Identification and Analysis of Structural Fund Support Mitigating the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the EU—A Case Study of Health Unit Funding

The research carried out describes the provision of COVID-19 funding in individual EU Member States under the ongoing operational programmes of the EU financial perspective in the period 2014–2020. This was followed by identification of the most important areas of support and the amounts allocated to them for Poland and its sixteen voivodeships under the available EU funds from the 2014–2020 perspective. Types and forms of support for health services from the funds of the Regional Operational Programme for the Opolskie Voivodeship 2014–2020 (ROP WO) were analysed in detail. The obtained results showed that Italy, Spain, and Poland provided the largest values of support under the available operational programmes from 2014–2020 to combat the effects of COVID-19. In Poland, funding was mainly provided by the European Regional Development Fund, with the dominant support allocated to entrepreneurship and health care. In the Opolskie voivodeship, which is the case study, the additional financing in the health area concerns: personal protective equipment, equipment, construction works, oxygen installations, and waste water management. In this article, a literature analysis of the issue was conducted prior to the research process, which included theories of post-2007 crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on the theoretical background and research showing the impact of crises from the point of view of social, economic, and ecological dimensions, i.e., from the point of view of sustainable development. It also presents planned and implemented public intervention to offset the negative effects of COVID-19 in 2020 from structural funds in EU countries, including Poland and its 16 voivodeships.

The changing map of subnational governance in the Republic of Ireland

The evolution of the territorial structure of Ireland’s system of local government during the period of colonial rule by England is outlined. The independence period saw little change in this structure until the abolition of municipal-level government in 2014, reflecting the very marginal role of devolved administration in Ireland’s political system. The creation and functioning of regional-level administrative systems, mainly related to the management of EU Structural Fund expenditure, are reviewed. Regional assemblies, established in 2015, have the role of preparing regional strategies under the 2018 National Planning Framework. Ongoing problems arising from a mismatch between subnational governance systems and underlying socio-spatial structures are discussed.

The Impact of Public Interventions on Self-Sustainable Venture Capital Market Development in Latvia from the Perspective of VC Fund Managers

This paper presents the results of a study on the impact of EU structural funds on the development of a self-sustainable venture capital (VC) market in Latvia from the perspective of VC fund managers. The study had two objectives. The first was to assess the contribution of European Union (EU) structural funds (SF) programmes toward the development of a self-sustainable VC industry in Latvia. The second was to identify ways by which the structural fund support could be better exploited for the development of the VC industry in Latvia. During three SF planning periods, the stated primary goal of the programmes to support high-growth SMEs was attained—to date, 294 VC investments have been made by publicly supported hybrid VC funds. During the 2004–2006 planning period, the first generation of professional VC fund managers in Latvia emerged in response to the opportunity to manage publicly supported hybrid VC funds. During the subsequent programmes, a high continuation rate by the established managers was observed. Nevertheless, Latvian VC fund managers are not yet capable of raising private funds and still encounter difficulties in attracting the necessary level of private capital for the publicly supported hybrid VC funds. The novelty of the study is the finding that improvements in the SF programme designs did not significantly decrease the impact of factors identified as limiting the success of the operations of VC managers. This suggests and confirms conclusions of other studies that argue that public policies aimed at creating healthy and supporting conditions for VC activity are necessary in addition to public financial support for VC funds. Regarding the next planning period, the suggestion regarding programme design is to continue with already started improvements: increasing the volume of funds, widening the geographic area eligible for investments, reducing restrictions on the types of financial instruments that may be used, lowering the administrative burden for VC fund managers and avoiding micromanagement of VC funds by governmental agency. The observation that the influence of investments in VC funds on the governmental agency’s responsible for VC investments financial statements may be partly responsible for the tendency to micromanage VC funds could be useful not only in Latvia but also in other countries.

Attracting European Funds in the Romanian Economy and Leverage Points for Securing their Sustainable Management: A Critical Auditing Analysis

Against the backdrop of Romania’s successive negative performance in attracting European funds (coming last in the EU top), as indicated by audit reports for projects that have been funded so far, this paper proposes a new approach in relation to analysis and performance improvement in securing EU funds, while identifying viable solutions for the betterment of the current situation. Furthermore, the authors develop a new audit performance analysis model (NOP), described as a dynamic and flexible model, based on reducing the fraud and error risk in the structural fund management of European-funded projects. The analysis methods encompass literature reviews, observational studies, database management, statistical analysis, and the synthesis of the whole findings. The main conclusion of the analysis is the critical necessity of integrity improvement in the context of managing the non-reimbursable funds through audit activities based on ISA805, the international standard on auditing European-funded projects.

Funkcjonalne różnicowanie małych miast północno-wschodniej Polski w warunkach depopulacji = Functional differentiation of small towns in North-Eastern Poland under a depopulation trend

The changing role of small towns is a noticeable topic of contemporary research on urban and regional development in Poland. Unlike those situated within the zone of daily commuting around large cities, small urban localities in what are peripheral localities from the point of view of Poland as a whole are strongly exposed to metropolitan development backwash effects, which manifest themselves in migration outflow and population ageing, together with the loss of certain specialised functions that tend to cluster in centres at higher levels in the urban hierarchy. Going against these general trends, some of the towns in question are in a position to maintain existing activities in manufacturing or service branches of international or national market range, and/or to attract new ones. At the same time, those small urban localities that witness a curtailment of more-specialised functions experience a growing reliance on the public sector, in addition to commercial activities of local range, performing a stabilising role with regard to urban-rural functional relations at the local level of the settlement system. This article focuses on factors that underpin such polarisation trends by referring to the concepts of territorial competitiveness and territorial capital (Camagni, 2002, 2008). It illustrates their applicability using materials derived from an empirical study covering a subset of 19 small towns, of populations between 3000 and 10,000, situated in environmentally rich North-Eastern regions of Poland. Aiming to acquire primary data, the study has involved a series of extended, open-ended interviews with local stakeholders (5 to 7 per town), together with a questionnaire-based survey of 55 enterprises, in manufacturing and services of supra-local market range. As the results show (in line with the assumptions of Camagni), successful development of specialised functions, including niche-type activities in the small towns under study, can in several cases at least be linked to synergic effects between such components of territorial capital as creativity, local entrepreneurship and proactive policy on the part of local government. By focusing on the (EU Structural Fund-supported) extension and modernisation, of technical as well as social infrastructure, the latter have contributed to a general improvement in living conditions locally over the last fifteen years. This has in turn created some potential for attracting new residents, first of all from the surrounding rural areas; and – as a more distant prospect – also returning migrants from both abroad and other localities (typically Poland’s large urban centres). Thus, even in the face of prevailing depopulation trends, the small towns presented here (including local service centres) may enjoy certain opportunities to expand their place-of residence functions of both local and supra-local scope.

Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic

The intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on how the factors of socio-economic disadvantage and absorption capacity influence the spatial distribution of Structural Fund (SF) payments among the Czech Republic’s micro-regions during the 2007–2013 programming period. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration economies, innovation and entrepreneurship are associated with higher SF absorption capacity and higher SF payments, challenging the tendency for socio-economically disadvantaged regions to converge. SF absorption capacity measured especially by the number of project applications submitted for SF financing and by the average SF budget per project application, is a crucial concept in order to understand the relationship between within-country regional disparities and SF interventions.

REZEKNE SEZ – 20 YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGE

Rēzekne Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) was established in 1997 as state stock company in order to promote trade, develop production and transport, as well as import and export of goods through Latvia. RSEZ administers state aid in form of tax allowances. During the 20 years of the history of RSEZ several substantial changes have taken place, determining overall development of RSEZ. In 2004 the legal status of the organization was changed due to amendments in legal acts of Latvia. It was reformed from a non-profit organization into a stock company. The ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia handed over its stocks of RSEZ to Rēzekne city; subsequently from 2004 to 2010 55% of the stocks were owned by Rēzekne City Council. Regardless of the fact that the control interest was owned by public institutions, RSEZ was a subject of private law and that contradicted the aim of the establishment of RSEZ i. e. promotion of regional development. It determined the necessity to make changes in the functioning of RSEZ. As a result the legal status of RSEZ was changed again in 2010 from stock company to joint municipal institution and amendments with regard to the territory of RSEZ were made. Simultaneously with the aforementioned transitions the economic and politic situation in the country changed – in 2004 Latvia became a member state of the European Union and harmonization of legal acts was performed in accordance with the requirements of the EU. Since 2004 several times substantial amendments have been made in the legal acts regulating the operation of RSEZ and overall its competitiveness and attractiveness for the investments has decreased. Nevertheless the last five years had been the most successful since the establishment of RSEZ. It is possible to distinguish two stages in the development of RSEZ 1) 1997–2010; 2) 2010 – up to nowadays. Altogether RSEZ enterprises (since 2001) have invested almost 150 million euros, from which 120 million euros had been invested in last 10 years and 80 million euros – in last 5 years. The turnover of RSEZ enterprises in 2016 was 84.5 million euros (70.5 million euros – in 2015). In comparison with 2009 the turnover of RSEZ enterprises has increased by 60 million euros or more than 3 times. In the recent years prospects of growth and investment attraction in Latvia and Europe are encumbered by political instability and slow economic growth of Eurozone. Certainly an important factor for investment attraction is developed and qualitative business infrastructure. Therefore significant is the role of the initiatives of municipalities related to implementation of EU Structural Fund financed projects in RSEZ territory as well as proactive work of RSEZ in investment attraction. The paper describes the RSEZ regulatory framework, activities and results achieved in the past, as well as future challenges. The research has been based on the database of RSEZ business research and analysis information system, as well as on the European Union and Latvian policy and development planning documents, laws and regulations. It was found that the RSEZ results and performance indicators have improved after the change of the legal status of RSEZ in 2010. RSEZ enterprises make an important contribution to the development of Rēzekne city and Rēzekne region.

Doubts rise over future EU funding for Central Europe

Subject The outlook for continued EU structural fund inflows. Significance Germany and France have called for the disbursement of structural and investment funds in the 2021-27 EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) to be linked to the behaviour of individual member states, specifically, their respect for EU standards. Such tensions are likely to prompt political debate across Central Europe (CE) about the most effective ways to maintain the high rates of EU fund absorption attained since 2015. On July 11, the Polish government announced an assessment of whether EU funds were put to effective use in the first half of 2017, when the number of applications rose for projects co-financed with EU funds. Impacts In 2017-19, most EU funds will go to infrastructure, particularly railways and roads, the environment and SMEs. Spending on research and development is expected to remain small. Some CE countries will be less eligible for structural funding after 2020, thanks to fiscal and economic convergence with Western Europe. Reduced inflows of EU funds after 2021 will require robust structural reforms to underpin labour market competitiveness.

Enhancement of the Quality Assurance Model at the Slovak University: Case Study

<div><strong>Purpose:</strong> The aim of the paper is to present an enhanced internal quality assurance model based on the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) principles, criteria for accreditation, and data management support in the web-based environment developed within the European Structural Fund (ESF) project.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> A literary survey and personal interviews with university representatives and ICT professionals have been conducted to evaluate and analyse the possibility of the enhanced internal quality assurance model implementation at the university. The SWOT analysis and TELOS framework feasibility study have been used to design the proposal for the decision makers.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Findings:</strong> A case study confirmed the feasibility of an enhanced quality assurance model utilisation and also revealed the possibility of the existing system of quality management improvement concerning the teaching and learning process.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> The study is the output of an ESF project and is supposed to be implemented by top management in the very near future.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Originality:</strong> The originality of the solution is that it connects the existing university QMS to the ESG standards and evaluation criteria for the internal system of quality assurance in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Slovakia. The case study showed that the utilisation of a web-based quality management system has many advantages in comparison to the existing decentralised data management system. </div>