European Commission approves €52 million Malta-Sicily programme

The European Commission has approved a cross-border cooperation programme between Malta and Sicily that will run until 2020.

The overall programme budget stands at €51,708,438, out of which €43,952,171 will come from the European Regional Development Fund.

In a statement, the parliamentary secretariat for EU funding said that beneficiaries can include SMEs, microenterprises, clusters, universities, regional and research institutions, public administrations, higher education school, public and private research centres, and scientific parks.

Partnership under this programme can only be eligible if it involves at least one Sicilian and one Maltese partner.

It follows a cross-border cooperation for the 2007-2013 programming period, during which 52 Maltese beneficiaries - including Government Ministries, NGOs, and local councils took part in an aggregate of 25 projects, thus benefitting from an amount of approximately €10 million through their respective projects.    

The Italy-Malta 2014-2020 Programme will be managed by the Funds and Programmes Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto.

The Division will monitor projects undertaken in Malta by Maltese partners, who together with Sicilian counterparts, are awarded grants to implement projects in Malta. 

The parliamentary secretariat said that this programme will contribute to sustainable economic cross-border growth by strengthening research and innovation, fostering the competiveness of smaller-sized businesses, and fostering an efficient use of resources to mitigate climate change.