DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo FIRMS' FUNDING SCHEMES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PURPOSES IN THE EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS (Monitoring of environmental firms funding schemes) EU C.O.R./E.C. DG Regio OPEN DAYS « Managing Regional Development » Brussels September 2004 Francesco Buoncompagni Barbara DAlessandro Italian Environmental Authority for EU Structural Funds Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The survey base The objective of harmonizing industrial development with environmental protection is one of the pillars of the Sustainable Development principle and its implementation is particularly effective if referred to firms funding schemes where the general objective of fostering the economic development is accompanied by the idea of preserving the conditions of the natural environment. Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo Surveys objectives investigating how the environmental integration is pursued in order to accomplish EU regulations and CSF provisions individuating strengths and weaknesses in the definition and implementation of the sustainability principle in the local industrial development spreading the knowledge of best practices for strengthening the system. Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo How we worked The analysis regarded all Structural Funds firms aids (activated by 31/12/2003) in the Italian Ob.1 Regions. It took into consideration all firms aids and then only those having some environmental integration. Environmentally integrated aids are: those having a direct environmental purpose; and those integrated with environmental criteria (indirect) Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The environmental criteria To be considered as environmentally indirect, aids require the presence of, at least, one of the following: 1. a selection criteria 2. a priority criteria 3. an admission criteria Another aspect concerning environmental criteria is: the environmental sectors of intervention (PAs choices) Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The environmental criteria management The analysis of the environmental criteria management focused on: selection procedures monitoring inspection sanctions Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The results Environmental integration in Ob.1 firms funding schemes Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The results Types of environmental criteria Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The results The environmental sectors chosen by Ob.1 PA Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The results Environmental criteria management: selecting subjects Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo The results lack/insufficiency of monitoring, inspecting and sanctioning tools; strict monitoring of the economic and financial parameters but not for the environmental ones; rare control of the environmental declarations and environmental data of the firm, after the selection. Environmental criteria management: monitoring, inspecting and sanctioning tools Ministero delle Attività Produttive

DG Ricerca Ambientale e Sviluppo Conclusions Criticalities The most important effort to green Structural Funds has been made at the beginning, i.e. in the programming phase… nevertheless in the further phase of implementing and of environmental criteria management, environmental integration appears much weaker and not always effective enough to guarantee the sustainability of the selected projects. Ongoing activities Environmental Authorities and Managing Authorities aim at strengthening the last part of the process by enhancing/introducing: - the quantification of the improving of environmental performances; - the monitoring of environmental criteria; - the verifying of the results obtained as declared by firms; - the possible checks, inspections and sanctions on environmental aspects. Ministero delle Attività Produttive