The eligible cross-border cooperation area between Greece and Bulgaria for the programming period 2014-2020 is identical to the current European Territorial Cooperation program. It extends to 40,202 and has a total population of 2.7 million inhabitants. It covers four territorial units at the level (Regions) and 11 territorial units at the level (Regions). The eligible area stretches along the Greek-Bulgarian border and borders Turkey (east) and Macedonia (west), two countries that wish to have access to the European Union. It is part of the most south-eastern non-island region of the EU and lies between three seas: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian-Adriatic Sea. Finally, it is at the crossroads of strategic fossil fuel pipelines that feed the EU market and trans-European transport network (TEN) axes. The residential structure of the region is characterized by the presence of 10 medium and large cities (>50,000 inhabitants) that gather 38.2% of the total population and 25 small cities (10,000-50,000 inhabitants). Despite the relatively small funds available, there is a long history of cooperation in the eligible area, which began with the Community initiative INTERREG I (1989-1993).
The eligible area of the INTERREG Cross-Border Program “Greece-Bulgaria 2014 – 2020” covers the following areas:
BG413 – Blagoevgrad
BG422 – Haskovo
BG424 – Smolyan
BG425 – Kardzhali
EL111 – Evros
EL112 – Xanthi
EL113 – Rhodope
EL114 – Drama
EL115 – Kavala
EL122 – Thessaloniki
EL126 – Serres
PRIORITY AXIS:
CA 1: Competitive and Innovative Cross-Border Area
CA 2: Sustainable Transboundary Area
CA 3: Interconnection of cross-border area
CA 4: A cross-border region without social exclusion
AP 5: Technical support
PROJECT BUDGET:
The total value (ETPA and the National contribution) for the European program Greece – Bulgaria 2014-2020 is: € 130,262,835.00.
The total funding of ETPA is: € 110,723,409.75 (85%) and the total funding of the National contribution is: € 19,539,425.25 (15%).
GENERAL LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT:
The eligible region of the “Greece – Bulgaria” program is one of the poorest in the European Union, as the GDP per capita is below 50% of the EU28 (EU28) average. This has not changed significantly over the past 10 years, although short-term improvements were seen during 2002-2004 and then again in 2006-2009. The cross-border region is also characterized by large internal disparities, particularly regarding the division between Bulgarian and Greek territories. Bulgarian districts show a much lower level of economic development (below ¼) than their Greek counterparts, mainly due to the fact that Bulgaria has long been a transition economy. The period 2006-2009 was characterized by economic growth on both sides of the border, as was the general trend across Europe. After 2009, the effects of the global recession led to a slowdown in growth rates in the Bulgarian segment (0.25% p.a.) and negative growth rates in the Greek segment (-9% p.a.).
ECONOMY:
Although the cross-border region is gradually transforming from an agricultural/industrial economy to an industrial/service economy, this transformation has been rather slow. Compared to the Europe of 28 (EU28), the economy remains significantly more agricultural, less industrial and more dependent on services. However, this is by no means homogeneous. The Greek cross-border area is significantly less agricultural and industrial than the corresponding part of Bulgaria, and more service-oriented. This heterogeneity is even more pronounced at the provincial level. We can distinguish 2 types of regions in the Bulgarian part and 3 types of regions in the Greek part:
Blagoevgrad / Haskovo: dominated by industry and trade
Smolyan / Kardali: industry and agriculture dominate
Evros / Drama / Thessaloniki: public administration and industry dominate
Xanthi / Rodopi: public administration and agriculture dominate
Kavala / Serres: industry and public administration dominate
More than half of the Gross Value Added (GVA) generated in the cross-border region (59%) is generated in the Thessaloniki region. All other regions show low rates. Particularly low rates are observed in the Bulgarian regions of Haskovo, Smolyan and Kardalia (1-2%).
Some of the notable cross-regional structural developments that have taken place recently include;
Gradual conversion between the two parties in terms of the share of GPA attributable to the primary sector. Despite this, there remains a wide gap between the two sides, with the Bulgarian region being more heavily agricultural than the Greek cross-border region and even more heavily agricultural than Bulgaria’s respective national rates.
Significant differentiation between the two parts of the secondary sector, mainly due to the significant losses of industrial activity that occurred in the Greek part after 2006 (mainly due to relocations of labor-intensive industries to cheaper neighboring countries).
The overall labor productivity in the cross-border area is significantly lower than in Europe of 28 (about 1/5) and shows large differences between the Greek (€32,800.00/employee) and the Bulgarian (€5,800.00/employee) sides. The productivity of the cross-border area is also lower than the corresponding national averages for both parts:
– for the part of Bulgaria: ranging from 60% to 78% of the national average, and
– for the Greek part: it ranges from 60% to 84% of the national average
Tourism, and especially eco-tourism, for many years has emerged as a “development industry” of the cross-border region, as it includes a significant number of pristine areas of high ecological value. Nevertheless, it has a relatively small number of accommodations compared to its population (43 establishments/100,000 inhabitants, when the EU28 average is 111), which are unevenly distributed. The largest concentrations of accommodation and beds are found in the provinces of Kavala, Thessaloniki and Smolian.
INNOVATION:
Both Greece and Bulgaria have outlined national or regional innovation strategies in the context of “smart specialization”. However, Bulgaria lags far behind other EU countries and is listed as a “moderate innovator” in the Union’s 2014 innovation scoreboard, while Greece, although in a somewhat better position, falls below the EU average and listed as “moderate innovation”. However, the cross-border region has important research facilities that currently do not cooperate with each other or with the business community. It also has similar production systems, thus presenting significant opportunities for coupling entrepreneurship initiatives with innovation. The critical mass of research centers and other academic institutions is located in Thessaloniki with the following areas of excellence: biotechnology, advanced production systems for chemical processes, energy and environmental technologies, information processing, virtual reality, security services, etc. Research and innovation actions in Macedonia and Thrace are concentrated in the public sector and especially in the University of Thrace (with the unique Department of Genetics) and to a lesser extent in the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Kavala. In the Bulgarian part, the most important research infrastructure is located outside the cross-border region (mainly in Sofia and Plovdiv) and only Blagoevgrad seems to have significant research structures. The Southwestern University “Neofit Rilski” – with nine faculties offers PhD programs in many fields of liberal arts (Education and Pedagogy, Literature and Linguistics, History and Archaeology, Social Sciences, Choreography and Film majors). Of particular importance to the cross-border area are the programs in Economics (with specialization in Tourism), Geography and Environmental Sciences and IT. Also in Smolyan there are branches of “Paisii Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv with its Technical College and Varna Free University “Chernoets Hrabar”.
CLIMATE CHANGE:
According to the ESPON-CLIMATE programme, the program area is significantly more vulnerable to climate change, both compared to the EU 28 and to the national levels of Greece and Bulgaria. The most vulnerable are Thessaloniki, Serres, Kardzali and Haskovo. Climate change will have significant negative impacts on the transboundary region. It is estimated to affect the majority of urban centres, increasing the number of heat wave days to over 50 over the period 2071-2100. Natural hazards in the area include flood risk areas (mainly near the Nestos and Evros rivers), fire risk areas (mainly in the mountain ranges) and erosion risk areas (especially on the coasts). Floods and fires can spread quickly across borders and for this reason their effective management is of cross-border importance. Finally, the areas with the highest risk of landslides are located in the East Evros basin and the coal development area in the southwest region. The largest studied landslide is located in the Smolyan area at the “Smolyan Lakes” site. Furthermore, the cross-border region’s combined adaptive capacity to climate change is similar to national levels and the lowest in Europe. On the Greek side, the region of Thessaloniki and on the Bulgarian side the region of Blagoevgrad show rather high adaptive capacity compared to national prices, but are still lower than the EU28 average.
ENVIRONMENT:
The cross-border area is characterized by many and important natural resources, including a large number of protected natural areas (86 Natura 2000 sites, 5 Ramsar wetlands, etc.), many of which are virgin. The landscape of the transboundary region consists of densely forested mountains, river straits, valleys, plains, lakes, coastal wetlands, beaches and river deltas. The area includes the Rila, Pirin and Rhodope mountain ranges, with excellent forests, the cross-border rivers Strymona, Nesto, Arda and Evros and more than 400 kilometers of coastline. These important natural resources have been underutilized for development purposes in the past. Regarding the state of the environment, industry is one of the major polluters on both sides of the border, and the main pollution spots are concentrated in southwestern Bulgaria and near the urban area of Kavala. Both transboundary rivers – Nestos and Evros – are polluted with urban and industrial waste. The main problems in urban wastewater management are due to the lack of wastewater treatment infrastructure in settlements between 2,000 – 10,000 inhabitants. The problem is more pronounced in the Bulgarian part of the cross-border area. In Bulgaria, only 46% of the population is covered by wastewater treatment systems and most of the treatment capacity (71%) is located in the Danube and Black Sea basins (located outside the transboundary area). In the Greek part, 88% of the population is covered by sewage treatment systems.
ACCESSIBILITY:
On the Greek side, the area has important transport infrastructure and is served by three ports of national / international importance (the port of Thessaloniki, the port of Kavala and the port of Alexandroupoli) and three main airports (the International Airport “Macedonia” in Thessaloniki, the “Megalos Alexandros” airport in Kavala and “Demokritos” airport in Alexandroupolis).
The most important transport infrastructure is the road network and overall connectivity has improved significantly in the past:
– with the construction of the Egnatia motorway and many vertical axes connecting Greece with Bulgaria and
– with the construction of large sections of A3 and A4 motorways in Bulgaria
However, lower-level roads are in various stages of destruction (especially in the Bulgarian part), making connections difficult and reducing mobility, especially in the mountain ranges. At the same time, several vertical axes of Egnatia as agreed in the Interstate Agreement between Greece and Bulgaria in 1998 are missing or under construction (such as the II-86 connection to the Greek transport system) and the highways in the Bulgarian part are incomplete. The region has insufficient rail and multimodal infrastructure, despite the presence of major ports and airports. Both Greece and Bulgaria have recently invested in the railway network of the cross-border region but significant investments are required which are beyond the financial possibilities of the “Greece-Bulgaria” programme. This heavy reliance on road transport also significantly increases the environmental footprint of transport activities in the region, especially at border crossing points (eg long truck lines) and especially during the tourist season. Finally, the region lacks accessible public transport for people with disabilities and cross-border public transport services.
LABOR MARKET, POVERTY AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION:
While in 2007 unemployment rates for cross-border regions were on average close to or below national rates and below the EU27 average, unemployment started to rise rapidly – especially in Greece – immediately after the financial crisis in 2008 , reaching record levels in 2013. Bulgarian provinces managed to keep unemployment rates close to or below the EU27 average. At present, the large disparities between the regions of the cross-border region have not been dissolved. The latest figures show the following high unemployment rates (2013): Xanthi 37.5%, Drama 36.8%, Thessaloniki 32.1%, Serres 22.9%, Kavala 22.8%, Evros 22%, Smolyan 20, 3% and Rhodope 16.8%.
In addition, long-term unemployment rates increased strongly – especially for Greek regions – after 2009, which indicates a risk of high structural unemployment which in turn implies the existence of inefficient labor markets and a mismatch between labor market demand and available skills and locations of jobseekers. According to the ESPON DEMIFER project, the cross-border region shows significantly higher rates of long-term unemployed compared to the EU28. Youth unemployment rates show similar trends and are due to poor economic growth, a rigid labor market and a mismatch between workers’ potential skills and employers’ needs in Greece and Bulgaria.
In addition, the cross-border region has significantly higher rates of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (3-4 times higher) than the EU28. The main reason for the large discrepancy is the relatively higher rates of long-term unemployment and the higher proportion of people living in areas with low work intensity and low income levels. Regarding the latter, the share of people living in areas with low labor intensity has been increasing since 2010 in both Bulgarian and Greek territories. The high number of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion in the cross-border area is also due to the presence of various vulnerable groups such as minorities, internal migrants, asylum seekers and foreigners receiving subsidiary protection. The higher risk of poverty and social exclusion among these groups is mainly linked to long-term unemployment and economic unemployment. The increasing incidence of poverty has many social consequences, one of which is worsening public health conditions. Although the cross-border region enjoys the availability of basic healthcare resources (e.g. hospitals and doctors) at levels close to or even better in several cases than the EU28 average, average life expectancy is lower than EU28 levels and epidemiological indicators present high rates. Overall, Greek regions have historically had a higher life expectancy than Bulgarian regions, but since poverty forces more people to seek hospital care (over 20% increase documented in Greece after 2010), it seems that in the Greek regions healthcare conditions will likely deteriorate in the near future, thus reducing the overall levels of public health in the cross-border region.
Program Structure
The program “Greece – Bulgaria 2014-2020″ is designed to address the main challenges identified in the cross-border area where cooperation is either necessary or expected to produce significant added value either by capitalizing on previous results or by being complementary to the program ” smart specialisation” either by leveraging existing institutional capacities and/or the expressed demand. It contributes to the E2020 strategy as follows:
Regarding the “smart growth” objective:
Regarding the goal of “sustainable development”:
Regarding the “inclusive growth” goal:
