The Project Generation Facility

The Project Generation Facility was funded by Phare to be a support for projects elected for funding and assistance. Professional advice was provided in the areas of economic competitiveness, human resources, environment, infrastructure and regional development. The project accepted for structural funds funding were to be a portfolio of Hungarian projects ready for seeking EU funding.

Rationale and objectives

The overall aim with the Project Generation Facility (PGF) was to ensure the availability of a substantial portfolio of projects that could boost the absorption of EU funding during the first years of membership for Hungary. It was also expected to contribute to building up the knowledge base needed for designing successful structural funds projects, both among prospective beneficiaries and local consultants.

Key activities

To  develope project ideas into full structural funds applications were selected through a nation-wide call for proposals. Areas covered included economic competitiveness, human resources, environment, infrastructure and regional development. The elaboration process was entrusted to a consortium of commercial companies who mobilised a total of 1000 advisors, engineers, financial experts and technical experts with experience in tourism etc, whereof 900 were Hungarian. 

The owners of the project ideas selected received free-of-charge technical advice, enabling them to submit a fully-prepared project dossier to the Managing Authorities of the National Development Plan. The service included the review of the scope of the original project idea, the examination of the economic feasibility of the planned projects, the development of technical designs for licensing and construction. When needed and feasible, the advisors also helped with the elaboration of the documentation needed for public procurement.

The project also included training and study visits with the aim of transferring knowledge to projects owners and Hungarian consultants working within the project.

Funding information

The project received €16 million from the ERDF and approximately €11 million is nationally publicly co-financed.

Outcomes

From 3200 applications, 400 were fully elaborated and two thirds were accepted for structural funds funding, generating structural fund projects with a value of more than €500 million. The PGF projects were substantially more successful in structural funds competitions than other applications. PGF experts were especially successful in raising the standard of project applications in terms of the detailed assessment of technical alternatives, environmental outcomes, and the financial analysis.

Further the knowledge among the regional experts has been raised and they will be able to offer high quality services to future structural funds applicants in Hungary.