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Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments (chapter 21) - Lithuania

Project title: ‘EU policy regarding structural funds and requirements for budget inputs for structural funds’

Country: Lithuania

Recipient authority: Ministry of Finance in Vilnius

Project description:

The overall goal of the project was to support the Lithuanian preparations for EU membership. The immediate objectives were

• To ensure correct and reliable implementation of EU regulations with financial impact

• To ensure correct and reliable implementation of EU directives with an impact on financial accounting

• To strengthen the Lithuanian civil servants ability to ensure correct and reliable implementation of the Structural Funds in Lithuania.

In December 1999 the project covered training of civil servants in issues such as

• the basics of regional policy, including an analysis of geographical weaknesses and division of national territories in the regions leading to a regional policy and development of a strategy coping with  regional problems

• different models for setting up an administration that ensures responsibility and competence sharing, as well as decentralising decisions, such as the EU wishes in order to have partnership agreements

• principles of complementarity, co-financing, additionality during programming

• estimated calculation on how much Lithuania would receive from the EU and how much national co-financing would have to be found.

• and finally a case study based on utilising the topic mentioned-above.