After all 13 agreements under the second Swiss contribution that are aimed at promoting cohesion have been signed, programmes and projects are being developed and will be implemented by these partner countries in cooperation with Switzerland. This article provides an overview of what these collaborative efforts will involve.
Overview: Implementation of the cohesion part of the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states
Allocation of the cohesion framework credit
The second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states totals 1.302 billion CHF over a period of ten years (2019–29).
This breaks down into:
- Cohesion framework credit (1.0469 billion CHF), implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)
- Migration framework credit (190 million CHF) implemented by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM)
- Federal Administration expenditure (65.1 million CHF)
All of the 13 countries that joined the EU after 2004 (known as the EU-13) have now signed bilateral implementation agreements with Switzerland under the cohesion framework. The amount a partner country receives from the cohesion framework credit depends on population size and GDP per capita. Poland, which has the most inhabitants among the EU-13, will receive the largest contribution totalling 320.1 million CHF. The smallest contribution, amounting to 3.56 million CHF, has been allocated to Malta. Five per cent of the total amount is earmarked for Switzerland's own expenditure and two per cent for project-related expertise from Swiss agencies outside of the Federal Administration.
The second Swiss contribution’ cohesion part supports five overarching goals and an urban programme in Poland:
Breakdown of the planned allocation of the cohesion framework credit by goal
Projects under the second Swiss contribution are generally pre-financed from the partner country's budget or by the implementing agency, with Switzerland reimbursing these funds periodically. This ensures that Swiss funds are used correctly, as Switzerland only makes repayments after carefully examining the partner country's reimbursement requests and checking the actual outputs. As a rule, partner countries contribute at least 15 per cent of the project costs.
You can find out more about the migration framework credit here: Migration framework credit – State Secretariat for Migration SEM
- Programme for Development of Towns: Economic and social development of small and medium-sized towns in Poland's disadvantaged regions. Planned measures include investing in urban planning, improving energy efficiency, water and wastewater management, sustainable mobility, vocational education and training, social and healthcare services and civil society engagement (278.7 million CHF).
- Economic growth and social partnership: Basic research and applied research/innovation programme. This programme supports projects and initiatives implemented by research institutions and companies in both Switzerland and Poland, thereby promoting bilateral cooperation (35 million CHF).
With a total of 320.1 million CHF, Poland will receive the highest amount among the 13 countries under the second Swiss contribution. The new cooperation programme between Switzerland and Poland has two major programmes:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Promoting economic growth and reducing unemployment, including through dual vocational education and training, strengthening innovation through scientific collaboration in research, and improving access to financing for SMEs (69.4 million CHF).
- Migration and security: Increasing public safety by combating organised crime and human trafficking as well as strengthening the justice system (30 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Protecting the environment and climate by promoting energy efficiency and renewable energies at municipal level and in the Bucharest metro system (69.7 million) CHF.
- Social and health system: Improving basic healthcare in remote areas, and promoting decentralised integrated services for disadvantaged communities (30 million CHF).
- Civic engagement and transparency: Contributions to civil society and NGOs (18 million CHF).
Romania receives the second-largest share of the second Swiss contribution, totalling 221.5 million CHF. Priorities here are:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Reducing (youth) unemployment and promoting economic growth through dual vocational education and training, building on existing partnerships between Bulgarian vocational schools and the private sector and scientific collaboration in the field of research (15 million CHF).
- Migration and security: Combating human trafficking and supporting integration, as well as fighting corruption and improving public safety (8.8 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Protecting the environment and climate by improving air quality, pesticide disposal, energy efficiency and the sustainable use of a national park (45 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Improving the health literacy of young people and children as well as addressing the health and educational needs of vulnerable groups, in particular marginalised ethnic minorities (11.5 million CHF).
- Civic engagement and transparency: Contributing to initiatives of civil society and nongovernmental organizations and strengthening their capacities (10 million CHF).
The second Swiss contribution to Bulgaria amounts to 92.5 million CHF. The Swiss-Bulgarian cooperation programme contributes to Bulgaria's strategic reforms and focuses on the following thematic areas:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Vocational education and training, research collaboration and support for SMEs through improved access to financing opportunities (31.21 million CHF).
- Migration and security: Combating human trafficking (1.99 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Investing in energy efficiency and renewable geothermal energy, as well as water and wastewater management (27.88 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Palliative care and emergency medicine, social security and inclusion of minorities by improving digital skills (24.88 million CHF).
The Swiss-Hungarian cooperation programme, which amounts to 87.6 million CHF, aims to help reduce social and economic disparities in Hungary and to foster existing and new bilateral partnerships. The main focal points are:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Strengthening scientiEfic research and promoting Swiss-Czech collaborative initiatives (13 million CHF).
- Migration and security: Supporting the integration of migrants and strengthening their economic independence (14 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Programme for sustainable tourism as well as the protection and conservation of biodiversity (38.4 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Strengthening home based care (10 million CHF).
The new cooperation programme is based on the current needs of the Czech Republic and aims to strengthen Swiss-Czech partnerships in areas where Switzerland can offer added value thanks to its expertise and experience. A total of 76.9 million CHF has been allocated to the new programme, which will focus on:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Supporting a basic vocational education and training project as well as a project promoting the research excellence and innovation capacities of Croatian research institutions, universities and companies (8 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Water and wastewater management (23 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Palliative care (5.5 million CHF).
- Civic engagement and transparency: Contributing to initiatives of civil society organizations and strengthening their capacities (7.62 million CHF).
The second Swiss contribution to Croatia amounts to 45.7 million CHF. As Croatia only joined the EU in 2013, the cooperation programme for the first Swiss contribution of 42.75 CHF million is still scheduled to run until the end of 2024. This means that Switzerland can then continue to work with Croatian implementing partners that have proved to be reliable without any interruption. The second cooperation programme will focus on:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Vocational education and training programme (4.5 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Improving the quality and accessibility of health and social services for mothers, infants and children (29.55 million CHF).
- Civic engagement and transparency: Strengthening participation in decision-making, improving the skills of civil society organisations and the quality of volunteer work (9.75 million CHF).
The second Swiss contribution to Lithuania amounts to 45.2 million CHF. Priorities here are:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Increasing the permeability of the education system by strengthening the dual vocational education and training system, creating new fields of education and new qualifications as well as improving career counselling (5.75 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Promoting sustainable tourism and protecting biodiversity (22.8 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Promoting health and preventing non-communicable diseases (15 million CHF).
The Swiss-Slovakian cooperation programme is based on Slovakia's current needs and focuses on:
- Economic growth and social partnership: Applied research on topics such as advanced materials, information and communication technologies and efficient and sustainable electricity consumption. Strengthening the Latvian vocational education and training system (20 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Rehabilitating a contaminated site in Aizkraukle to reduce the risks to public health and the environment (12.2 million CHF).
- Health and social system: Improving the diagnosis and treatment of children with rare diseases (e.g. childhood cancer) (7.5 million CHF).
The aim of the new Swiss-Latvian cooperation programme is to contribute to the strategic reforms in Latvia and to foster new and existing bilateral partnerships. The second Swiss contribution totalling 40.4 million CHF includes the following priorities:
- Migration and security: Promoting the social inclusion and integration of migrants and refugees, including refugees from Ukraine, as well as social cohesion in this multi-ethnic country (18.6 million CHF).
- Environment and climate: Protecting biodiversity and improving species and habitat conservation by generating high-quality data and implementing innovative monitoring solutions as a basis for decision-making processes (6.93 million CHF).
The cooperation programme totalling 26 million CHF comprises two parts:
- Environment and climate: The funds are used to finance projects aimed at increasing energy efficiency and promoting renewable energies. With this support and Swiss expertise, a national digital platform for optimising energy planning is to be set up and pilot projects to expand the use of solar energy on agricultural land are to be implemented (14.7 million CHF).
The second Swiss contribution for Slovenia provides for 16 million and focuses on one thematic area.
- Health and social system: Setting up a multidisciplinary centre of excellence for people with rare diseases. Preventing domestic violence and expanding support services for survivors (4.08 million CHF).
- Civic engagement and transparency: Supporting the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, which aims to clarify the whereabouts of disappeared persons from the period of intercommunal fighting in 1963 and 1964 and the events of 1974 (1 million CHF).
A contribution totalling 5.2 million CHF will support three projects with the following two priorities:
- Health and social system: The project focuses on cardiovascular health, including better equipment for a hospital and training for healthcare staff, as well as the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The 3.56 million CHF contribution will focus on an area where Malta has explicit requirements and where Switzerland can add value with its expertise and experience.
