After assessing the activities of the Central Project Management Agency, the European Commission has concluded that the Agency fulfils all of the necessary requirements for the additional Pillar-Grants. The new pillar now allows the Agency to directly manage EU grants. The approved pillar assessment stands as a great achievement for the Agency, as among the new EU Member States it is probably the only agency having pillar assessment of the EC.
The Pillar Assessment is based on 7 criteria. Until now the CPMA, working with the Ignalina programme, had to comply with 4 out of the 7 pillars, positively assessed in 2010 and reassessed in 2017. In order to carry out new activities- to increase implementation of EU development cooperation programmes – CPMA had to get positive assessment from the European Commission of 5 pillars. The other 2 left pillars do not apply to the activities of the Agency.
„We are eager to continue working not only with EU financed development cooperation projects, but with large EU programmes as well, such as our EU financed Public Finance Management Support Programme in Ukraine. That’s exactly why we had to get the extra positive assessment from the EC“, – Deimantė Vaičiūnė, CPMA Head of International Development Cooperation Projects Division, shares her thoughts on the motives for the Agency’s initiative on getting additional positive assessment on Pillar – Grants.
According to Ms Vaičiūnė, this European Commission assessment gives the Agency an opportunity to join the Practitioners´ Network for European Development Cooperation and participate even more actively in development cooperation projects.
About the CPMA international development cooperation activities:
Till now the CPMA has been managing 47 EU Twinning projects in total, 4 technical assistance projects and 1 grant project. For almost ten years CPMA organises national and international trainings, conducts study visits and manages development cooperation projects. Based on the Law on Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid adopted in 2017, CPMA is established as the institution, responsible for development cooperation. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania entrusted the functions of the mandatary of the National Twinning Contact Point in Lithuania to the Agency as well.
