"Guidelines for the preparation of Operational Systematic Cooperation Plans (POCS) by the Programming Authorities and the Environmental Authorities" Working Group

The Group has been set up in the course of the plenary meeting of the Network held on February 20, 2001, with a view to providing the Environmental Authorities with a policy-making document that might prove useful to the draft of the Operational Systematic Cooperation Plan (POCS) as laid down in the CIPE (Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning) Resolution of August 4, 2000.

The setting up of the Group was warranted by the need to fulfill the decisions taken by the Community Support Framework (CSF) Supervisory Committee on November 7, 2000, which entrusted the Network Coordination Unit with the formulation of proposals for the fulfillment of the obligations laid upon the national and regional Environmental Authorities by the CIPE Resolution of August 4, 2000: "the formulation of the operational systematic cooperation plan in a cooperative effort with the authorities managing the assistance and measures" (in all the phases of preparation, implementation, supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of the actions) which is to specify "the arrangements, the timing and the parties involved in the activities of the Environmental Authorities, as well as the description of the measures that are likely to enhance the efficiency and promptness of the implementation of the Operational Plans through an ex-ante evaluation by the competent authorities of the environmental sustainability aspects".

The document drawn up by the Working Group, "Guidelines for the preparation of Operational Systematic Cooperation Plans (POCS) by the Environmental Authorities and the Managing Authorities", provides a few guidelines with respect to the cooperation arrangements between the Environmental Authorities and the Managing Authorities, particularly at the level of the regional administrations. Furthermore, it concisely deals with the cooperation between the central administrations in charge of the NOPs and the national Environmental Authority.

The document allows deducing that the pursuit of a comprehensive and effective systematic cooperation between the Environmental Authorities and the Managing Authorities is based on the solution of a few critical aspects. The solutions suggested by the Group include: the advisability of setting up a juridical base governing the main procedural and implementation-related segments that give rise to the need for cooperation and the creation of a financial endowment to ensure that the Environmental Authorities may rely on the professional support required to strengthen its level of effectiveness.

RESULTING DOCUMENT:

• Guidelines for the preparation of Operational Systematic Cooperation Plans by the Environmental Authorities and the Managing Authorities - July 2001 [it] (pdf, 88 kb)