If you have questions or need informational support, choose your country from the drop-down list and write your query or request in the respective field. Before that, please check the FAQ section below – your question might already be answered!
Participation in the M4EG Initiative is voluntary, and the commitments undertaken by the M4EG members are not legally binding. However, delivering on these obligations is necessary to remain the member. With the Local Economic Plan not submitted on time
(for Junior Members), or reporting on the Plan implementation long overdue (for Acting Members), the membership in the Initiative will be automatically suspended.
The Mayors for Economic Growth Secretariat will be working in close contact with the signatories and monitor their progress. The Secretariat has the discretion to make decisions and exceptions about individual cases based on the assessment of the commitment and effort made by the signatory in question, as well as seriousness of the external circumstances preventing success.
No. It is the principal key point that the Plan has to be developed and owned by the city/municipality itself. External expert support by the M4EG Initiative is possible only for specific topics/issues, which are deemed to of key importance for the territory in question, on which the signatory lacks internal expertise or knowledge.
The M4EG Secretariat has no formal requirements as to the EDO status and the arrangements between EDO and the city/municipality administration. A lot of flexibility is allowed in this respect to reflect the differences in the size and institutional arrangement of signatory administrations. However, it is required that the EDO is a) mandated and empowered by the Mayor to conduct his/her work within the project; b) ready and able to take part in the Project capacity building events, as well as ready to transfer the received knowledge to the other local stakeholders; c) accessible and responsive to the M4EG Secretariat team communications and requests.
The Secretariat’s assumption and expectation is that the M4EG membership status, as well as respective benefits and commitments are automatically taken over by the larger territorial unit and respective administration. In case the new administration does not support staying an M4EG Member, it can withdraw by submitting a written request to the corresponding M4EG Country Coordinator.
The tentatively foreseen timeline for reviewing the Plan and providing feedback is around 2 months. Once the Plan is submitted for review by the Signatory, the corresponding acknowledgement will be officially issued by the Secretariat to mark the start of the review phase.
The Secretariat recognizes the importance of ensuring financial resources to support the Local Economic Development Plan implementation. Therefore, a comprehensive study on existing financing tools and opportunities open to the local administrations in each of the participating countries has been commissioned. The results will be publicly available at the end of 2017.