in Section 5 of the Application Form are committed to taking part in the projects activities the information is accurate and true to the best knowledge of the Lead Partner Signature of the Lead Partner Official stamp of the Lead Partner s institution if available Name of the signatory Title of the signatory Lead Partner s institution Date of signature Dr. Walter Rogg Managing Director Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH (WRS) 25 January

18 Section 2: Detailed Description of the Project 2.1 Rationale Brief history of the project Please describe how the project idea and partnership was developed and how the partners were involved in developing the project proposal. The PROSESC project has its roots in the successful experiences of Network of Automotive Regions (co-financed by INTERREG IIIC Program) and BeLCAR (financed by Europe INNOVA Initiative) projects, which addressed the clustering in automotive industry from different angles. Stuttgart Region was a partner in both projects. During the preparation of the respective policy-recommendations for these projects, for which Stuttgart Region carried out the editing work, discussions with numerous other European networks of regions, sectoral NGOs and academics were carried out. The common sentiments after these projects were that the road transport sector was standing before probably the largest technological leap it has ever experienced and that services have a huge potential to contribute to the industrial innovativeness and competitiveness. Besides, the awareness and experience gap in and among European regions with regards to the support of producer services innovation and the need for new cluster support approaches that consider cross-sectoral synergies were also identified. Sharing these sentiments, representatives from Stuttgart Region, Province of Turin, Galicia, East of England and West-Transdanubia decided to establish a network that addresses these issues and opportunities for cooperation. The core idea of the project was discussed and developed in three dedicated meetings between project partners. During this process, relevant institutions from West Romanian region and Slovenia decided to join this network. -12-

19 2.1.2 Problem description / issue addressed Please describe what problem(s) and/or issue(s) the project will address. Explain the background of the problem(s) / issue(s) and their relevance to the partnership and the INTERREG IVC programme. Please justify the choice of the selected sub-theme. In order to maintain and increase its life quality and to ensure sustainability, Europe is compelled to reduce the impact of transport on environment dramatically. This is especially necessary in the case of road transport, which is an important producer of greenhouse gases. To curtail the negative effects of road transport a broad mix of technological, social and organisational innovations are required. For this reason, the producing part of the road transport sector is under immense pressure to develop and produce green vehicles under today s very difficult market conditions. For instance, lighter materials have to be introduced into vehicles, more efficient power-trains (e.g. hybrids, electrical propulsion, fuel-cell technologies, just to name a few) have to be developed, production and logistics processes need to be remapped and ICT-tools need to be better exploited for more efficient use of road infrastructure. Europe needs to maintain the growth of jobs and the well-being of its citizens. The European road transport sector directly employs 2.3 million persons at automotive enterprises and creates another 10 million jobs in related sectors. There is a potential for creating even more jobs in this sector, if Europe manages to stay affront of the technological innovations and their commercial exploitation. PROSESC project aims to address an area where these two issues, namely environmental sustainability and growth potential of road transport sector, interact. To achieve both targets, there is need for fast and diversified learning processes for all the stakeholders of the road transport sector. Knowledge-intensive producer services are crucial in this context, as they play several critical roles: I) allowing a quick access and absorption of state of the art know-how, II) bringing flexibility to regional production systems, III) enabling knowledge-spill-overs across firms and sectors. For road transport, examples of these services are vehicle design, product development and engineering services, product testing, provision of dedicated ICT products and services, consulting services for production management and dedicated just-in-time logistics. These services are organised in sub-clusters to larger automotive clusters, where they often serve for and thereby act as links to other sectors. An example is the network "Virtual Dimension Center (VDC)" in Fellbach in Stuttgart region, where virtual engineering technologies that are primarily developed in cooperation with the automotive sector are applied at the same time in a broad range of other sectors, like aerospace and medical technology. Such synergies are also seen in the case of design firms in Turin area. Due to their relatively intangible nature and complex dynamics, producer services presently lack the deserved recognition and conscious support at the regional policy-making level. The existing regional support efforts are sporadic and often appear as positive side-effects of initiatives for other ends. In these cases however, some very positive results are seen. Yet overall, the potential of knowledge-intensive producer services to create multiple effects in terms of increasing regional innovativeness and job creation is not fully utilized by European regions. To achieve this, European regions need to grasp the dynamics of producer services better and to modify their strategies. In this given sectoral context, it is highly relevant to create channels of knowledge transfer to regional policy-makers by stimulating their interaction with leading academic and sectoral experts on topics like cluster theory and practice as well as services innovation. Therewith PROSESC shall improve the analysis and identification of existing good practices and assist the development of next generation cluster support policies. -13-

20 2.1.3 Objectives of the project Please describe the overall objective and sub-objectives of the project. The overall objective is to help regional policy-makers to design and implement strategies to increase the innovation performance of European regions in road transport sector and to contribute to the overall sustainability and competitiveness targets of Lisbon and Gohenburg Agendas. This shall be achieved by improving regional public support schemes for innovation-inducing producer services across Europe, transferring the academic know-how to regional policy-makers and by stimulating the design of next-generation cluster support policies. This means, firstly developing a better understanding of the dynamics and effects of these services, implementing targeted schemes in to the existing and planned cluster support policies and advancing the synergies between services and manufacturing innovation. The improved regional development policies shall lead to improvements in terms of the environmental viability and sustainability of automotive manufacturing value-chains and end-products. To achieve this, the operational goals of the project are identifying and sharing good practices regarding producer services innovation, stimulating the exchange of experiences in cluster support, improving existing policies and laying out recommendations for next-generation cluster support measures. It will be specifically sought to identify measures to enable cross-sectoral externalities through public support for producer services sector. The sub-objectives of the project will address human-resources issues, especially in the context of generating cross-skilled employees. This shall include devising new approaches to graduate and post-graduate education and as importantly, the re-skilling of individuals. The findings and proposals will be assessed against the opportunities and limitations constituted by the national and European regulations and policy instruments. Besides accommodating the exchange of experiences between project partners, another central component of the project is to stimulate the transfer of academic know-how relating to regional economies and cluster support practices to European policy-makers. European academia has made huge contributions in this field, from which the policy-makers can positively benefit. PROSESC will seek inputs on clustering of sectors and regional cluster support policies, services innovation, regional transformation and cross-sectoral thinking and the latest concepts in the regional economics field. -14-

21 2.1.4 Expected outputs and results of the project a) Please describe the outputs and results the project intends to produce. For further information, please refer to the Programme Manual. ( Outputs are tangible deliverables and visible outcomes or products of the project. They directly result from the activities carried out in the project. Output indicators are typically measured in concrete units such as number of seminars, study visits, conferences, participants, publications, good practices identified, policies addressed. Results are direct and immediate effects resulting from the project and from the production of the outputs. Compared to outputs, results imply a qualitative value. They should be also measured in concrete units such as the number of staff with increased capacity, the number of good practices successfully transferred, the number of policies improved.) The outputs of Component 1 (CP1) include the following: setting up of teams for work packages, preparation of the start-up report and action plan, a kick-off meeting, 6 Steering Group meetings, 1 web-based extranet platform, the necessary communication and quality control templates, 3 annual progress meetings, 6 semi-annual progress reports, financial reporting and the final report. The outputs of Component 2 (CP2) include: a communication plan, 2 conferences, 10 newsletters, 1 website, 10 bilateral meetings with other European regions, 6 other outside events participated, 2 brochures, minimum 3 press releases. Component 3 (CP3) will improve policy-making strategies and practices through best practices identification, analysis and exchange. The planned outputs are: 6 study-visits, 3 thematic seminars, 8 interactive seminar workshops with academic and high-level experts, 2 thematic papers on the innovation effects of producer services and environmentally sustainable road-transport, 3 reports and guidelines (regional profiles and producer services, good practices guidelines and suggestions for new tools), 1 policy-recommendation paper, 7 regional policies will be addressed. While the 3 thematic seminars will focus on technical topics, e.g. new technologies for CO2 reduction, the seminar workshop will deal with nontechnical topics related to regional policy-making, e.g. clusters and cluster support. More details on seminar topics are available on the CP3 work plan. The accumulated results of the PROSESC project are: 10 articles in press and media 650 participants in events 20 individuals from other regions personally informed about PROSESC project and INTERREG IVC 100 visits per month to the project website Capitalisation of regional expertise across partners (for the benefit of 7 regions, 30 persons with increased capacity) 3 transferred good-practices 5 improved regional policies. -15-

22 b) Please explain the innovative character of the expected results. In particular, for projects deriving from past INTERREG experiences (follow-up projects), please clarify the added-value of these results compared to the achievements of the previous experience. The PROSESC project has its roots in the successful experiences of Network of Automotive Regions (co-financed by INTERREG IIIC Program) and BeLCAR (financed by Europe INNOVA Initiative) projects, which addressed the clustering in automotive industry from different angles. The common sentiments after these projects were that the road transport sector was standing before probably the largest technological leap it has ever experienced and that services have a huge potential to contribute to the industrial innovativeness and competitiveness. A need for new cluster support approaches that consider cross-sectoral synergies was also identified. Therefore, a clear need to identify and share the most efficient means of integrating policy measures for services innovation into cluster support in Europe was established. It is well described by Michael Porter in his cluster concept that local customers can stimulate competitiveness by providing demand for innovative products and services. Such customers create natural lead-market effects without any regulationary inputs. In the specific thematic interest of this project, dynamic European automotive clusters have natural local lead-market characteristics for knowledge-intensive producer services for road transport. The innovative character of the project results from the combination of these three issues. The project will seek to refine European public cluster support policies with regards to innovation synergies between services and manufacturing by sharing of experiences across European regions with lead market characteristics. Another innovative dimension of the project is its clear and dedicated plan to stimulate the transfer of academic and expert know-how on clusters and support-measures into regional policy-making realm. This will not only increase the knowledge capital of policy-making, but also initiate a closer and durable interaction between academics and policy-practitioners Intensity of cooperation Please describe the level of intensity of cooperation that you intend to achieve within your project (see chapter of the programme manual) The intensity of cooperation for the PROSESC project will be at least basic level, but it will go beyond traditional networking activities. The project partners will cooperate on the identification and dissemination of good practices in the policy area and interact through a series of study visits and thematic seminars. At the same time, the project will stimulate the transfer of know-how from academic and high-ranking experts on clusters and cluster support by organizing a series of seminar workshops. These activities will be complemented by jointly prepared reports and analysis relevant to the addressed sectoral and policy issues. The outcomes and deliverables of the project will be made available for broader public through a dedicated website. Moreover, the project will stimulate the transfer of three good practice transfers. The project partners will bring suggestions for the creation of next generation public-policy-tools (deliverable D3.3.1) and prepare a policy recommendations document (deliverable D.3.3.2). -16-

23 2.1.6 Approach and methodology Please describe the approach and the methodology (e.g. sequence, combination and interrelation between the activities; logic behind the different Components) proposed to achieve the project s objectives and to produce the intended outputs and results. CP1 will deal with project management tasks and ensure the productive cooperation among partners. The start-up and action report, which will be developed immediately after project s actual beginning, will define the methodologies and responsibilities in detail. The tracing of the activities and quality control will be based on the management of deliverables. The Steering Committee and annual progress meetings will be organised as a part of this component. CP2 will ensure the dissemination of project outputs and achievements to the largest possible audience, for which the project website will play a central role. The project partners will actively seek personal contacts to other European networks and regions through 6 outside events on relevant topics and 10 bilateral meetings. A mid-term and a final conference will be organised as multidimensional dissemination and communication platforms. It will be sought to organise these two conferences simultaneously with other thematically relevant events in order to maximise the exposure to public and dissemination. CP2 activities will be fed with inputs from CP3. For instance, the first reports and initial result of the analysis of good practices will be available in time for the mid-term conference. As mentioned above, the activities of CP3 are divided into 3 work packages, which will eventually be managed by 3 working groups. The lead partners of these groups are given below, yet, the final composition and membership of these groups will be defined during the kick-off meeting. The first, A3.1 will produce a report, 2 thematic papers and a good practices guide, which is among the core project outcomes. This working package, as well as CP3, will be led by the renowned academic institution, University of Hertfordshire (UoH). The presence of UoH will ensure the quality of the outputs and a sound analysis. The second, A3.2, which will be led by Government Office for Climate Change of Slovenia, will focus on the exchange of know-how by and among project partners through study-visits; as well as on the transfer of expert knowledge to project partners, both through events and workshops. The study visits will enable project partners to experience good practices in a hands-on fashion, and stimulate a lively exchange of experiences among policy makers. As far as the circumstances permit, the activities of CP1, e.g. Steering Group meetings, will be organised simultaneously with study-visits. Based on the outputs and experiences of A3.1 and A3.2, the third working package, A3.3, which will be led by the Province of Turin, will prepare suggestions for next-generation public policy-tools and a policy-recommendations document. These outputs will be disseminated through CP2 activities. -17-