On March 23, 2011 a meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee of Bulgaria - Turkey IPA cross-border Programme will take place in Haskovo. The Programme is co-financed by the European Union through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA).  A list of projects will be approved for financing under the 1st Call for Project proposals.

50 projects targeted at one of the following priority areas - Sustainable Social &Economic Development and Improvement the Quality of Life are proposed for financing and the total amount allocated for them is €10.4 million.

The co-chairman of the JMC from Bulgarian side is Mrs. Lilyana Pavlova, a deputy minister of the Regional Development and Public Works and from Turkish side – Mr. Mehmet Sureyya Suner, Director of “Financial cooperation” Directorate at Prime Ministry Secretariat General for EU Affairs of Republic of Turkey. Nathalie Verschelde, from the General Directorate “Regional Policy” of the European Commission will also take part in the meeting.