European Funds - Progress update on March 18 and 19, 2024

This first monitoring committee for European funds for the year 2024 in Saint Martin took place in the presence of a delegation from the European Commission, representatives of the services of the Ministry of Labor (DGEFP) and the Ministry of Overseas ( DGOM).

Under the co-chairmanship of President Louis MUSSINGTON and Prefect Vincent BERTON and in the presence of the new Secretary General for Regional Affairs, Mr. Yves DAREAU, representing the Prefect of the Guadeloupe region, the monitoring committee met over two days, with a meeting technical and two project visits scheduled for March 18, and a plenary meeting with all members, on March 19, in the presence of the Deputy of Saint Barthélémy and Saint Martin, Frantz Gumbs, the vice-president Michel PETIT, the advisor territorial representative and member of the executive council Martine BELDOR, as well as the President of the Interprofessional Consular Chamber of Saint-Martin, Angèle DORMOY.

The discussions above all made it possible to draw up an initial assessment of the consumption of European funds in Saint-Martin over the period 2014-2020.

• For the Collectivité of Saint Martin, directly involved in the management of European funds as an intermediary organization on the 2014-2020 programming, the results of the management of the FSE global grant remain very positive despite degraded working conditions following following the passage of Hurricane Irma in 2017 and extremely difficult in the context of the health crisis. Indeed, during this closing period, the programming rate stands at more than 102% on the priority axes managed by global grant. The certification and payment rate amounted to almost 70% of the €12M envelope as of January 31, 2024. Concretely, there are no less than 4,170 people, whether young (NEET or student), unemployed and or beneficiaries of social minima, who were able to benefit from the 61 actions co-financed by the ESF on the priority axes managed by the Collectivité.
• Thanks to the additional credits made available with the creation of the REACT EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the territories of Europe) axes within the State OP FEDER-FSE 2014-2020 in the last quarter of the year 2021, the Collectivité has committed to a proactive policy of reinforced support for young people in the region facing the devastating social consequences of the health crisis. The Collectivité has thus mobilized “exceptionally” FSE REACT EU credits to the tune of €8 million over the years 2022-2023 in order to “boost” around ten measures aimed at strengthening the level of qualification and employability of young people. and job seekers in the region. In particular, it is worth mentioning:
• - The “unprecedented” strengthening of mobility aid for students to compensate for the weakness of the post-baccalaureate training offer in the region;
• - The organization of the 1st Student Orientation and Mobility Fair in Saint Martin in December 2022.
• - Operations to bring young people and the business world together such as the “Vacation Jobs” and “Lend a Hand” schemes; the latter specifically targeting young NEETs.
• All of the measures supported by the Collectivité were the subject of expenditure reporting to the instructor services of DEETS Guadeloupe in 2023. These actions now display an overall completion rate of nearly 85%.
• Technical and administrative difficulties have had a strong impact on the effective launch of FEADER credit programming in Saint Martin, until 2021. It is now appropriate to welcome the catch-up effort deployed over the last two years to consume the €3M envelope dedicated to the territory over the period 2014-2020. Under the presidency of Deputy Frantz GUMBS and thanks to the effort deployed by the management team, the LEADER LAG managed by the Collectivité displays positive results as of February 29, 2024. In fact, the EAFRD credits mobilized to date reach an amount of €2.8M, i.e. a programming rate of 95%. The project to upgrade and extend the slaughterhouse, so necessary for the development of agricultural sectors in Saint Martin, benefits in particular from exceptional support from the FEADER to the tune of €1.5 million.
• President Louis MUSSINGTON took this opportunity to salute all the management services for the work carried out in often difficult conditions.

The effective launch of the new FEDER and FSE+ programs in our regions and in particular in Saint Martin has been significantly delayed in the context of successive crises known on a global scale, to the detriment of local project leaders who no longer had access to these structural funds in Saint Martin since 2021.

At the start of 2024, it should be noted that the accumulated delay is being resolved thanks to the combined effort of the management authorities of these programs and the teams of the Collectivité and the State here and in Guadeloupe .

The Collectivité, in its capacity as an intermediary organization now managing two global FEDER and FSE+ grants for a cumulative amount of €33M, has launched four FEDER calls for projects in January 2024 for a cumulative amount of 8 million euros, thus allowing sponsors to regain access to co-financing from the ERDF to support their investment projects contributing to the recovery and development of an innovative and competitive local economy, particularly in the tourism sector.

In this context, the management services are working to strengthen the information and support systems for project leaders for better appropriation of the management rules applicable to European funds over this 2021-2027 period. Two open days have already been organized by the European Funds Department of the Collectivité on February 5 and 6 and allowed the instructor and management teams to welcome and offer personalized support to around fifty funders. private projects.

The Collectivité will soon launch the first calls for projects under the ESF+ for a cumulative amount of €6.8M at the end of March in order to allow local project leaders to mobilize these credits in favor of projects meeting the priorities of national OP 21-27, namely “Promote access to employment for young people and strengthen their employability, particularly through educational success” and “Improve skills and the system of education, training and guidance on the territory ".

At a time of the first discussions on the future of the management of European funds post 2027, the Collectivité of Saint Martin intends to create the conditions for its accession to the status of management authority for future programs dedicated to the territory.

With this in mind, the Collectivité intends to strengthen bilateral dialogue with all Parisian and Brussels authorities with the aim of obtaining recognition of Saint Martin as a region of Europe in its own right and the territorialization of fund management. Europeans in Saint Martin over the post-2027 period.

Locally, the challenge obviously remains the continued strengthening of the administrative capacities of the Collectivité over the 2021-2027 programming period by allowing in particular the increase in skills of the management services and support departments involved in the management of European funds.

In an anticipatory vision, work has already been launched internally at the start of 2024 in order to bring to the current structure the organizational adaptations necessary for accession to the status of management authority.