A meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of Bulgaria-Turkey IPA Cross-Border Programme was held on October 23, 2013 in Burgas, Bulgaria. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Klimentina Deneva, Secretary General of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Republic of Bulgaria, and co-chaired by Mrs. Sebnem Sozer, Coordinator for Cross-border Cooperation and Multi-beneficiary Programmes Directorate for Financial Cooperation, Ministry for European Union Affairs, Republic of Turkey, on behalf of the National Authority. Mrs. Maria Duzova, Director General of the Directorate General “Territorial Cooperation Management” participated in the meeting on behalf of the Managing Authority of the Programme.

The Joint Monitoring Committee, comprised of representatives of the central governmental administrations of the two countries, the regional administrations of the border region and non-governmental organizations, discussed the progress of the Programme, the results of the interim evaluation, and projects proposed for funding under the Third Call for project proposals.

The Committee approved 13 projects for funding under Priority Axes 1 and Priority Axes 2 from the available amount of the Third Call and 8 projects from the reserve list that will be funded by the savings from the First and Second Calls for proposals. The projects provide opportunities for joint initiatives and practices for social and economic development and for the improvement of the quality of life in the cross - border region.

The list of subsidy contracts will be published on the official web-site of the Programme as soon as the contracts between the Managing Authority and the project Lead partners are signed.