LegalizeReform history
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006
17 versions
· 2013-12-17
2024-03-01
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2023-03-01
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2022-10-26
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2022-04-14
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2022-04-09
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2020-12-29
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2020-11-15
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2020-07-18
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2020-04-24
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2020-04-01
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2019-05-11
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2018-11-17
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2018-08-02
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
Changes on 2018-08-02
@@ -60,19 +60,23 @@
(9)'operation' means a project, contract, action or group of projects selected by the managing authorities of the programmes concerned, or under their responsibility, that contributes to the objectives of a priority or priorities; in the context of financial instruments, an operation is constituted by the financial contributions from a programme to financial instruments and the subsequent financial support provided by those financial instruments;
(10)'beneficiary' means a public or private body and, for the purposes of the EAFRD Regulation and of the EMFF Regulation only, a natural person, responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations; and in the context of State aid schemes, as defined in point 13 of this Article, the body which receives the aid; and in the context of financial instruments under Title IV of Part Two of this Regulation, it means the body that implements the financial instrument or the fund of funds as appropriate;
(10)'beneficiary' means a public or private body or a natural person, responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations, and:
(a)in the context of State aid, the body which receives the aid, except where the aid per undertaking is less than EUR 200 000 , in which case the Member State concerned may decide that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid, without prejudice to Commission Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 (<sup>4</sup>), (EU) No 1408/2013 (<sup>5</sup>) and (EU) No 717/2014 (<sup>6</sup>); and
(b)in the context of financial instruments under Title IV of Part Two of this Regulation, the body that implements the financial instrument or the fund of funds as appropriate;
(11)'financial instruments' means financial instruments as defined in the Financial Regulation, save where otherwise provided in this Regulation;
(12)'final recipient' means a legal or natural person receiving financial support from a financial instrument;
(13)'State aid' means aid falling under Article 107(1) TFEU which shall be deemed for the purposes of this Regulation also to include de minimis aid within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 (<sup>4</sup>), Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 (<sup>5</sup>) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 (<sup>6</sup>);
(13)'State aid' means aid falling under Article 107(1) TFEU which shall be deemed for the purposes of this Regulation also to include de minimis aid within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 (<sup>7</sup>), Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 (<sup>8</sup>) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 (<sup>9</sup>);
(14)'completed operation' means an operation that has been physically completed or fully implemented and in respect of which all related payments have been made by beneficiaries and the corresponding public contribution has been paid to the beneficiaries;
(15)'public expenditure' means any public contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities, the budget of the Union related to the ESI Funds, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or of public law bodies and, for the purpose of determining the co-financing rate for ESF programmes or priorities, may include any financial resources collectively contributed by employers and workers;
(16)'public law body' means any body governed by public law within the meaning of point 9 of Article 1 of Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>7</sup>) and any European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>8</sup>), regardless of whether the EGTC is considered to be a public law body or a private law body under the relevant national implementing provisions;
(16)'public law body' means any body governed by public law within the meaning of point 9 of Article 1 of Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>10</sup>) and any European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>11</sup>), regardless of whether the EGTC is considered to be a public law body or a private law body under the relevant national implementing provisions;
(17)'document' means a paper or an electronic medium bearing information of relevance in the context of this Regulation;
@@ -96,13 +100,13 @@
(27)'fund of funds' means a fund set up with the objective of contributing support from a programme or programmes to several financial instruments. Where financial instruments are implemented through a fund of funds, the body implementing the fund of funds shall be considered to be the only beneficiary within the meaning of point 10 of this Article;
(28)'SME' means a micro, small or medium sized enterprise as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (<sup>9</sup>);
(28)'SME' means a micro, small or medium sized enterprise as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (<sup>12</sup>);
(29)'accounting year', means, for the purposes of Part Three and Part Four, the period from 1 July to 30 June, except for the first accounting year of the programming period, in respect of which it means the period from the start date for eligibility of expenditure until 30 June 2015. The final accounting year shall be from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024;
(30)'financial year', means, for the purposes of Part Three and Part Four, the period from 1 January to 31 December;
(31)'macroregional strategy' means an integrated framework endorsed by the European Council, which may be supported by the ESI Funds among others, to address common challenges faced by a defined geographical area relating to Member States and third countries located in the same geographical area which thereby benefit from strengthened cooperation contributing to achievement of economic, social and territorial cohesion;
(31)'macroregional strategy' means an integrated framework agreed by the Council and, where appropriate, endorsed by the European Council, which may be supported by the ESI Funds among others, to address common challenges faced by a defined geographical area relating to Member States and third countries located in the same geographical area which thereby benefit from strengthened cooperation contributing to achievement of economic, social and territorial cohesion;
(32)'sea basin strategy' means a structured framework of cooperation in relation to a given geographical area, developed by Union institutions, Member States, their regions and where appropriate third countries sharing a sea basin; a sea basin strategy takes into account the geographic, climatic, economic and political specificities of the sea basin;
@@ -150,9 +154,9 @@
6. In accordance with their respective responsibilities, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure coordination between the ESI Funds and between the ESI Funds and other relevant Union policies, strategies and instruments, including those in the framework of the Union's external action.
7. The part of the budget of the Union allocated to the ESI Funds shall be implemented within the framework of shared management between the Member States and the Commission, in accordance with Article 59 of the Financial Regulation, with the exception of the amount of support from the Cohesion Fund transferred to the CEF referred to in Article 92(6) of this Regulation, innovative actions at the initiative of the Commission under Article 8 of the ERDF Regulation, technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission and the support for direct management under the EMFF Regulation.
8. The Commission and the Member States shall respect the principle of sound financial management in accordance with Article 30 of the Financial Regulation.
7. The part of the budget of the Union allocated to the ESI Funds shall be implemented within the framework of shared management between the Member States and the Commission, in accordance with Article 63 of the Financial Regulation, with the exception of the amount of support from the Cohesion Fund transferred to the CEF referred to in Article 92(6) of this Regulation, innovative actions at the initiative of the Commission under Article 8 of the ERDF Regulation, technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission and the support for direct management under the EMFF Regulation.
8. The Commission and the Member States shall respect the principle of sound financial management in accordance with Article 33, Article 36(1) and Article 61 of the Financial Regulation.
9. The Commission and the Member States shall ensure the effectiveness of the ESI Funds during preparation and implementation, in relation to monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
@@ -258,6 +262,8 @@
Thematic objectives shall be translated into priorities that are specific to each of the ESI Funds and are set out in the Fund-specific rules.
The priorities established for each of the ESI Funds in the Fund-specific rules shall in particular cover the appropriate use of each ESI Fund in the areas of migration and asylum. In that context, coordination with the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund established by Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>13</sup>) shall be ensured, where appropriate.
#### Article 10
##### Common Strategic Framework
@@ -388,6 +394,12 @@
4. Where a Member State proposes an amendment to the elements of the Partnership Agreement covered by the Commission decision as referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission shall carry out an assessment in accordance with paragraph 1 and, where appropriate, shall adopt a decision, by means of implementing acts, approving the amendment within three months of the date of submission of the proposal for amendment by the Member State.
4a. Where applicable, the Member State shall submit each year by 31 January an amended Partnership Agreement following the approval of amendments to one or more programmes by the Commission in the preceding calendar year.
The Commission shall adopt each year by 31 March a decision confirming that the amendments to the Partnership Agreement reflect one or more programme amendments approved by the Commission in the preceding calendar year.
That decision may include the amendment of other elements of the Partnership Agreement pursuant to a proposal referred to in paragraph 4, provided that the proposal is submitted to the Commission by 31 December of the preceding calendar year.
5. Where a Member State amends elements of the Partnership Agreement not covered by the Commission decision as referred to in paragraph 2, it shall notify the Commission thereof within one month of the date of the decision to make the amendment.
#### Article 17
@@ -506,15 +518,15 @@
(a)to support the implementation of a relevant country-specific recommendation adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU and of a relevant Council recommendation adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU, addressed to the Member State concerned;
(b)to support the implementation of relevant Council Recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned and adopted in accordance with Articles 7(2) or 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 (<sup>10</sup>) of the European Parliament and of the Council provided that these amendments are deemed necessary to help correct the macro-economic imbalances; or
(b)to support the implementation of relevant Council Recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned and adopted in accordance with Articles 7(2) or 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 (<sup>14</sup>) of the European Parliament and of the Council provided that these amendments are deemed necessary to help correct the macro-economic imbalances; or
(c)to maximise the growth and competitiveness impact of the available ESI Funds, if a Member State meets one of the following conditions:
(i)Union financial assistance is made available to it under Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 (<sup>11</sup>);
(ii)financial assistance is made available to it in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 (<sup>12</sup>);
(iii)financial assistance is made available to it that triggers a macroeconomic adjustment programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>13</sup>) or that triggers a decision of the Council in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.
(i)Union financial assistance is made available to it under Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 (<sup>15</sup>);
(ii)financial assistance is made available to it in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 (<sup>16</sup>);
(iii)financial assistance is made available to it that triggers a macroeconomic adjustment programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>17</sup>) or that triggers a decision of the Council in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.
For the purposes of point (c) of the second subparagraph, each of those conditions shall be deemed to be satisfied where such assistance has been made available to the Member State before or after 21 December 2013 and remains available to it.
@@ -580,7 +592,7 @@
12. Without prejudice to de-commitment rules set out in Articles 86 to 88 the Commission shall lift the suspension of commitments, without delay, in the following cases:
(a)where the excessive deficit procedure is held in abeyance in accordance with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 (<sup>14</sup>) or the Council has decided in accordance with Article 126(12) TFEU to abrogate the decision on the existence of an excessive deficit;
(a)where the excessive deficit procedure is held in abeyance in accordance with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 (<sup>18</sup>) or the Council has decided in accordance with Article 126(12) TFEU to abrogate the decision on the existence of an excessive deficit;
(b)where the Council has endorsed the corrective action plan submitted by the Member State concerned in accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 or the excessive imbalance procedure is placed in a position of abeyance in accordance with Article 10(5) of that Regulation or the Council has closed the excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 11 of that Regulation;
@@ -634,7 +646,7 @@
##### Management of technical assistance for Member States
1. On the request of a Member State pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and the Council (<sup>15</sup>), a part of the resources provided for under Article 59 of this Regulation and programmed in accordance with Fund-specific rules may, in agreement with the Commission, be transferred to technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission for implementation of measures in relation to the Member State concerned in accordance with point (l) of the third subparagraph of Article 58(1) of this Regulation through direct or indirect management.
1. On the request of a Member State pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and the Council (<sup>19</sup>), a part of the resources provided for under Article 59 of this Regulation and programmed in accordance with Fund-specific rules may, in agreement with the Commission, be transferred to technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission for implementation of measures in relation to the Member State concerned in accordance with point (l) of the third subparagraph of Article 58(1) of this Regulation through direct or indirect management.
2. The resources referred to in paragraph 1 shall be additional to the amounts established in accordance with the ceilings set out in the Fund-specific rules for technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission. Where a ceiling on technical assistance at the initiative of the Member State is set out in the Fund-specific rules, the amount to be transferred shall be included for the purposes of the calculation of compliance with that ceiling.
@@ -734,9 +746,9 @@
2. The Commission shall assess the information provided in accordance with paragraph 1, taking account of the justification provided by the Member State. The Commission may make observations within one month of the submission of the revised programme and the Member State shall provide to the Commission all necessary additional information. In accordance with the Fund-specific rules, the Commission shall approve requests for amendment of a programme as soon as possible but no later than three months after their submission by the Member State provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account.
Where the amendment of a programme affects the information provided in the Partnership Agreement in accordance with points (a)(iii), (iv) and (vi) of Article 15(1)), the approval of the amendment of the programme by the Commission shall at the same time constitute an approval for the consequential revision of the information in the Partnership Agreement.
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, where the request for amendment is submitted to the Commission in order to reallocate the performance reserve following the performance review, the Commission shall make observations only where it considers that the allocation proposed is not in compliance with applicable rules, is not consistent with the development needs of the Member State or the region, or entails a significant risk that the objectives and targets included in the proposal cannot be achieved. The Commission shall approve the request for amendment of a programme as soon as possible and no later than two months after the submission of the request by the Member State provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account. The approval of the amendment of the programme by the Commission shall at the same time constitute an approval for the consequential revision of the information in the Partnership Agreement.
Where the amendment of a programme affects the information provided in the Partnership Agreement, the procedure set out in Article 16(4a) shall apply.
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, where the request for amendment is submitted to the Commission in order to reallocate the performance reserve following the performance review, the Commission shall make observations only where it considers that the allocation proposed is not in compliance with applicable rules, is not consistent with the development needs of the Member State or the region, or entails a significant risk that the objectives and targets included in the proposal cannot be achieved. The Commission shall approve the request for amendment of a programme as soon as possible and no later than two months after the submission of the request by the Member State provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account. —————
4. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, specific procedures for the amendment of operational programmes may be established in the EMFF Regulation.
@@ -774,7 +786,7 @@
3. Support from the ESI Funds concerned to community-led local development shall be consistent and coordinated between the ESI Funds concerned. This shall be ensured inter alia through coordinated capacity-building, selection, approval and funding of community-led local development strategies and local action groups.
4. Where the selection committee for the community-led local development strategies set up under Article 33(3) determines that the implementation of the community-led local development strategy selected requires support from more than one Fund, it may designate in accordance with national rules and procedures, a lead Fund to support all running and animation costs under points (d) and (e) of Article 35(1) for the community-led local development strategy.
4. Where the selection committee for the community-led local development strategies set up under Article 33(3) determines that the implementation of the community-led local development strategy selected requires support from more than one Fund, it may designate in accordance with national rules and procedures, a lead Fund to support all preparatory, running and animation costs under points (a), (d) and (e) of Article 35(1) for the community-led local development strategy.
5. Community-led local development supported by the ESI Funds concerned shall be carried out under one or more priorities of the relevant programme or programmes in accordance with Fund-specific rules of the ESI Funds concerned.
@@ -820,13 +832,13 @@
3. The tasks of local action groups shall include the following:
(a)building the capacity of local actors to develop and implement operations including fostering their project management capabilities;
(b)drawing up a non-discriminatory and transparent selection procedure and objective criteria for the selection of operations, which avoid conflicts of interest, ensure that at least 50 % of the votes in selection decisions are cast by partners which are not public authorities, and allow selection by written procedure;
(c)ensuring coherence with the community-led local development strategy when selecting operations, by prioritising those operations according to their contribution to meeting that strategy's objectives and targets;
(d)preparing and publishing calls for proposals or an ongoing project submission procedure, including defining selection criteria;
(a)building the capacity of local actors, including potential beneficiaries, to develop and implement operations including by fostering their capacity to prepare and manage their projects;
(b)drawing up a non-discriminatory and transparent selection procedure which avoids conflicts of interests, ensures that at least 50 % of the votes in selection decisions are cast by partners which are not public authorities, and allows selection by written procedure;
(c)drawing up and approving non-discriminatory objective criteria for the selection of operations that ensure coherence with the community-led local development strategy by prioritising those operations according to their contribution to meeting that strategy’s objectives and targets;
(d)preparing and publishing calls for proposals or an ongoing project submission procedure;
(e)receiving and assessing applications for support;
@@ -834,6 +846,8 @@
(g)monitoring the implementation of the community-led local development strategy and the operations supported and carrying out specific evaluation activities linked to that strategy.
Where local action groups carry out tasks not covered by points (a) to (g) of the first subparagraph that fall under the responsibility of the managing or certifying authority or of the paying agency, those local action groups shall be designated as intermediate bodies in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
4. Without prejudice to point (b) of paragraph 3, the local action group may be a beneficiary and implement operations in accordance with the community-led local development strategy.
5. In the case of cooperation activities of local action groups as referred to in point (c) of Article 35(1), the tasks set out in point (f) of paragraph 3 of this Article may be carried out by the managing authority responsible.
@@ -886,7 +900,7 @@
Where an ITI is complemented with financial support from the EAFRD or the EMFF, the indicative financial allocation and the measures covered shall be set out in the relevant programme or programmes in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
3. The Member State or the managing authority may designate one or more intermediate bodies, including local authorities, regional development bodies or non-governmental organisations, to carry out the management and implementation of an ITI in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
3. The Member State or the managing authority may delegate certain tasks in accordance with the Fund-specific rules to one or more intermediate bodies, including local authorities, regional development bodies or non-governmental organisations, linked to the management and implementation of an ITI.
4. The Member State or the relevant managing authorities shall ensure that the monitoring system for the programme or programmes provides for the identification of operations and outputs of a priority contributing to an ITI.
@@ -908,7 +922,7 @@
(b)an assessment of the added value of the financial instruments that are being considered for support from the ESI Funds, consistency with other forms of public intervention addressing the same market, possible State aid implications, the proportionality of the envisaged intervention and measures to minimise market distortion;
(c)an estimate of additional public and private resources to be potentially raised by the financial instrument down to the level of the final recipient (expected leverage effect), including as appropriate an assessment of the need for, and level of, preferential remuneration to attract counterpart resources from private investors and/or a description of the mechanisms which will be used to establish the need for, and extent of, such preferential remuneration, such as a competitive or appropriately independent assessment process;
(c)an estimate of additional public and private resources to be potentially raised by the financial instrument down to the level of the final recipient (expected leverage effect), including as appropriate an assessment of the need for, and the extent of, differentiated treatment as referred to in Article 43a to attract counterpart resources from investors operating under the market economy principle and/or a description of the mechanisms which will be used to establish the need for, and extent of, such differentiated treatment, such as a competitive or appropriately independent assessment process;
(d)an assessment of lessons learnt from similar instruments and ex ante assessments carried out by the Member State in the past, and how such lessons will be applied in the future;
@@ -918,7 +932,7 @@
(g)provisions allowing for the ex ante assessment to be reviewed and updated as required during the implementation of any financial instrument which has been implemented based upon such assessment, where during the implementation phase, the managing authority considers that the ex ante assessment may no longer accurately represent the market conditions existing at the time of implementation.
3. The ex ante assessment referred to in paragraph 2 may be performed in stages. It shall, in any event, be completed before the managing authority decides to make programme contributions to a financial instrument.
3. The *ex ante* assessment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may take into account the *ex ante* evaluations referred to in point (h) of the first subparagraph and the second subparagraph of Article 209(2) of the Financial Regulation and may be performed in stages. It shall, in any event, be completed before the managing authority decides to make programme contributions to a financial instrument.
The summary findings and conclusions of ex ante assessments in relation to financial instruments shall be published within three months of their date of finalisation.
@@ -932,7 +946,7 @@
7. Financial instruments may be combined with grants, interest rate subsidies and guarantee fee subsidies. Where support from ESI Funds is provided by means of financial instruments and combined in a single operation, with other forms of support directly related to financial instruments targeting the same final recipients, including technical support, interest rate subsidies and guarantee fee subsidies, the provisions applicable to financial instruments shall apply to all forms of support within that operation. In such cases, applicable Union State aid rules shall be respected and separate records shall be maintained for each form of support.
8. Final recipients supported by an ESI Fund financial instrument may also receive assistance from another ESI Funds priority or programme or from another instrument supported by the budget of the Union in accordance with applicable Union State aid rules. In that case, separate records shall be maintained for each source of assistance and the ESI Funds financial instrument support shall be part of an operation with eligible expenditure distinct from the other sources of assistance.
8. Final recipients supported by an ESI Fund financial instrument may also receive assistance from another ESI Funds priority or programme or from another instrument supported by the budget of the Union, including from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>20</sup>), in accordance with applicable Union State aid rules, as appropriate. In that case, separate records shall be maintained for each source of assistance and the ESI Funds financial instrument support shall be part of an operation with eligible expenditure distinct from the other sources of assistance.
9. The combination of support provided through grants and financial instruments as referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8 may, subject to applicable Union State aid rules, cover the same expenditure item provided that the sum of all forms of support combined does not exceed the total amount of the expenditure item concerned. Grants shall not be used to reimburse support received from financial instruments. Financial instruments shall not be used to pre-finance grants.
@@ -952,7 +966,9 @@
(a)financial instruments set up at Union level, managed directly or indirectly by the Commission;
(b)financial instruments set up at national, regional, transnational or cross-border level, managed by or under the responsibility of the managing authority.
(b)financial instruments set up at national, regional, transnational or cross-border level, managed by or under the responsibility of the managing authority;
(c)financial instruments combining such contribution with EIB financial products under the EFSI in accordance with Article 39a.
2. Contributions from the ESI Funds to financial instruments under point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be placed in separate accounts and used, in accordance with the objectives of the respective ESI Funds, to support actions and final recipients consistent with the programme or programmes from which such contributions are made.
@@ -972,35 +988,49 @@
(a)invest in the capital of existing or newly created legal entities, including those financed from other ESI Funds, dedicated to implementing financial instruments consistent with the objectives of the respective ESI Funds, which will undertake implementation tasks; the support to such entities shall be limited to the amounts necessary to implement new investments in accordance with Article 37 and in a manner that is consistent with the objectives of this Regulation;
(b)entrust implementation tasks to:
(b)entrust implementation tasks, through the direct award of a contract, to:
(i)the EIB;
(ii)international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder, or financial institutions established in a Member State aiming at the achievement of public interest under the control of a public authority;
(iii)a body governed by public or private law; or
(c)undertake implementation tasks directly, in the case of financial instruments consisting solely of loans or guarantees. In that case the managing authority shall be considered to be the beneficiary as defined in point (10) of Article 2.
When implementing the financial instrument, the bodies referred to in points (a),(b) and (c) of the first subparagraph shall ensure compliance with applicable law, including rules covering the ESI Funds, State aid, public procurement and relevant standards and applicable legislation on the prevention of money laundering, the fight against terrorism and tax fraud. Those bodies shall not be established and shall not maintain business relations with entities incorporated in territories, whose jurisdictions do not cooperate with the Union in relation to the application of the internationally agreed tax standards and shall transpose such requirements in their contracts with the selected financial intermediaries.
(ii)an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder;
(iii)a publicly-owned bank or institution, established as a legal entity carrying out financial activities on a professional basis, which fulfils all of the following conditions:
—there is no direct private capital participation, with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the relevant bank or institution, and with the exception of forms of private capital participation which confer no influence on decisions regarding the day-to-day management of the financial instrument supported by the ESI Funds;
—operates under a public policy mandate given by the relevant authority of a Member State at national or regional level, which includes carrying out, as all or part of its activities, economic development activities contributing to the objectives of the ESI Funds;
—carries out, as all or part of its activities, economic development activities contributing to the objectives of the ESI Funds in regions, policy areas or sectors for which access to funding from market sources is not generally available or sufficient;
—operates without primarily focussing on maximising profits, but ensures a long-term financial sustainability for its activities;
—ensures that the direct award of a contract referred to in point (b) does not provide any direct or indirect benefit for commercial activities by way of appropriate measures in accordance with applicable law;
—is subject to the supervision of an independent authority in accordance with applicable law;
(c)entrust implementation tasks to another body governed by public or private law; or
(d)undertake implementation tasks directly, in the case of financial instruments consisting solely of loans or guarantees. In that case the managing authority shall be considered to be the beneficiary within the meaning of point (10) of Article 2.
When implementing the financial instrument, the bodies referred to in points (a) to (d) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall ensure compliance with applicable law and with the requirements laid down in Article 155(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 laying down additional specific rules on the role, liabilities and responsibility of bodies implementing financial instruments, related selection criteria and products that may be delivered through financial instruments in accordance with Article 37. The Commission shall notify those delegated acts simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council by 22 april 2014.
5. The bodies referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, when implementing funds of funds may further entrust part of the implementation to financial intermediaries provided that such bodies ensure under their responsibility that the financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Article 140(1),(2) and (4) of the Financial Regulation. Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory procedures, avoiding conflicts of interest.
6. The bodies referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 to which implementation tasks have been entrusted shall open fiduciary accounts in their name and on behalf of the managing authority, or set up the financial instrument as a separate block of finance within the financial institution. In the case of a separate block of finance, an accounting distinction shall be made between programme resources invested in the financial instrument and the other resources available in the financial institution. The assets held on fiduciary accounts and such separate blocks of finance shall be managed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management following appropriate prudential rules and shall have appropriate liquidity.
7. Where a financial instrument is implemented under points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, subject to the implementation structure of the financial instrument, the terms and conditions for contributions from programmes to the financial instrument shall be set out in funding agreements in accordance with Annex IV at the following levels:
5. The bodies referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article may, when implementing funds of funds further entrust part of the implementation to financial intermediaries provided that such bodies ensure under their responsibility that the financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Articles 33(1) and 209(2) of the Financial Regulation. Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory procedures, avoiding conflict of interests.
6. The bodies referred to in points (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 to which implementation tasks have been entrusted shall open fiduciary accounts in their name and on behalf of the managing authority, or set up the financial instrument as a separate block of finance within the institution. In the case of a separate block of finance, an accounting distinction shall be made between programme resources invested in the financial instrument and the other resources available in the institution. The assets held on fiduciary accounts and such separate blocks of finance shall be managed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management following appropriate prudential rules and shall have appropriate liquidity.
7. Where a financial instrument is implemented under points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, subject to the implementation structure of the financial instrument, the terms and conditions for contributions from programmes to financial instruments shall be set out in funding agreements in accordance with Annex IV at the following levels:
(a)where applicable, between the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority and the body that implements the fund of funds; and
(b)between the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority, or where applicable, the body that implements the fund of funds, and the body that implements the financial instrument.
8. For financial instruments implemented under point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, the terms and conditions for contributions from programmes to financial instruments shall be set out in a strategy document in accordance with Annex IV to be examined by the monitoring committee.
8. For financial instruments implemented under point (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, the terms and conditions for contributions from programmes to financial instruments shall be set out in a strategy document in accordance with Annex IV to be examined by the monitoring committee.
9. National public and private contributions, including where relevant contributions in kind as referred to in Article 37(10), may be provided at the level of the fund of funds, at the level of the financial instrument or at the level of final recipients, in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
10. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down uniform conditions regarding the detailed arrangements for the transfer and management of programme contributions managed by the bodies referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 4. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).
10. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down uniform conditions regarding the detailed arrangements for the transfer and management of programme contributions managed by the bodies referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article and in Article 39a(5). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).
#### Article 39
@@ -1008,17 +1038,17 @@
1. For the purposes of this Article, 'debt finance' means loans, leasing or guarantees.
2. Member States may use the ERDF and EAFRD to provide a financial contribution to financial instruments referred to in point (a) of Article 38(1) of this Regulation, managed indirectly by the Commission with implementation tasks entrusted to the EIB pursuant to point (c)(iii) of Article 58(1) and Article 139(4) of the Financial Regulation, in respect of the following activities:
2. Member States may use the ERDF and EAFRD during the eligibility period set out in Article 65(2) of this Regulation to provide a financial contribution to financial instruments referred to in point (a) of Article 38(1) of this Regulation, implemented indirectly by the Commission with the EIB pursuant to point (c)(iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation and Article 208(4) of the Financial Regulation, in respect of the following activities:
(a)uncapped guarantees providing capital relief to financial intermediaries for new portfolios of debt finance to eligible SMEs in accordance with Article 37(4) of this Regulation;
(b)securitisation, as defined in point (61) of Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EU) 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>16</sup>), of any of the following:
(b)securitisation, as defined in point (61) of Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EU) 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>21</sup>), of any of the following:
(i)existing portfolios of debt finance to SMEs and other enterprises with less than 500 employees;
(ii)new portfolios of debt finance to SMEs.
The financial contribution referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall contribute to junior and/or mezzanine tranches of portfolios mentioned therein provided that the relevant financial intermediary retains a sufficient part of the risk of the portfolios at least equal to the risk retention requirement set out in Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>17</sup>) and in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to ensure adequate alignment of interest. In the case of securitisation under point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the financial intermediary is obliged to originate new debt finance to eligible SMEs in accordance with Article 37(4) of this Regulation.
The financial contribution referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall contribute to junior and/or mezzanine tranches of portfolios mentioned therein provided that the relevant financial intermediary retains a sufficient part of the risk of the portfolios at least equal to the risk retention requirement set out in Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>22</sup>) and in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to ensure adequate alignment of interest. In the case of securitisation under point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the financial intermediary is obliged to originate new debt finance to eligible SMEs in accordance with Article 37(4) of this Regulation.
Each Member State intending to participate in such financial instruments shall contribute an amount which is in line with SMEs' debt financing needs in that Member State and the estimated demand for such SME debt finance, taking into account the ex ante assessment referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 and in any case which is not higher than 7 % of the allocation from the ERDF and EAFRD to the Member State. The aggregate ERDF and EAFRD contribution by all participating Member States shall be subject to a global ceiling of EUR 8 500 000 000 (in 2011 prices).
@@ -1034,11 +1064,11 @@
4. The financial contribution referred to in paragraph 2 shall comply with the following conditions:
(a)by way of derogation from Article 37(2), it shall be based on one ex ante assessment at Union level carried out by the EIB and the Commission.
On the basis of available data sources on bank debt finance and SMEs, the ex ante assessment shall cover, inter alia, an analysis of the SME financing needs at Union level, SME financing conditions and needs as well as an indication of the SME financing gap in each Member State, a profile of the economic and financial situation of the SME sector at Member State level, minimum critical mass of aggregate contributions, a range of estimated total loan volume generated by such contributions, and the added value;
(b)it shall be provided by each participating Member State as part of a single dedicated national programme per financial contribution by ERDF and EAFRD supporting the thematic objective set out in point (3) of the first paragraph of Article 9;
(a)by way of derogation from Article 37(2), it shall be based on an *ex ante* assessment at Union level carried out by the EIB and the Commission or, where more recent data are available, on an *ex ante* assessment at Union, national or regional level.
On the basis of available data sources on bank debt finance and SMEs, the *ex ante* assessment shall cover, inter alia, an analysis of the SME financing needs at the relevant level, SME financing conditions and needs as well as an indication of the SME financing gap, a profile of the economic and financial situation of the SME sector at the relevant level, minimum critical mass of aggregate contributions, a range of estimated total loan volume generated by such contributions, and the added value;
(b)it shall be provided by each participating Member State as part of a separate priority axis within a programme in the case of ERDF contribution, or a single dedicated national programme per financial contribution by ERDF and EAFRD, supporting the thematic objective set out in point (3) of the first paragraph of Article 9;
(c)it shall be subject to the conditions set out in a funding agreement concluded between each participating Member State and the EIB including, inter alia:
@@ -1076,13 +1106,13 @@
6. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 38(2), financial contributions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may be placed in separate accounts per Member State or, if two or more participating Member States give their consent, in a single account covering all such Member States and used in accordance with the specific objectives of the programmes from which the contributions are made.
7. By way of derogation from Article 41(1) and (2) as regards the financial contributions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Member State's payment application to the Commission shall be made on the basis of 100 % of the amounts to be paid by the Member State to the EIB in accordance with the schedule defined in the funding agreement referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article. Such payment applications shall be based on the amounts requested by the EIB deemed necessary to cover commitments for guarantee contracts or securitisation transactions to be finalised within the three following months. Payments from Member States to the EIB shall be made without delay and in any case before commitments are entered into by the EIB.
8. At closure of the programme, the eligible expenditure shall be the total amount of programme contributions paid to the financial instrument, corresponding:
7. By way of derogation from Article 41(1) and (2) as regards the financial contributions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Member State’s payment application to the Commission shall be made on the basis of 100 % of the amounts to be paid by the Member State to the EIB in accordance with the schedule defined in the funding agreement referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article. Such payment applications shall be based on the amounts requested by the EIB deemed necessary to cover commitments under guarantee agreements or securitisation transactions to be finalised within the three following months. Payments from Member States to the EIB shall be made without delay and in any case before commitments are entered into by the EIB.
8. At closure of the programme, the eligible expenditure as referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 42(1) shall be the total amount of programme contributions paid to the financial instrument, corresponding:
(a)for the activities referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, to the resources referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 42(1);
(b)for the activities referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, to the aggregate amount of new debt finance resulting from the securitisation transactions, paid to or to the benefit of eligible SMEs within the eligibility period indicated in Article 65(2).
(b)for the activities referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, to the aggregate amount of new debt finance resulting from the securitisation transactions, paid to or to the benefit of eligible SMEs within the eligibility period set out in Article 65(2).
9. For the purpose of Articles 44 and 45, the uncalled guarantees and the amounts recovered in relation to, respectively, the uncapped guarantees and the securitisation transactions, shall be deemed to be resources paid back to the financial instruments. At the winding up of the financial instruments, the net liquidation proceeds, after deduction of costs, fees and payment of amounts due to creditors ranking senior to those contributed by the ERDF and EAFRD, shall be returned to the relevant Member States pro rata to their contributions to the financial instrument.
@@ -1096,13 +1126,75 @@
12. Article 70 shall not apply to programmes set up to implement financial instruments under this Article.
#### Article 39a
##### Contribution of ESI Funds to financial instruments combining such contribution with EIB financial products under the European Fund for Strategic Investments
1. In order to attract additional private sector investment managing authorities may use the ESI Funds to provide a contribution to financial instruments referred to in point (c) of Article 38(1) provided that it contributes, inter alia, to the achievement of the objectives of the ESI Funds and to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
2. The contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall not exceed 25 % of the total support provided to final recipients. In the less developed regions referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 120(3), the financial contribution may exceed 25 % where duly justified by the assessments referred to in Article 37(2) or in paragraph 3 of this Article, but shall not exceed 40 %. The total support referred to in this paragraph shall comprise the total amount of new loans and guaranteed loans as well as equity and quasi-equity investments provided to final recipients. The guaranteed loans referred to in this paragraph shall only be taken into account to the extent that the ESI Funds resources are committed for guarantee contracts calculated on the basis of a prudent *ex ante* risk assessment covering a multiple amount of new loans.
3. By way of derogation from Article 37(2), contributions pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article may be based on the preparatory assessment, including the due diligence, carried out by the EIB for the purposes of its contribution to the financial product under the EFSI.
4. Reporting by managing authorities under Article 46 of this Regulation on operations comprising financial instruments under this Article shall be based on the information kept by the EIB for the purposes of its reporting pursuant to Article 16(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2015/1017, supplemented by the additional information required under Article 46(2) of this Regulation. The requirements set out in this paragraph shall allow for uniform reporting conditions in accordance with Article 46(3) of this Regulation.
5. When contributing to financial instruments referred to in point (c) of Article 38(1) the managing authority may do any of the following:
(a)invest in the capital of an existing or newly created legal entity dedicated to implement investments in final recipients consistent with the objectives of the respective ESI Funds which will undertake implementation tasks;
(b)entrust implementation tasks in accordance with points (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4).
The body entrusted with implementation tasks as referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall either open a fiduciary account in its name and on behalf of the managing authority or set up a separate block of finance within the institution for programme contribution. In the case of a separate block of finance, an accounting distinction shall be made between programme resources invested in the financial instrument and the other resources available in the institution. The assets held on fiduciary accounts and such separate blocks of finance shall be managed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management following appropriate prudential rules and shall have appropriate liquidity.
For the purposes of this Article, a financial instrument may also take the form or be part of an investment platform in line with Article 2(4) of Regulation (EU) 2015/1017, provided that the investment platform takes the form of a special purpose vehicle or a managed account.
6. When implementing financial instruments under point (c) of Article 38(1) of this Regulation, the bodies referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article shall ensure compliance with applicable law and with the requirements laid down in Article 155(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation.
7. By 3 November 2018, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 supplementing this Regulation by laying down additional specific rules on the role, liabilities and responsibility of bodies implementing financial instruments, related selection criteria and products that may be delivered through financial instruments in accordance with point (c) of Article 38(1).
8. The bodies referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, when implementing funds of funds may further entrust part of the implementation to financial intermediaries provided that such bodies ensure under their responsibility that the financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Articles 33(1) and 209(2) of the Financial Regulation. Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory procedures, avoiding conflict of interests.
9. Where, for the purposes of implementing financial instruments referred to in point (c) of Article 38(1), managing authorities contribute the ESI Funds programme resources to an existing instrument, the fund manager of which has already been selected by the EIB, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a publicly-owned bank or institution, established as a legal entity carrying out financial activities on a professional basis and fulfilling the conditions set out in point (b)(iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4), they shall entrust implementation tasks to that fund manager through the award of a direct contract.
10. By way of derogation from Article 41(1) and (2), for contributions to financial instruments under paragraph 9 of this Article, applications for interim payment shall be phased in line with the payment schedule set out in the funding agreement. The payment schedule referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph shall correspond to the payment schedule agreed for other investors in the same financial instrument.
11. The terms and conditions for contributions pursuant to point (c) of Article 38(1) shall be set out in funding agreements in accordance with Annex IV at the following levels:
(a)where applicable, between the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority and the body that implements the fund of funds;
(b)between the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority, or where applicable, between the body that implements the fund of funds, and the body that implements the financial instrument.
12. For contributions pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article to investment platforms which receive contributions from instruments set up at Union level, consistency with State aid rules shall be ensured in accordance with point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 209(2) of the Financial Regulation.
13. In the case of financial instruments referred to in point (c) of Article 38(1) which take the form of a guarantee instrument, Member States may decide that the ESI Funds contribute, as appropriate, to different tranches of portfolios of loans covered also under the EU guarantee pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.
14. For the ERDF, the ESF, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFF, a separate priority, and for the EAFRD, a separate type of operation, with a co-financing rate of up to 100 % may be established within a programme to support operations implemented through financial instruments referred to in point (c) of Article 38(1).
15. Notwithstanding Article 70 and Article 93(1), contributions pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article may be used for the purpose of giving rise to new debt and equity finance in the entire territory of the Member State without regard to the categories of region, unless otherwise provided in the funding agreement.
16. By 31 December 2019, the Commission shall carry out a review of the application of this Article and shall where appropriate submit to the European Parliament and Council a legislative proposal.
#### Article 40
##### Management and control of financial instruments
1. Bodies designated in accordance with Article 124 of this Regulation for ERDF, Cohesion Fund, ESF, EMFF and with Article 65 of the EAFRD Regulation for the EAFRD shall not carry out on-the spot verifications of operations comprising financial instruments implemented under point (a) of Article 38(1). Those designated bodies shall receive regular control reports from the bodies entrusted with the implementation of those financial instruments.
2. The bodies responsible for the audit of programmes shall not carry out audits of operations comprising financial instruments implemented under point (a) of Article 38(1) and of management and control systems relating to those financial instruments. They shall receive regular control reports from the auditors designated in the agreements setting up those financial instruments.
1. The authorities designated in accordance with Article 124 of this Regulation and with Article 65 of the EAFRD Regulation shall not carry out on-the-spot verifications at the level of the EIB or other international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder, for financial instruments implemented by them.
However, the designated authorities shall carry out verifications in accordance with Article 125(5) of this Regulation and checks in accordance with Article 59(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 at the level of other bodies implementing the financial instruments in the jurisdiction of their respective Member State.
The EIB and other international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder shall provide to the designated authorities a control report with each application for payment. They shall also provide to the Commission and to the designated authorities an annual audit report drawn up by their external auditors. Those reporting obligations are without prejudice to the reporting obligations, including as regards the performance of the financial instruments, as set out in Article 46(1) and (2) of this Regulation.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt an implementing act concerning the models for the control reports and the annual audit reports referred to in the third subparagraph of this paragraph.
That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 150(2).
2. Without prejudice to Article 127 of this Regulation and Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the bodies responsible for the audit of the programmes shall not carry out audits at the level of the EIB or other international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder, for financial instruments implemented by them.
The bodies responsible for the audit of the programmes shall carry out audits of operations and of management and control systems at the level of other bodies implementing the financial instruments in their respective Member States and at the level of the final recipients provided that the conditions set out in paragraph 3 are fulfilled.
The Commission may carry out audits at the level of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1, where it concludes that this is necessary to obtain reasonable assurance given the risks identified.
2a. As regards financial instruments referred to in point (a) of Article 38(1) and Article 39 which were established by a funding agreement signed before 2 August 2018, the rules set out in this Article applicable at the moment of the signature of the funding agreement shall apply, by way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.
3. The bodies responsible for the audit of programmes may conduct audits at the level of final recipients only when one or more of the following situations occur:
@@ -1110,15 +1202,25 @@
(b)there is evidence that the documents available at the level of the managing authority or at the level of the bodies that implement financial instruments do not represent a true and accurate record of the support provided.
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 149, concerning the management and control of financial instruments referred to in point (b) of Article 38(1), including controls to be performed by managing and audit authorities, arrangements for keeping supporting documents, elements to be evidenced by supporting documents, and management and control and audit arrangements. The Commission shall notify those delegated acts simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council by 22 April 2014.
4. By 3 November 2018, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 supplementing this Regulation by laying down additional specific rules on the management and control of financial instruments referred to in points (b) and (c) of Article 38(1), the types of controls to be performed by managing and audit authorities, the arrangements for keeping supporting documents and the elements to be evidenced by supporting documents.
5. The bodies implementing financial instruments shall be responsible for ensuring that supporting documents are available and shall not impose on final recipients record-keeping requirements that go beyond what is necessary to enable them to fulfil that responsibility.
5a. By way of derogation from Article 143(4) of this Regulation and from the second paragraph of Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, in operations comprising financial instruments, a contribution cancelled in accordance with Article 143(2) of this Regulation or in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, as a result of an individual irregularity, may be reused within the same operation under the following conditions:
(a)where the irregularity that gives rise to the cancellation of the contribution is detected at the level of the final recipient, the contribution cancelled may be reused only for other final recipients within the same financial instrument;
(b)where the irregularity that gives rise to the cancellation of the contribution is detected at the level of the financial intermediary within a fund of funds, the contribution cancelled may be reused only for other financial intermediaries.
Where the irregularity that gives rise to the cancellation of the contribution is detected at the level of the body implementing funds of funds, or at the level of the body implementing financial instruments where a financial instrument is implemented through a structure without a fund of funds, the contribution cancelled may not be reused within the same operation.
Where a financial correction is made for a systemic irregularity, the contribution cancelled may not be reused for any operation affected by the systemic irregularity.
#### Article 41
##### Payment applications including expenditure for financial instruments
1. As regards financial instruments referred to in point (a) of Article 38(1) and financial instruments referred to in point (b) of Article 38(1) implemented in accordance with points (a) and (b) of Article 38(4), phased applications for interim payments shall be made for programme contributions paid to the financial instrument during the eligibility period laid down in Article 65(2) (the 'eligibility period") in accordance with the following conditions:
1. As regards financial instruments referred to in points (a) and (c) of Article 38(1), and as regards financial instruments referred to in point (b) of Article 38(1) implemented in accordance with points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4), phased applications for interim payment shall be made for programme contributions paid to the financial instrument during the eligibility period laid down in Article 65(2) (the ‘eligibility period’) in accordance with the following conditions:
(a)the amount of the programme contribution paid to the financial instrument included in each application for interim payment submitted during the eligibility period shall not exceed 25 % of the total amount of programme contributions committed to the financial instrument under the relevant funding agreement, corresponding to expenditure within the meaning of points (a), (b) and (d) of Article 42(1) expected to be paid during the eligibility period. Applications for interim payment submitted after the eligibility period shall include the total amount of eligible expenditure within the meaning of Article 42;
@@ -1134,7 +1236,7 @@
At closure of a programme, the application for payment of the final balance shall include the total amount of eligible expenditure as referred to in Article 42.
2. As regards financial instruments referred to in point (b) of Article 38(1) implemented in accordance with point (c) of Article 38(4), the applications for interim payments and for payment of the final balance shall include the total amount of the payments effected by the managing authority for investments in final recipients as referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 42(1).
2. As regards financial instruments referred to in point (b) of Article 38(1) implemented in accordance with point (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4), the applications for interim payment and for payment of the final balance shall include the total amount of the payments effected by the managing authority for investments in final recipients as referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 42(1).
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149, laying down the rules for withdrawal of payments to financial instruments and consequent adjustments in respect of applications for payment.
@@ -1158,7 +1260,7 @@
2. In the case of equity-based instruments and micro-credit, capitalised management costs or fees due to be paid for a period not exceeding six years after the eligibility period, in respect of investments in final recipients which occurred within the eligibility period, which cannot be covered by Articles 44 or 45, may be considered as eligible expenditure when paid into an escrow account specifically set up for that purpose.
3. In the case of equity-based instruments targeting enterprises referred to in Article 37(4) for which the funding agreement referred to in point (b) of Article 38(7) was signed before 31 December 2017, which by the end of the eligibility period invested at least 55 % of the programme resources committed in the relevant funding agreement, a limited amount of payments for investments in final recipients to be made for a period not exceeding four years after the end of eligibility period may be considered as eligible expenditure, when paid into an escrow account specifically set up for that purpose, provided that State aid rules are complied with and that all of the conditions set out below are fulfilled.
3. In the case of equity-based instruments targeting enterprises referred to in Article 37(4) for which the funding agreement referred to in point (b) of Article 38(7) was signed before 31 December 2018, which by the end of the eligibility period invested at least 55 % of the programme resources committed in the relevant funding agreement, a limited amount of payments for investments in final recipients to be made for a period not exceeding four years after the end of the eligibility period may be considered as eligible expenditure, when paid into an escrow account specifically set up for that purpose, provided that State aid rules are complied with and that all of the conditions set out below are fulfilled.
The amount paid into the escrow account:
@@ -1176,7 +1278,7 @@
(b)corresponding national co-financing.
5. Where management cost and fees as referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 and in paragraph 2 of this Article are charged by the body implementing the fund of funds or bodies implementing financial instruments pursuant to points (a) and (b) of Article 38(4), they shall not exceed the thresholds defined in the delegated act referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article. Whereas management costs shall comprise direct or indirect cost items reimbursed against evidence of expenditure, management fees shall refer to an agreed price for services rendered established via a competitive market process, where applicable. Management costs and fees shall be based on a performance based calculation methodology.
5. Where management costs and fees as referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article and in paragraph 2 of this Article are charged by the body implementing the fund of funds or bodies implementing financial instruments pursuant to point (c) of Article 38(1) and points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4), they shall not exceed the thresholds defined in the delegated act referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article. Whereas management costs shall comprise direct or indirect cost items reimbursed against evidence of expenditure, management fees shall refer to an agreed price for services rendered established via a competitive market process, where applicable. Management costs and fees shall be based on a performance-based calculation methodology.
Management costs and fees may comprise arrangement fees. Where arrangement fees, or any part thereof, are charged to final recipients, they shall not be declared as eligible expenditure.
@@ -1194,20 +1296,30 @@
3. The managing authority shall ensure that adequate records of the use of interest and other gains are maintained.
#### Article 43a
##### Differentiated treatment of investors
1. Support from the ESI Funds to financial instruments invested in final recipients and gains and other earnings or yields, such as interest, guarantee fees, dividends, capital gains or any other income generated by those investments, which are attributable to the support from the ESI Funds, may be used for differentiated treatment of investors operating under the market economy principle, as well as of the EIB when using the EU guarantee pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/1017. Such differentiated treatment shall be justified by the need to attract private counterpart resources and to leverage public funding.
2. The assessments referred to in Articles 37(2) and 39a(3) shall include, as appropriate, an assessment of the need for, and the extent of, differentiated treatment as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and/or a description of the mechanisms which will be used to establish the need for, and extent of, such differentiated treatment.
3. The differentiated treatment shall not exceed what is necessary to create the incentives for attracting private counterpart resources. It shall not over-compensate investors operating under the market economy principle, or the EIB when using the EU guarantee pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/1017. The alignment of interest shall be ensured through an appropriate sharing of risk and profit.
4. Differentiated treatment of investors operating under the market economy principle shall be without prejudice to the Union State aid rules.
#### Article 44
##### Re-use of resources attributable to the support from the ESI Funds until the end of the eligibility period
1. Resources paid back to financial instruments from investments or from the release of resources committed for guarantee contracts, including capital repayments and gains and other earnings or yields, such as interest, guarantee fees, dividends, capital gains or any other income generated by investments, which are attributable to the support from the ESI Funds, shall be re-used for the following purposes, up to the amounts necessary and in the order agreed in the relevant funding agreements:
1. Without prejudice to Article 43a, resources paid back to financial instruments from investments or from the release of resources committed for guarantee contracts, including capital repayments and gains and other earnings or yields, such as interest, guarantee fees, dividends, capital gains or any other income generated by investments, which are attributable to the support from the ESI Funds, shall be re-used for the following purposes, up to the amounts necessary and in the order agreed in the relevant funding agreements:
(a)further investments through the same or other financial instruments, in accordance with the specific objectives set out under a priority;
(b)where applicable, preferential remuneration of private investors, or public investors operating under the market economy principle, who provide counterpart resources to the support from the ESI Funds to the financial instrument or who co-invest at the level of final recipients;
(b)where applicable, to cover the losses in the nominal amount of the ESI Funds contribution to the financial instrument resulting from negative interest, if such losses occur despite active treasury management by the bodies implementing financial instruments;
(c)where applicable, reimbursement of management costs incurred and payment of management fees of the financial instrument.
The need and the level for preferential remuneration pursuant to point (b) of the first subparagraph shall be established in the ex-ante assessment. The preferential remuneration shall not exceed what is necessary to create the incentives for attracting private counterpart resources and shall not over-compensate private investors, or public investors operating under the market economy principle. The alignment of interest shall be ensured through an appropriate sharing of risk and profit and shall be carried out on a normal commercial basis and be compatible with Union State aid rules.
2. The managing authority shall ensure that adequate records of the re-use of the resources referred to in paragraph 1 are maintained.
#### Article 45
@@ -1228,7 +1340,7 @@
(b)description of the financial instrument and implementation arrangements;
(c)identification of the bodies implementing financial instruments, and the bodies implementing funds of funds where applicable, as referred to under point (a) of Article 38(1), points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 38(4), and the financial intermediaries referred to under Article 38(6);
(c)identification of the bodies implementing financial instruments, and the bodies implementing funds of funds where applicable, as referred to under points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 38(1);
(d)total amount of programme contributions by priority or measure paid to the financial instrument;
@@ -1236,9 +1348,9 @@
(f)the performance of the financial instrument including progress in its set-up and in selection of bodies implementing the financial instrument, including the body implementing a fund of funds;
(g)interest and other gains generated by support from the ESI Funds to the financial instrument and programme resources paid back to financial instruments from investments as referred to in Articles 43 and 44;
(h)progress in achieving the expected leverage effect of investments made by the financial instrument and value of investments and participations;
(g)interest and other gains generated by support from the ESI Funds to the financial instrument and programme resources paid back to financial instruments from investments as referred to in Articles 43 and 44 and amounts used for differentiated treatment as referred to in Article 43a;
(h)progress in achieving the expected leverage effect of investments made by the financial instrument;
(i)the value of equity investments, with respect to previous years;
@@ -1300,7 +1412,7 @@
3. The monitoring committee shall be consulted and shall, if it considers it to be appropriate, give an opinion on any amendment of the programme proposed by the managing authority.
4. The monitoring committee may make observations to the managing authority regarding implementation and evaluation of the programme including actions related to the reduction of the administrative burden on beneficiaries. The monitoring committee shall monitor actions taken as a result of its observations.
4. The monitoring committee may make observations to the managing authority regarding implementation and evaluation of the programme including actions related to the reduction of the administrative burden on beneficiaries. It may also make observations on the visibility of support from the ESI Funds and on raising awareness about the results of such support. It shall monitor actions taken as a result of its observations.
#### Article 50
@@ -1330,7 +1442,7 @@
##### Annual review meeting
1. An annual review meeting shall be organised every year from 2016 until and including 2023 between the Commission and each Member State to examine the performance of each programme, taking account of the annual implementation report and the Commission's observations where applicable.
1. An annual review meeting shall be organised every year from 2016 until and including 2023 between the Commission and each Member State to examine the performance of each programme, taking account of the annual implementation report and the Commission’s observations where applicable. The meeting shall also review the programme’s communication and information activities, in particular the results and effectiveness of measures taken to inform the public about the results and added value of support from the ESI Funds.
2. The annual review meeting may cover more than one programme. In 2017 and 2019, the annual review meeting shall cover all programmes in the Member State and shall also take account of the progress reports submitted by the Member State, in accordance with Article 52, in those years.
@@ -1440,7 +1552,7 @@
(n)measures planned to reduce the administrative burden on beneficiaries.
4. Ex ante evaluations shall incorporate, where appropriate, the requirements for strategic environmental assessment set out in Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>18</sup>) taking into account climate change mitigation needs.
4. Ex ante evaluations shall incorporate, where appropriate, the requirements for strategic environmental assessment set out in Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>23</sup>) taking into account climate change mitigation needs.
#### Article 56
@@ -1454,8 +1566,6 @@
4. The Commission may carry out, at its own initiative, evaluations of programmes. It shall inform the managing authority and the results shall be sent to the managing authority and provided to the monitoring committee concerned.
5. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply to the dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4).
#### Article 57
##### Ex post evaluation
@@ -1464,7 +1574,7 @@
2. Ex post evaluations shall be completed by 31 December 2024.
3. The ex-post evaluation of the dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) shall be carried out by the Commission and completed by 31 December 2019.
3. Paragraph 1 and 2 of this Article shall also apply to the contributions from the ERDF or the EAFRD to the dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4).
4. For each of the ESI Funds, the Commission shall prepare, by 31 December 2025, a synthesis report outlining the main conclusions of ex-post evaluations.
@@ -1478,7 +1588,7 @@
1. At the initiative of the Commission, the ESI Funds may support the preparatory, monitoring, administrative and technical assistance, evaluation, audit and control measures necessary for implementing this Regulation.
The measures referred to in the first subparagraph may be implemented either directly by the Commission or indirectly, by entities and persons other than Member States in accordance with Article 60 of the Financial Regulation.
The measures referred to in the first subparagraph may be implemented either directly by the Commission or indirectly, by entities and persons other than Member States in accordance with Article 154 of the Financial Regulation.
The measures referred to in the first subparagraph may include in particular:
@@ -1492,7 +1602,7 @@
(e)evaluations, expert reports, statistics and studies, including those of a general nature, concerning the current and future operation of the ESI Funds, which may be carried out where appropriate by the EIB;
(f)actions to disseminate information, support networking, carry out communication activities, raise awareness and promote cooperation and exchange of experience, including with third countries;
(f)actions to disseminate information, support networking, carry out communication activities with particular attention to the results and added value of support from the ESI Funds, raise awareness and promote cooperation and exchange of experience, including with third countries;
(g)the installation, operation and interconnection of computerised systems for management, monitoring, audit, control and evaluation;
@@ -1506,7 +1616,9 @@
(l)actions financed under Regulation (EU) 2017/825 in order to contribute to delivering the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
To bring about greater efficiency in communication to the public at large and stronger synergies between the communication activities undertaken at the initiative of the Commission, the resources allocated to communication actions under this Regulation shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union as far as they are related to the general objectives of this Regulation.
The Commission shall dedicate at least 15 % of the resources referred to in this Article to bring about greater efficiency in communication to the public and stronger synergies between the communication activities undertaken at the initiative of the Commission, by extending the knowledge base on results, in particular through more effective data collection and dissemination, evaluations and reporting, and especially by highlighting the contribution of the ESI Funds to improving people’s lives, and by increasing the visibility of support from the ESI Funds as well as by raising awareness about the results and the added value of such support. Information, communication and visibility measures on results and added value of support from the ESI Funds, with particular focus on operations, shall be continued after the closure of the programmes, where appropriate. Such measures shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union as far as they are related to the general objectives of this Regulation.
Depending on their purpose, the measures referred to in this Article can be financed either as operational or administrative expenditure.
2. The Commission shall set out each year its plans on the type of actions related to the measures listed in paragraph 1, when a contribution from the ESI Funds is envisaged, by means of implementing acts.
@@ -1516,8 +1628,18 @@
1. At the initiative of a Member State, the ESI Funds may support actions for preparation, management, monitoring, evaluation, information and communication, networking, complaint resolution, and control and audit. The ESI Funds may be used by the Member State to support actions for the reduction of the administrative burden on beneficiaries, including electronic data exchange systems, and actions to reinforce the capacity of Member State authorities and beneficiaries to administer and use those Funds. The ESI Funds may also be used to support actions to reinforce the capacity of relevant partners in line with point (e) of Article 5(3) and to support exchange of good practices between such partners. The actions referred to in this paragraph may concern previous and subsequent programming periods.
1a. Each ESI Fund may support technical assistance operations eligible under any of the other ESI Funds.
2. The Fund-specific rules may add or exclude actions which may be financed by the technical assistance of each ESI Fund.
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, Member States may implement actions referred to in paragraph 1 through the direct award of a contract to:
(a)the EIB;
(b)an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder;
(c)a publicly-owned bank or institution, as referred to in point (b)(iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4).
## TITLE VII
### **FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE ESI FUNDS**
@@ -1538,7 +1660,7 @@
##### Operations generating net revenue after completion
1. This Article shall apply to operations which generate net revenue after their completion. For the purposes of this Article 'net revenue' means cash in-flows directly paid by users for the goods or services provided by the operation, such as charges borne directly by users for the use of infrastructure, sale or rent of land or buildings, or payments for services less any operating costs and replacement costs of short-life equipment incurred during the corresponding period. Operating cost-savings generated by the operation shall be treated as net revenue unless they are offset by an equal reduction in operating subsidies.
1. This Article shall apply to operations which generate net revenue after their completion. For the purposes of this Article, ‘net revenue’ means cash in-flows directly paid by users for the goods or services provided by the operation, such as charges borne directly by users for the use of infrastructure, sale or rent of land or buildings, or payments for services less any operating costs and replacement costs of short-life equipment incurred during the corresponding period. Operating cost-savings generated by the operation, with the exception of cost-savings resulting from the implementation of energy efficiency measures, shall be treated as net revenue unless they are offset by an equal reduction in operating subsidies.
Where not all the investment cost is eligible for co-financing, the net revenue shall be allocated pro rata to the eligible and non-eligible parts of the investment cost.
@@ -1548,6 +1670,8 @@
(a)application of a flat rate net revenue percentage for the sector or subsector applicable to the operation as defined in Annex V or in any of the delegated acts referred to in the second, third and fourth subparagraphs;
(aa)application of a flat rate net revenue percentage established by a Member State for a sector or subsector not covered by point (a). Before the application of the flat rate the responsible audit authority shall verify that the flat rate has been established according to a fair, equitable and verifiable method based on historical data or objective criteria;
(b)calculation of the discounted net revenue of the operation, taking into account the reference period appropriate to the sector or subsector applicable to the operation, the profitability normally expected of the category of investment concerned, the application of the polluter-pays principle and, if appropriate, considerations of equity linked to the relative prosperity of the Member State or region concerned.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 in duly justified cases to amend Annex V by adjusting the flat rates established therein taking into account historical data, the potential for cost recovery and the polluter-pays principle where applicable.
@@ -1564,9 +1688,7 @@
4. The method by which the net revenue is deducted from the expenditure of the operation included in the payment application submitted to the Commission shall be determined in accordance with national rules.
5. As an alternative to the application of the methods laid down in paragraph 3, the maximum co-financing rate referred to in Article 60(1) may, at the request of a Member State, be decreased at the moment of adoption of a programme for a priority or measure under which all operations supported under that priority or measure could apply a uniform flat rate in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3. The decrease shall be not less than the amount calculated by multiplying the maximum Union co-financing rate applicable under the Fund-specific rules by the relevant flat rate referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3.
Where the method referred to in the first subparagraph is applied, all net revenue generated during implementation, and after completion, of the operation shall be considered to be taken into account by application of the decreased co-financing rate and shall therefore not be deducted subsequently from the eligible expenditure of the operations.
5. As an alternative to the application of the methods laid down in paragraph 3 of this Article, the maximum co-financing rate referred to in Article 60(1) may, at the request of a Member State, be decreased for a priority or measure under which all supported operations could apply a uniform flat rate in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 of this Article. The decrease shall be not less than the amount calculated by multiplying the maximum Union co-financing rate applicable under the Fund-specific rules by the relevant flat rate referred to in that point.
6. Where it is objectively not possible to determine the revenue in advance based on any of the methods set out in paragraphs 3 or 5, the net revenue generated within three years of the completion of an operation, or by the deadline for the submission of documents for programme closure fixed in the Fund-specific rules, whichever is the earlier, shall be deducted from the expenditure declared to the Commission.
@@ -1586,19 +1708,11 @@
(g)operations implemented under a joint action plan;
(h)operations for which amounts or rates of support are defined in Annex II to the EAFRD Regulation.
(h)operations for which amounts or rates of support are defined in Annex II to the EAFRD Regulation or in the EMFF Regulation.
Notwithstanding point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, where a Member State applies paragraph 5, it may include in the relevant priority or measure operations whose total eligible cost before application of paragraphs 1 to 6 does not exceed EUR 1 000 000 .
8. In addition, paragraphs 1 to 6 shall not apply to operations for which support under the programme constitutes:
(a)de minimis aid;
(b)compatible State aid to SMEs, where an aid intensity or an aid amount limit is applied in relation to State aid;
(c)compatible State aid, where an individual verification of financing needs in accordance with the applicable State aid rules has been carried out.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, a managing authority may apply the paragraphs 1 to 6 to operations which fall under points (a) to (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph where this is provided for in national rules.
8. In addition, paragraphs 1 to 6 shall not apply to operations for which support under the programme constitutes State aid.
## *CHAPTER II*
@@ -1686,9 +1800,9 @@
(g)operations implemented under a joint action plan provided that the net revenue has been taken into account ex ante;
(h)operations for which amounts or rates of support are defined in Annex II to the EAFRD Regulation; or
(i)operations for which the total eligible cost does not exceed EUR 50 000 .
(h)operations for which amounts or rates of support are defined in Annex II to the EAFRD Regulation or in the EMFF Regulation with the exception of those operations for which reference is made to this paragraph in the EMFF Regulation; or
(i)operations for which the total eligible cost does not exceed EUR 100 000 .
For the purposes of this Article and Article 61, any payment received by the beneficiary arising from contractual penalties as a result of a breach of contract between the beneficiary and a third party or third parties or that has occurred as a result of the withdrawal of an offer by a third party chosen under public procurement rules (the 'deposit') shall not be considered as revenue and shall not be deducted from the eligible expenditure of the operation.
@@ -1698,7 +1812,7 @@
10. By way of derogation from paragraph 9, specific provisions on the starting date of eligibility may be established in the EAFRD Regulation.
11. An operation may receive support from one or more ESI Funds or from one or more programmes and from other Union instruments, provided that the expenditure item included in a payment application for reimbursement by one of the ESI Funds does not receive support from another Fund or Union instrument, or support from the same Fund under another programme.
11. An operation may receive support from one or more ESI Funds or from one or more programmes and from other Union instruments, provided that the expenditure declared in a payment application for one of the ESI Funds is not declared for support from another Fund or Union instrument, or for support from the same Fund under another programme. The amount of expenditure to be entered into a payment application of an ESI Fund may be calculated for each ESI Fund and for the programme or programmes concerned on a pro rata basis in accordance with the document setting out the conditions for support.
#### Article 66
@@ -1718,28 +1832,42 @@
(b)standard scales of unit costs;
(c)lump sums not exceeding EUR 100 000 of public contribution;
(d)flat-rate financing, determined by the application of a percentage to one or more defined categories of costs.
(c)lump sums;
(d)flat-rate financing, determined by the application of a percentage to one or more defined categories of costs;
(e)financing which is not linked to costs of the relevant operations but is based on the fulfilment of conditions related to the realisation of progress in implementation or the achievement of objectives of programmes as set out in the delegated act adopted in accordance with paragraph 5a.
Fund-specific rules may limit the forms of grants or repayable assistance applicable to certain operations.
For the form of financing referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph, the audit shall exclusively aim at verifying that the conditions for reimbursement have been fulfilled.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, additional forms of grants and methods of calculation may be established in the EMFF Regulation.
2a. For an operation or a project not covered by the first sentence of paragraph 4 and which receive support from the ERDF and the ESF, grants and repayable assistance for which the public support does not exceed EUR 100 000 shall take the form of standard scales of unit costs, lump sums or flat rates, except for operations receiving support within the framework of State aid that does not constitute *de minimis* aid.
Where flat-rate financing is used, the categories of costs to which the flat rate is applied may be reimbursed in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1.
For operations supported by the EAFRD, ERDF or the ESF, where the flat rate referred to in Article 68b(1) is used, the allowances and the salaries paid to participants may be reimbursed in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article.
This paragraph shall be subject to the transitional provisions set out in Article 152(7).
3. The options referred to in paragraph 1 may be combined only where each option covers different categories of costs or where they are used for different projects forming a part of an operation or for successive phases of an operation.
4. Where an operation or a project forming a part of an operation is implemented exclusively through the public procurement of works, goods or services, only point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall apply. Where the public procurement within an operation or project forming part of an operation is limited to certain categories of costs, all the options referred to in paragraph 1 may be applied.
4. Where an operation or a project forming a part of an operation is implemented exclusively through the public procurement of works, goods or services, only points (a) and (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall apply. Where the public procurement within an operation or project forming part of an operation is limited to certain categories of costs, all the options referred to in paragraph 1 may be applied for the whole operation or project forming a part of an operation.
5. The amounts referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be established in one of the following ways:
(a)a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method based on:
(i)statistical data or other objective information;
(ii)the verified historical data of individual beneficiaries; or
(a)a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method based on any of the following:
(i)statistical data, other objective information or an expert judgement;
(ii)the verified historical data of individual beneficiaries;
(iii)the application of the usual cost accounting practices of individual beneficiaries;
(aa)a draft budget established on a case-by-case basis and agreed *ex ante* by the managing authority, or in the case of EAFRD the authority responsible for the selection of operations, where the public support does not exceed EUR 100 000 ;
(b)in accordance with the rules for application of corresponding scales of unit costs, lump sums and flat rates applicable in Union policies for a similar type of operation and beneficiary;
(c)in accordance with the rules for application of corresponding scales of unit costs, lump sums and flat rates applied under schemes for grants funded entirely by the Member State for a similar type of operation and beneficiary;
@@ -1748,23 +1876,49 @@
(e)specific methods for determining amounts established in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
5a. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 supplementing this Regulation with regard to the definition of the standard scales of unit costs or the flat-rate financing referred to in points (b) and (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article, the related methods referred to in point (a) of paragraph 5 of this Article and the form of support referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article, by specifying detailed modalities concerning the financing conditions and their application.
6. The document setting out the conditions for support for each operation shall set out the method to be applied for determining the costs of the operation and the conditions for payment of the grant.
#### Article 68
##### Flat rate financing for indirect costs and staff costs concerning grants and repayable assistance
1. Where the implementation of an operation gives rise to indirect costs, they may be calculated at a flat rate in one of the following ways:
(a)a flat rate of up to 25 % of eligible direct costs, provided that the rate is calculated on the basis of a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method or a method applied under schemes for grants funded entirely by the Member State for a similar type of operation and beneficiary;
(b)a flat rate of up to 15 % of eligible direct staff costs without there being a requirement for the Member State to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate;
##### Flat-rate financing for indirect costs concerning grants and repayable assistance
Where the implementation of an operation gives rise to indirect costs, they may be calculated at a flat rate in one of the following ways:
(a)a flat rate of up to 25 % of eligible direct costs, provided that the rate is calculated on the basis of a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method or a method applied under schemes for grants funded entirely by the Member State for a similar type of operation and beneficiary;
(b)a flat rate of up to 15 % of eligible direct staff costs without there being a requirement for the Member State to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate;
(c)a flat rate applied to eligible direct costs based on existing methods and corresponding rates, applicable in Union policies for a similar type of operation and beneficiary.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 concerning the definition of the flat rate and the related methods referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph.
2. For the purposes of determining staff costs relating to the implementation of an operation, the hourly rate applicable may be calculated by dividing the latest documented annual gross employment costs by 1 720 hours.
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 to supplement the provisions on the flat rate and the related methods referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph.
#### Article 68a
##### Staff costs concerning grants and repayable assistance
1. Direct staff costs of an operation may be calculated at a flat rate of up to 20 % of the direct costs other than the staff costs of that operation. Member States shall not be required to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate provided that the direct costs of the operation do not include public works contracts which exceed in value the threshold set out in point (a) of Article 4 of Directive 2014/24/EU.
2. For the purposes of determining staff costs, an hourly rate may be calculated by dividing the latest documented annual gross employment costs by 1 720 hours for persons working full time, or by a corresponding pro-rata of 1 720 hours, for persons working part-time.
3. When applying the hourly rate calculated in accordance with paragraph 2, the total number of hours declared per person for a given year shall not exceed the number of hours used for the calculations of that hourly rate.
The first subparagraph shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal for staff costs related to individuals who work on a part-time assignment on the operation.
4. Where annual gross employment costs are not available, they may be derived from the available documented gross employment costs or from the contract for employment, duly adjusted for a 12-month period.
5. Staff costs related to individuals who work on part-time assignment on the operation may be calculated as a fixed percentage of the gross employment costs, in line with a fixed percentage of time worked on the operation per month, with no obligation to establish a separate working time registration system. The employer shall issue a document for employees setting out that fixed percentage.
#### Article 68b
##### Flat-rate financing for costs other than staff costs
1. A flat rate of up to 40 % of eligible direct staff costs may be used in order to cover the remaining eligible costs of an operation without a requirement for the Member State to execute any calculation to determine the applicable rate.
For operations supported by the ESF, the ERDF or the EAFRD, salaries and allowances paid to participants shall be considered additional eligible costs not included in the flat rate.
2. The flat rate referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be applied to staff costs calculated on the basis of a flat rate.
#### Article 69
@@ -1806,21 +1960,29 @@
##### Eligibility of operations depending on location
1. Operations supported by the ESI Funds, subject to the derogations referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, and the Fund-specific rules, shall be located in the programme area.
1. Subject to the derogations referred to in paragraph 2 and the Fund-specific rules, operations supported by the ESI Funds shall be located in the programme area.
Operations concerning the provision of services to citizens or businesses which cover the whole territory of a Member State shall be considered as being located in all programme areas within a Member State. In such cases, expenditure shall be allocated to the concerned programme areas on a pro-rata basis, based on objective criteria.
The second subparagraph of this paragraph does not apply to the national programme referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or to the specific programme for the establishment and the operation of the national rural network referred to in Article 54(1) of that Regulation.
2. The managing authority may accept that an operation is implemented outside the programme area but within the Union, provided that all the following conditions are satisfied:
(a)the operation is for the benefit of the programme area;
(b)the total amount allocated under the programme to operations located outside the programme area does not exceed 15 % of the support from the ERDF, Cohesion Fund and EMFF at the level of the priority, or 5 % of the support from the EAFRD at the level of the programme;
(b)the total amount from the ERDF, Cohesion Fund, EAFRD or EMFF allocated under the programme to operations located outside the programme area does not exceed 15 % of the support from the ERDF, Cohesion Fund, EAFRD or EMFF at the level of the priority at the time of adoption of the programme;
(c)the monitoring committee has given its agreement to the operation or types of operations concerned;
(d)the obligations of the authorities for the programme in relation to management, control and audit concerning the operation are fulfilled by the authorities responsible for the programme under which that operation is supported or they enter into agreements with authorities in the area in which the operation is implemented.
3. For operations concerning technical assistance or promotional activities, expenditure may be incurred outside the Union provided that the conditions set out in point (a) of paragraph 2 and the obligations in relation to management, control and audit concerning the operation are fulfilled.
4. Paragraphs 1 to 3 shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal and paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to operations supported by the ESF.
Where operations financed from the Funds and the EMFF are implemented outside the programme area in accordance with this paragraph and have benefits both outside and within the programme area, such expenditure shall be allocated to those areas on a pro rata basis based on objective criteria.
Where operations concern the thematic objective referred to in point (1) of the first paragraph of Article 9 and are implemented outside the Member State but within the Union, only points (b) and (d) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall apply.
3. For operations concerning technical assistance or information, communication and visibility measures and promotional activities, and for operations concerning the thematic objective referred to in point (1) of the first paragraph of Article 9, expenditure may be incurred outside the Union provided that the expenditure is necessary for the satisfactory implementation of the operation.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to operations supported by the ESF.
#### Article 71
@@ -1842,7 +2004,7 @@
3. Operations supported by the ESF and operations supported by the other ESI Funds that are not investments in infrastructure or productive investments shall repay the contribution from the Fund only where they are subject to an obligation for maintenance of investment under the applicable State aid rules and where they undergo a cessation or relocation of a productive activity within the period laid down in those rules.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply to contributions to or by financial instruments or to any operation which undergoes cessation of a productive activity due to a non-fraudulent bankruptcy.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply to contributions to or by financial instruments or for lease purchase under point (b) of Article 45(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 nor to any operation which undergoes cessation of a productive activity due to a non-fraudulent bankruptcy.
5. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply to natural persons who are beneficiaries of investment support and, after the completion of the investment operation, become eligible for and receive support under Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council where the investment concerned is directly linked to the type of activity identified as eligible for support from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.
@@ -1902,7 +2064,7 @@
##### Commission powers and responsibilities
1. The Commission shall satisfy itself, on the basis of available information, including information on the designation of bodies responsible for the management and control, the documents provided each year, in accordance with Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation, by those designated bodies, control reports, annual implementation reports and audits carried out by national and Union bodies, that the Member States have set up management and control systems that comply with this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules and that those systems function effectively during the implementation of programmes.
1. The Commission shall satisfy itself, on the basis of available information, including information on the designation of bodies responsible for the management and control, the documents provided each year, in accordance with Article 63(5), (6) and (7) of the Financial Regulation, by those designated bodies, control reports, annual implementation reports and audits carried out by national and Union bodies, that the Member States have set up management and control systems that comply with this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules and that those systems function effectively during the implementation of programmes.
2. Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives may carry out on-the-spot audits or checks subject to giving at least 12 working days notice to the competent national authority, except in urgent cases. The Commission shall respect the principle of proportionality by taking into account the need to avoid unjustified duplication of audits or checks carried out by Member States, the level of risk to the budget of the Union and the need to minimise the administrative burden on beneficiaries in accordance with the Fund-specific rules. The scope of such audits or checks may include, in particular, verification of the effective functioning of management and control systems in a programme or a part thereof, in operations and assessment of the sound financial management of operations or programmes. Officials or authorised representatives of the Member State may take part in such audits or checks.
@@ -1910,6 +2072,18 @@
The powers set out in this paragraph shall not affect the application of national provisions which reserve certain acts for agents specifically designated by national legislation. Commission officials and authorised representatives shall not take part, inter alia, in home visits or the formal questioning of persons within the framework of national legislation. However, such officials and representatives shall have access to the information thus obtained without prejudice to the competences of national courts and in full respect of the fundamental rights of the legal subjects concerned.
2a. The Commission shall provide the competent national authority with:
(a)the draft audit report from the on-the-spot audit or check within three months of the end of that audit or check;
(b)the final audit report within three months of the receipt of a complete reply from the competent national authority to the draft audit report from the on-the-spot audit or check concerned.
The reports referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall be made available within the time limits set out in those points in at least one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union.
The time limit set out in point (a) of the first subparagraph shall not include the period which starts on the date following the date on which the Commission sends its request for additional information to the Member State and lasts until the Member State responds to that request.
This paragraph shall not be applicable to the EAFRD.
3. The Commission may require a Member State to take the actions necessary to ensure the effective functioning of their management and control systems or the correctness of expenditure in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.
## TITLE IX
@@ -1926,7 +2100,8 @@
The budget commitments of the Union in respect of each programme shall be made in annual instalments for each Fund during the period between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2020. The budget commitments relating to the performance reserve in each programme shall be made separately from the remaining allocation to the programme.
The decision of the Commission adopting a programme shall constitute a financing decision within the meaning of Article 84(2) of the Financial Regulation and once notified to the Member State concerned, a legal commitment within the meaning of that Regulation.
The decision of the Commission adopting a programme shall constitute a financing decision within the meaning of Article 110(1) of the Financial Regulation
and once notified to the Member State concerned, a legal commitment within the meaning of that Regulation.
For each programme, the budget commitments for the first instalment shall follow the adoption of the programme by the Commission.
@@ -1958,7 +2133,7 @@
1. The specific procedure and information to be submitted for payment applications in relation to each ESI Fund shall be laid down in the Fund-specific rules.
2. The payment application to be submitted to the Commission shall provide all the information necessary for the Commission to produce accounts in accordance with Article 68(3) of the Financial Regulation.
2. The payment application to be submitted to the Commission shall provide all the information necessary for the Commission to produce accounts in accordance with Article 82(2) of the Financial Regulation.
#### Article 80
@@ -1990,7 +2165,7 @@
(b)the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following information that has come to that officer's attention alerting him or her that expenditure in a payment application is linked to an irregularity having serious financial consequences;
(c)there is a failure to submit one of the documents required under Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation.
(c)there is a failure to submit one of the documents required under Article 63(5), (6) and (7) of the Financial Regulation.
The Member State may agree to an extension of the interruption period for another three months.
@@ -2006,7 +2181,7 @@
##### Deadline for the examination and acceptance of accounts by the Commission
By 31 May of the year following the end of the accounting period, the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 59(6) of the Financial Regulation, apply procedures for the examination and acceptance of the accounts and inform the Member State as to whether it accepts that the accounts are complete, accurate and true in accordance with Fund-specific rules.
By 31 May of the year following the end of the accounting period, the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 63(8) of the Financial Regulation, apply procedures for the examination and acceptance of the accounts and inform the Member State as to whether it accepts that the accounts are complete, accurate and true in accordance with Fund-specific rules.
## *CHAPTER III*
@@ -2212,7 +2387,7 @@
1. For the purposes of this Article and Annex X, the following definitions apply:
(1)'gross fixed capital formation' means all the resident producers' acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed assets during a given period and certain additions to the value of non-produced assets realised by the productive activity of producer or institutional units, as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 (<sup>19</sup>);
(1)'gross fixed capital formation' means all the resident producers' acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed assets during a given period and certain additions to the value of non-produced assets realised by the productive activity of producer or institutional units, as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 (<sup>24</sup>);
(2)'fixed assets' means all tangible or intangible assets produced as outputs from processes of production that are themselves used repeatedly, or continuously, in processes of production for more than one year;
@@ -2376,7 +2551,7 @@
1. The Funds may jointly provide support for operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal.
2. The ERDF and the ESF may finance, in a complementary manner and subject to a limit of 10 % of Union funding for each priority axis of an operational programme, a part of an operation for which the costs are eligible for support from the other Fund on the basis of eligibility rules applied to that Fund, provided that such costs are necessary for the satisfactory implementation of the operation and are directly linked to it.
2. The ERDF and the ESF may finance, in a complementary manner and subject to a limit of 10 % of Union funding for each priority axis of an operational programme, a part of an operation for which the costs are eligible for support from the other Fund on the basis of rules applied to that Fund, provided that such costs are necessary for the satisfactory implementation of the operation and are directly linked to it.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal.
@@ -2460,7 +2635,19 @@
5. Major projects notified to the Commission under paragraph 1 or submitted for approval under paragraph 2 shall be contained in the list of major projects in an operational programme.
6. Expenditure relating to a major project may be included in a payment application after the notification referred to in paragraph 1 or after the submission for approval referred to in paragraph 2. Where the Commission does not approve the major project selected by the managing authority, the declaration of expenditure following the adoption of the Commission decision shall be rectified accordingly.
6. Expenditure relating to a major project may be included in a payment application after the submission for approval referred to in paragraph 2. Where the Commission does not approve the major project selected by the managing authority, the declaration of expenditure following the withdrawal of the application by the Member State or the adoption of the Commission decision shall be rectified accordingly.
7. Where the major project is appraised by independent experts pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, expenditure relating to that major project may be included in a payment application after the managing authority has informed the Commission of the submission to the independent experts of the information required under Article 101.
An independent quality review shall be delivered within six months of the submission of that information to the independent experts.
The corresponding expenditure shall be withdrawn and the declaration of expenditure shall be rectified accordingly in the following cases:
(a)where the independent quality review has not been notified to the Commission within three months of the expiry of the deadline referred to in the second subparagraph;
(b)where the submission of the information is withdrawn by the Member State; or
(c)where the relevant appraisal is negative.
#### Article 103
@@ -2494,9 +2681,9 @@
1. A joint action plan is an operation the scope of which is defined and which is managed in relation to the outputs and results to be achieved. It comprises a project or a group of projects, not consisting of the provision of infrastructure, carried out under the responsibility of the beneficiary, as part of an operational programme or programmes. The outputs and results of a joint action plan shall be agreed between a Member State and the Commission and shall contribute to specific objectives of the operational programmes and form the basis of support from the Funds. Results shall refer to direct effects of the joint action plan. The beneficiary of a joint action plan shall be a public law body. Joint action plans shall not be considered to be major projects.
2. The public expenditure allocated to a joint action plan shall be a minimum of EUR 10 000 000 or 20 % of the public support of the operational programme or programmes, whichever is lower. For the purpose of undertaking a pilot project, the minimum public expenditure allocated to one joint action plan for each operational programme may be reduced to EUR 5 000 000 .
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to operations supported under the YEI.
2. The public expenditure allocated to a joint action plan shall be a minimum of EUR 5 000 000 or 5 % of the public support of the operational programme or one of the contributing programmes, whichever is lower.
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to operations supported under the YEI, to the first joint action plan submitted by a Member State under the Investment for growth and jobs goal or the first joint action plan submitted by a programme under the European territorial cooperation goal.
#### Article 105
@@ -2504,7 +2691,7 @@
1. The Member State, the managing authority or any designated public law body may submit a proposal for a joint action plan at the same time as or subsequent to the submission of the operational programmes concerned. That proposal shall contain all the information referred to in Article 106.
2. A joint action plan shall cover part of the period between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2023. The outputs and results of a joint action plan shall give rise to reimbursement only if attained after the date of the decision of approval of the joint action plan referred to in Article 107 and before the end of the implementation period defined in that decision.
2. A joint action plan shall cover part of the period between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2023. —————
#### Article 106
@@ -2512,35 +2699,29 @@
A joint action plan shall contain:
(1)an analysis of the development needs and objectives justifying it, taking into account the objectives of the operational programmes and, where applicable, the relevant country-specific recommendations and the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union under Article 121(2) TFEU and the relevant Council recommendations which the Member States are to take into account in their employment policies under Article 148(4) TFEU;
(2)the framework describing the relationship between the general and specific objectives of the joint action plan, the milestones and the targets for outputs and results, and the projects or types of projects envisaged;
(3)the common and specific indicators used to monitor outputs and results, where relevant, by priority axis;
(1)a description of the objectives of the joint action plan and how it contributes to the objectives of the programme or to the relevant country-specific recommendations and the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union under Article 121(2) TFEU and the relevant Council recommendations which the Member States are to take into account in their employment policies under Article 148(4) TFEU;
(3)a description of the projects or types of projects envisaged, together with the milestones, where relevant, and the targets for outputs and results linked to the common indicators by priority axis, where relevant;
(4)information on its geographic coverage and target groups;
(5)its expected implementation period;
(6)an analysis of its effects on the promotion of equality between men and women and the prevention of discrimination;
(7)an analysis of its effects on the promotion of sustainable development, where appropriate;
(6)confirmation that it will contribute to the approach to promoting equality between men and women, as set out in the relevant programme or Partnership Agreement;
(7)confirmation that it will contribute to the approach on sustainable development, as set out in the relevant programme or Partnership Agreement;
(8)its implementing provisions, including the following:
(a)the designation of the beneficiary responsible for the implementation of the joint action plan, providing guarantees of its competence in the domain concerned as well as its administrative and financial management capacity;
(a)information on the selection of the joint action plan by the managing authority in accordance with Article 125(3);
(b)the arrangements for steering the joint action plan, in accordance with Article 108;
(c)the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating the joint action plan including arrangements ensuring the quality, collection and storage of data on the achievement of milestones, outputs and results;
(d)the arrangements ensuring the dissemination of information and communication in relation to the joint action plan and to the Funds;
(9)its financial arrangements, including the following:
(a)the costs of achieving the milestones and the targets for outputs and results with reference to point (2), based on the methods set out in Article 67(5) of this Regulation and in Article 14 of the ESF Regulation;
(b)an indicative schedule of payments to the beneficiary linked to the milestones and targets;
(a)the costs of achieving milestones, and targets for outputs and results, based, in the case of standard scales of unit costs and lump sums, on the methods set out in Article 67(5) of this Regulation and in Article 14 of the ESF Regulation;
(c)the financing plan by operational programme and priority axis, including the total eligible amount and the amount of public expenditure.
@@ -2556,7 +2737,7 @@
2. Provided that any observations have been adequately taken into account, the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, approving the joint action plan no later than four months after its submission by the Member State but not before the adoption of the operational programmes concerned.
3. The decision referred to in paragraph 2 shall indicate the beneficiary and the general and specific objectives of the joint action plan, the milestones and targets for outputs and results, the costs of achieving those milestones and targets for outputs and results, and the financing plan by operational programme and priority axis, including the total eligible amount and the amount of public expenditure, the implementation period of the joint action plan and, where relevant, the geographical coverage and target groups of the joint action plan.
3. The decision referred to in paragraph 2 shall indicate the beneficiary and the objectives of the joint action plan, the milestones, where relevant, and targets for outputs and results, the costs of achieving those milestones and targets for outputs and result, and the financing plan by operational programme and priority axis, including the total eligible amount and the amount of public expenditure, the implementation period of the joint action plan and, where relevant, the geographical coverage and target groups of the joint action plan.
4. Where the Commission refuses, by means of an implementing act, to allow support from the Funds to be allocated to a joint action plan, it shall notify the Member State of its reasons within the period laid down in paragraph 2.
@@ -2564,7 +2745,7 @@
##### Steering committee and amendment of the joint action plan
1. The Member State or the managing authority shall set up a steering committee for the joint action plan, distinct from the monitoring committee of the relevant operational programmes. The steering committee shall meet at least twice a year and shall report to the managing authority. The managing authority shall inform the relevant monitoring committee of the results of the work carried out by the steering committee and the progress of the implementation of the joint action plan in accordance with point (e) of Article 110(1) and point (a) of Article 125(2).
1. The Member State or the managing authority shall set up a steering committee for the joint action plan, which may be distinct from the monitoring committee of the relevant operational programmes. The steering committee shall meet at least twice a year and shall report to the managing authority. Where relevant, the managing authority shall inform the relevant monitoring committee of the results of the work carried out by the steering committee and the progress of the implementation of the joint action plan in accordance with point (e) of Article 110(1) and point (a) of Article 125(2).
The composition of the steering committee shall be decided by the Member State in agreement with the relevant managing authority, respecting the principle of partnership.
@@ -2582,7 +2763,7 @@
##### Financial management and control of the joint action plan
1. Payments to the beneficiary of a joint action plan shall be treated as lump sums or standard scales of unit costs. The ceiling for lump sums set out in point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1) shall not apply.
1. Payments to the beneficiary of a joint action plan shall be treated as lump sums or standard scales of unit costs. —————
2. The financial management, control and audit of the joint action plan shall be aimed exclusively at verifying that the conditions for payments defined in the decision approving the joint action plan have been fulfilled.
@@ -2606,7 +2787,7 @@
(b)progress made in implementation of the evaluation plan and the follow-up given to findings of evaluations;
(c)implementation of the communication strategy;
(c)implementation of the communication strategy, including information and communication measures, and of measures to enhance the visibility of the Funds;
(d)implementation of major projects;
@@ -2622,7 +2803,7 @@
2. By way of derogation from Article 49(3), the monitoring committee shall examine and approve:
(a)the methodology and criteria used for selection of operations;
(a)the methodology and criteria used for selection of operations, except where those criteria are approved by local action groups in accordance with point (c) of Article 34(3);
(b)the annual and final implementation reports;
@@ -2710,21 +2891,19 @@
##### Evaluation
1. An evaluation plan shall be drawn up by the managing authority or Member State for one or more operational programmes. The evaluation plan shall be submitted to the monitoring committee no later than one year after the adoption of the operational programme.
1. An evaluation plan shall be drawn up by the managing authority or a Member State for one or more operational programmes. The evaluation plan shall be submitted to the monitoring committee no later than one year after the adoption of the operational programme. In the cases of dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) adopted before 2 August 2018, the evaluation plan shall be submitted to the monitoring committee no later than one year after that date.
2. By 31 December 2022, managing authorities shall submit to the Commission, for each operational programme, a report summarising the findings of evaluations carried out during the programming period and the main outputs and results of the operational programme, providing comments on the reported information.
3. The Commission shall carry out ex post evaluations in close cooperation with the Member States and managing authorities.
4. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply to the dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4).
## *CHAPTER II*
### ***Information and communication***
### ***Information, communication and visibility***
#### Article 115
##### Information and communication
##### Information, communication and visibility
1. Member States and managing authorities shall be responsible for:
@@ -2734,7 +2913,7 @@
(c)informing potential beneficiaries about funding opportunities under operational programmes;
(d)publicising to Union citizens the role and achievements of cohesion policy and of the Funds through information and communication actions on the results and impact of Partnership Agreements, operational programmes and operations.
(d)publicising to Union citizens the role and achievements of cohesion policy and of the Funds through measures to enhance the visibility of the results and impact of Partnership Agreements, operational programmes and operations.
2. Member States or managing authorities shall, in order to ensure transparency concerning support from the Funds, maintain a list of operations by operational programme and by Fund in a spreadsheet data format, which allows data to be sorted, searched, extracted, compared and easily published on the internet, for instance in CSV or XML format. The list of operations shall be accessible through the single website or the single website portal providing a list and summary of all operational programmes in that Member State.
@@ -2744,7 +2923,7 @@
The minimum information to be set out in the list of operations is laid down in Annex XII.
3. Detailed rules concerning the information and communication measures for the public and information measures for applicants and for beneficiaries are laid down in Annex XII.
3. Detailed rules concerning information, communication and visibility for the public and information measures for potential beneficiaries and for beneficiaries are laid down in Annex XII.
4. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts concerning the technical characteristics of information and communication measures for the operation and instructions for creating the emblem and a definition of the standard colours. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).
@@ -2762,7 +2941,7 @@
Where necessary, the Member State or managing authorities may amend the communication strategy during the programming period. The amended communication strategy shall be submitted by the managing authority to the monitoring committee for approval in accordance with point (d) of Article 110(2).
3. By way of derogation from the third subparagraph of paragraph 2, the managing authority shall inform the monitoring committee or committees responsible at least once a year on the progress in the implementation of the communication strategy as referred to in point (c) of Article 110(1) and on its analysis of the results as well as on the planned information and communication activities to be carried out in the following year. The monitoring committee shall, if it considers it to be appropriate, give an opinion on the planned activities for the following year.
3. By way of derogation from the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, the managing authority shall inform the monitoring committee or committees responsible at least once a year on the progress in the implementation of the communication strategy as referred to in point (c) of Article 110(1) and on its analysis of the results of that implementation as well as on the information and communication activities and measures to enhance visibility of the Funds that are planned for the following year. The monitoring committee shall give an opinion on the activities and measures planned for the following year, including on ways to increase the effectiveness of communication activities aimed at the public.
#### Article 117
@@ -2774,7 +2953,7 @@
3. Each managing authority shall designate one person to be responsible for information and communication at operational programme level and shall inform the Commission of those designated. Where appropriate, one person may be designated for several operational programmes.
4. Union networks comprising the members designated by the Member States shall be set up by the Commission to ensure exchange of information on the results of the implementation of the communication strategies, the exchange of experience in implementing the information and communication measures, and the exchange of good practices.
4. Union networks comprising the members designated by Member States shall be set up by the Commission to ensure exchange of information on the results of the implementation of the communication strategies, the exchange of experience in implementing the information and communication measures, the exchange of good practices, and to enable joint planning or coordination of communication activities between the Member States and with the Commission where appropriate. The networks shall at least once a year debate and assess the effectiveness of the information and communication measures, and propose recommendations to enhance the outreach and impact of communication activities and to raise awareness about the results and added value of those activities.
## TITLE IV
@@ -2790,18 +2969,20 @@
##### Technical assistance of the Member States
1. The amount of the Funds allocated to technical assistance shall be limited to 4 % of the total amount of the Funds allocated to operational programmes in a Member State under each category of region, where applicable, of the Investment for growth and jobs goal.
1. The amount of the Funds allocated to technical assistance in a Member State shall be limited to 4 % of the total amount of the Funds allocated to operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal.
The specific allocation for YEI may be taken into account by a Member State in the calculation of the limit to the total amount of the Funds allocated to the technical assistance of the Member State.
2. Each Fund may support technical assistance operations eligible under any of the other Funds. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the allocation for technical assistance from a Fund shall not exceed 10 % of the total allocation of that Fund to operational programmes in a Member State under each category of region, where applicable, of the Investment for growth and jobs goal.
2. ————— Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the allocation for technical assistance from a Fund shall not exceed 10 % of the total allocation of that Fund to operational programmes in a Member State under each category of region, where applicable, of the Investment for growth and jobs goal.
3. By way of derogation from Article 70(1) and (2), technical assistance operations may be implemented outside the programme area, but within the Union, provided that the operations are for the benefit of the operational programme, or, in the case of a technical assistance operational programme, for the other programmes concerned.
4. In the case of the Structural Funds, where the allocations referred to in paragraph 1 are used to support technical assistance operations relating to more than one category of region, the expenditure relating to the operations may be implemented under a priority axis combining different categories of region and attributed on a pro rata basis taking into account the allocation under each category of region as a share of the total allocation to the Member State.
4. In the case of the Structural Funds, where the allocations referred to in paragraph 1 are used to support technical assistance operations altogether relating to more than one category of region, the expenditure relating to the operations may be implemented under a priority axis combining different categories of region and attributed on a pro rata basis taking into account either the respective allocations to the different categories of regions of the operational programme or the allocation under each category of region as a share of the total allocation to the Member State.
5. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where the total amount of the Funds allocated to a Member State under the Investment for growth and jobs goal does not exceed EUR 1 000 000 000 the amount allocated to technical assistance may increase up to 6 % of that total amount or EUR 50 000 000 , whichever is the lower.
5a. The assessment of the respect of the percentages shall be carried out at the time of adoption of the operational programme.
6. Technical assistance shall take the form of a mono-fund priority axis within an operational programme or of a specific operational programme, or both.
## TITLE V
@@ -2850,7 +3031,7 @@
8. A separate priority axis with a co-financing rate of up to 95 % may be established within an operational programme to support operations which fulfil all of the following conditions:
(a)the operations are selected by managing authorities in response to major or regional natural disasters as defined in Article 2(2) and (3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 (<sup>20</sup>);
(a)the operations are selected by managing authorities in response to major or regional natural disasters as defined in Article 2(2) and (3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 (<sup>25</sup>);
(b)the operations are aimed at reconstruction in response to the natural disaster; and
@@ -2914,7 +3095,7 @@
In all other cases, in particular those preceding a bankruptcy or in cases of suspected fraud, the detected irregularities and the associated preventive and corrective measures shall be reported to the Commission.
When amounts unduly paid to a beneficiary cannot be recovered and this is as a result of fault or negligence on the part of a Member State, the Member State shall be responsible for reimbursing the amounts concerned to the budget of the Union. Member States may decide not to recover an amount unduly paid if the amount to be recovered from the beneficiary, not including interest, does not exceed EUR 250 in contribution from any of the Funds or the EMFF.
When amounts unduly paid to a beneficiary for an operation cannot be recovered and this is as a result of fault or negligence on the part of a Member State, that Member State shall be responsible for reimbursing the amounts concerned to the budget of the Union. Member States may decide not to recover an amount unduly paid if the amount to be recovered from the beneficiary, not including interest, does not exceed EUR 250 in contribution from the Funds to an operation in an accounting year.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 149 laying down additional detailed rules on the criteria for determining the cases of irregularity to be reported, the data to be provided and on the conditions and procedures to be applied to determine whether amounts which are irrecoverable shall be reimbursed by Member States.
@@ -2944,7 +3125,7 @@
4. The Member State shall designate, for each operational programme, a national, regional or local public authority or body, functionally independent from the managing authority and the certifying authority, as audit authority. The same audit authority may be designated for more than one operational programme.
5. In the case of the Funds relating to the Investment for growth and jobs goal and in the case of the EMFF, provided that the principle of separation of functions is respected, the managing authority, the certifying authority, where applicable, and the audit authority may be part of the same public authority or body.
5. In the case of the Funds and in the case of the EMFF, provided that the principle of separation of functions is respected, the managing authority, the certifying authority, where applicable, and the audit authority may be part of the same public authority or body.
Where the total amount of support from the Funds to an operational programme exceeds EUR 250 000 000 or from the EMFF exceeds EUR 100 000 000 , the audit authority may be part of the same public authority or body as the managing authority either if, pursuant to the applicable provisions for the previous programming period, the Commission has informed the Member State prior to the date of adoption of the operational programme concerned of its conclusion that it can rely principally on its audit opinion, or if the Commission is satisfied on the basis of the experience of the previous programming period that the institutional organisation and accountability of the audit authority provide adequate guarantees of its functional independence and reliability.
@@ -2962,7 +3143,7 @@
1. The Member State shall notify the Commission of the date and form of the designations, which shall be carried out at an appropriate level, of the managing authority and, where appropriate, of the certifying authority prior to the submission of the first application for interim payment to the Commission.
2. The designations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be based on a report and an opinion of an independent audit body that assesses the fulfilment by the authorities of the criteria relating to the internal control environment, risk management, management and control activities, and monitoring set out in Annex XIII. The independent audit body shall be the audit authority, or another public or private law body with the necessary audit capacity, which is independent of the managing authority and, where applicable, of the certifying authority, and which shall carry out its work taking account of internationally accepted audit standards. Where the independent audit body concludes that the part of the management and control system, concerning the managing authority or the certifying authority, is essentially the same as for the previous programming period, and that there is evidence, on the basis of audit work done in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 (<sup>21</sup>), of their effective functioning during that period, it may conclude that the relevant criteria are fulfilled without carrying out additional audit work.
2. The designations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be based on a report and an opinion of an independent audit body that assesses the fulfilment by the authorities of the criteria relating to the internal control environment, risk management, management and control activities, and monitoring set out in Annex XIII. The independent audit body shall be the audit authority, or another public or private law body with the necessary audit capacity, which is independent of the managing authority and, where applicable, of the certifying authority, and which shall carry out its work taking account of internationally accepted audit standards. Where the independent audit body concludes that the part of the management and control system, concerning the managing authority or the certifying authority, is essentially the same as for the previous programming period, and that there is evidence, on the basis of audit work done in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 (<sup>26</sup>), of their effective functioning during that period, it may conclude that the relevant criteria are fulfilled without carrying out additional audit work.
3. Where the total amount of support from the Funds to an operational programme exceeds EUR 250 000 000 or from the EMFF exceeds EUR 100 000 000 , the Commission may request, within one month of notification of the designations referred to in paragraph 1, the report and the opinion of the independent audit body referred to in paragraph 2 and the description of the functions and procedures in place for the managing authority or, where appropriate, the certifying authority. The Commission shall decide whether to request those documents on the basis of its risk assessment, taking into account information on significant changes in the functions and procedures of the managing authority or, where appropriate, the certifying authority compared to those in place for the previous programming period, and relevant evidence of their effective functioning.
@@ -3010,7 +3191,7 @@
(b)ensure that a selected operation falls within the scope of the EMFF, the Fund or Funds concerned and can be attributed to a category of intervention or, in the case of the EMFF, a measure identified in the priority or priorities of the operational programme;
(c)ensure that the beneficiary is provided with a document setting out the conditions for support for each operation including the specific requirements concerning the products or services to be delivered under the operation, the financing plan, and the time-limit for execution;
(c)ensure that the beneficiary is provided with a document setting out the conditions for support for each operation including the specific requirements concerning the products or services to be delivered under the operation, the financing plan, the time limit for execution, as well as the requirements regarding information, communication and visibility;
(d)satisfy itself that the beneficiary has the administrative, financial and operational capacity to fulfil the conditions referred to in point (c) before approval of the operation;
@@ -3022,7 +3203,11 @@
4. As regards the financial management and control of the operational programme, the managing authority shall:
(a)verify that the co-financed products and services have been delivered and that expenditure declared by the beneficiaries has been paid and that it complies with applicable law, the operational programme and the conditions for support of the operation;
(a)verify that the co-financed products and services have been delivered, that the operation complies with applicable law, the operational programme and the conditions for support of the operation and:
(i)where costs are to be reimbursed pursuant to point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1), that the amount of expenditure declared by the beneficiaries in relation to those costs has been paid;
(ii)in the case of costs reimbursed pursuant to points (b) to (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1), that the conditions for reimbursement of expenditure to the beneficiary have been met;
(b)ensure that beneficiaries involved in the implementation of operations reimbursed on the basis of eligible costs actually incurred maintain either a separate accounting system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to an operation;
@@ -3030,7 +3215,7 @@
(d)set up procedures to ensure that all documents regarding expenditure and audits required to ensure an adequate audit trail are held in accordance with the requirements of point (g) of Article 72;
(e)draw up the management declaration and annual summary referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation.
(e)draw up the management declaration and annual summary referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 63(5) and Article 63(6) and (7) of the Financial Regulation.
By way of derogation from point (a) of the first subparagraph, the ETC Regulation may establish specific rules on verification applicable to cooperation programmes.
@@ -3062,7 +3247,7 @@
(a)drawing up and submitting payment applications to the Commission, and certifying that they result from reliable accounting systems, are based on verifiable supporting documents and have been subject to verifications by the managing authority;
(b)drawing up the accounts referred to in point (a) of Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation;
(b)drawing up the accounts referred to in point (a) of Article 63(5) and Article 63(6) of the Financial Regulation;
(c)certifying the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts and that the expenditure entered in the accounts complies with applicable law and has been incurred in respect of operations selected for funding in accordance with the criteria applicable to the operational programme and complying with applicable law;
@@ -3084,7 +3269,7 @@
A non- statistical sampling method may be used on the professional judgement of the audit authority, in duly justified cases, in accordance with internationally accepted audit standards and in any case where the number of operations for an accounting year is insufficient to allow the use of a statistical method.
In such cases, the size of the sample shall be sufficient to enable the audit authority to draw up a valid audit opinion in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation.
In such cases, the size of the sample shall be sufficient to enable the audit authority to draw up a valid audit opinion in accordance with Article 63(7) of the Financial Regulation.
The non-statistical sample method shall cover a minimum of 5 % of operations for which expenditure has been declared to the Commission during an accounting year and 10 % of the expenditure which has been declared to the Commission during an accounting year.
@@ -3096,7 +3281,7 @@
5. The audit authority shall draw up:
(a)an audit opinion in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation;
(a)an audit opinion in accordance with Article 63(7) of the Financial Regulation;
(b)a control report setting out the main findings of the audits carried out in accordance with paragraph 1, including findings with regard to deficiencies found in the management and control systems, and the proposed and implemented corrective actions.
@@ -3160,21 +3345,31 @@
(b)the total amount of public expenditure incurred in implementing operations, as entered in the accounting system of the certifying authority.
2. Eligible expenditure included in a payment application shall be supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value, except for forms of support under points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1), under Article 68, Article 69(1) and Article 109 of this Regulation and under Article 14 of the ESF Regulation. For those forms of support, the amounts included in a payment application shall be the costs calculated on the applicable basis.
3. In the case of aid schemes under Article 107 TFEU, the public contribution corresponding to the expenditure included in a payment application shall have been paid to the beneficiaries by the body granting the aid.
4. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in the case of State aid, the payment application may include advances paid to the beneficiary by the body granting the aid under the following cumulative conditions:
(a)those advances are subject to a guarantee provided by a bank or other financial institution established in the Member State or be covered by a facility provided as a guarantee by a public entity or by the Member State;
(b)those advances do not exceed 40 % of the total amount of the aid to be granted to a beneficiary for a given operation;
(c)those advances are covered by expenditure paid by beneficiaries in implementing the operation and supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value at the latest within three years following the year of the payment of the advance or on 31 December 2023, whichever is earlier, failing which the next payment application shall be corrected accordingly.
5. Each payment application which includes advances of the type referred to in paragraph 4 shall separately disclose the total amount paid from the operational programme as advances, the amount which has been covered by expenditure paid by beneficiaries within three years of the payment of the advance in accordance with point (c) of paragraph 4, and the amount which has not been covered by expenditure paid by beneficiaries and for which the three year period has not yet elapsed.
6. The Commission shall, in order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article, adopt implementing acts laying down the model for payment applications. These implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).
With regard to the amounts to be included in payment applications for the form of support referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1), the payment applications shall include the elements set out in the delegated acts adopted in accordance with Article 67(5a) and shall use the model for payment applications set out in the implementing acts adopted in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article.
2. Eligible expenditure included in a payment application shall be supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value, except for the forms of support referred to in points (b) to (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1) of this Regulation, Articles 68, 68a and 68b of this Regulation, Article 69(1) of this Regulation and Article 109 of this Regulation and in Article 14 of the ESF Regulation. For those forms of support, the amounts included in a payment application shall be the costs calculated on the applicable basis.
3. In the case of State aid, the public contribution corresponding to the expenditure included in a payment application shall have been paid to the beneficiaries by the body granting the aid or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, paid by the beneficiary to the body receiving the aid.
4. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, in the case of State aid, the payment application may include advances paid to the beneficiary by the body granting the aid or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, paid by the beneficiary to the body receiving the aid, under the following cumulative conditions:
(a)those advances are subject to a guarantee provided by a bank or other financial institution established in the Member State or are covered by a facility provided as a guarantee by a public entity or by the Member State;
(b)those advances do not exceed 40 % of the total amount of the aid to be granted to a beneficiary for a given operation or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, of the total amount of the aid to be granted to the body receiving the aid as part of a given operation;
(c)those advances are covered by expenditure paid by the beneficiary or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, expenditure paid by the body receiving the aid in implementing the operation, and supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value within three years of the year of the payment of the advance or on 31 December 2023, whichever is earlier.
Where the conditions set out in point (c) of the first subparagraph are not met, the next payment application shall be corrected accordingly.
5. Each payment application which includes advances of the type referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall separately disclose:
(a)the total amount paid from the operational programme as advances;
(b)the amount which, within three years of the payment of the advance in accordance with point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, has been covered by expenditure paid by the beneficiary or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, by the body receiving the aid; and
(c)the amount which has not been covered by expenditure paid by the beneficiary or, where Member States have decided that the beneficiary is the body granting the aid pursuant to point (10)(a) of Article 2, by the body receiving the aid, and for which the three year period has not yet elapsed.
6. The Commission shall, in order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article, adopt implementing acts laying down the model for payment applications. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).
#### Article 132
@@ -3272,7 +3467,7 @@
##### Preparation of the accounts
1. The accounts referred to in point (a) of Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation shall be submitted to the Commission for each operational programme. The accounts shall cover the accounting year and shall include at the level of each priority and, where applicable, fund and category of regions:
1. The accounts referred to in point (a) of Article 63(5) and Article 63(6) of the Financial Regulation shall be submitted to the Commission for each operational programme. The accounts shall cover the accounting year and shall include at the level of each priority and, where applicable, fund and category of regions:
(a)the total amount of eligible expenditure entered into the accounting systems of the certifying authority which has been included in payment applications submitted to the Commission in accordance with Article 131 and Article 135(2) by 31 July following the end of the accounting year, the total amount of the corresponding public expenditure incurred in implementing operations, and the total amount of corresponding payments made to beneficiaries under Article 132(1);
@@ -3290,7 +3485,7 @@
##### Submission of information
For each year from 2016 until and including 2025, Member States shall submit, by the deadline set out in Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation, the documents referred to in that Article namely:
For each year from 2016 until and including 2025, Member States shall submit, by the deadline set out in Article 63(5), and the second subparagraph of Article 63(7), of the Financial Regulation, the documents referred to in that Article namely:
(a)the accounts, referred to in Article 137(1) of this Regulation, for the preceding accounting year;
@@ -3344,7 +3539,7 @@
2. The managing authority shall inform beneficiaries of the start date of the period referred to in paragraph 1.
3. The documents shall be kept either in the form of the originals, or certified true copies of the originals, or on commonly accepted data carriers including electronic versions of original documents or documents existing in electronic version only.
3. The documents shall be kept either in the form of the originals, or certified true copies of the originals, or on commonly accepted data carriers including electronic versions of original documents or documents existing in electronic version only. Where documents are kept on commonly accepted data carriers in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 5, no originals shall be required.
4. The documents shall be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data were collected or for which they are further processed.
@@ -3464,7 +3659,7 @@
The first subparagraph shall not apply in the case of a serious deficiency in the effective functioning of a management and control system which, prior to the date of detection by the Commission or the European Court of Auditors:
(a)had been identified in the management declaration, annual control report or the audit opinion submitted to the Commission in accordance with Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation, or in other audit reports of the audit authority submitted to the Commission and appropriate measures taken; or
(a)had been identified in the management declaration, annual control report or the audit opinion submitted to the Commission in accordance with Article 63(5), (6) and (7) of the Financial Regulation, or in other audit reports of the audit authority submitted to the Commission and appropriate measures taken; or
(b)had been the subject of appropriate remedial measures by the Member State.
@@ -3484,13 +3679,13 @@
##### Obligations of Member States
A financial correction by the Commission shall not prejudice the Member State's obligation to pursue recoveries under Article 143(2) of this Regulation and to recover State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU and under Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 (<sup>22</sup>).
A financial correction by the Commission shall not prejudice the Member State's obligation to pursue recoveries under Article 143(2) of this Regulation and to recover State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU and under Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 (<sup>27</sup>).
#### Article 147
##### Repayment
1. Any repayment due to be made to the budget of the Union shall be effected before the due date indicated in the order for recovery drawn up in accordance with Article 78 of the Financial Regulation. The due date shall be the last day of the second month following the issuing of the order.
1. Any repayment due to be made to the budget of the Union shall be effected before the due date indicated in the order for recovery drawn up in accordance with Article 98 of the Financial Regulation. The due date shall be the last day of the second month following the issuing of the order.
2. Any delay in effecting repayment shall give rise to interest on account of late payment, starting on the due date and ending on the date of actual payment. The rate of such interest shall be one-and-a-half percentage points above the rate applied by the European Central Bank in its main refinancing operations on the first working day of the month in which the due date falls.
@@ -3502,7 +3697,9 @@
##### Proportional control of operational programmes
1. Operations for which the total eligible expenditure does not exceed EUR 200 000 for the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, EUR 150 000 for the ESF or EUR 100 000 for the EMFF shall not be subject to more than one audit by either the audit authority or the Commission prior to the submission of the accounts for the accounting year in which the operation is completed. Other operations shall not be subject to more than one audit per accounting year by either the audit authority or the Commission prior to the submission of the accounts for the accounting year in which the operation is completed. Operations shall not be subject to an audit by the Commission or the audit authority in any year if there has already been an audit in that year by the European Court of Auditors, provided that the results of the audit work performed by the European Court of Auditors for such operations can be used by the audit authority or the Commission for the purpose of fulfilling their respective tasks.
1. Operations for which the total eligible expenditure does not exceed EUR 400 000 for the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, EUR 300 000 for the ESF or EUR 200 000 for the EMFF shall not be subject to more than one audit by either the audit authority or the Commission prior to the submission of the accounts for the accounting year in which the operation is completed. Other operations shall not be subject to more than one audit per accounting year by either the audit authority or the Commission prior to the submission of the accounts for the accounting year in which the operation is completed. Operations shall not be subject to an audit by the Commission or the audit authority in any year if there has already been an audit in that year by the European Court of Auditors, provided that the results of the audit work performed by the European Court of Auditors for such operations can be used by the audit authority or the Commission for the purpose of fulfilling their respective tasks.
By derogation from the first subparagraph, operations for which the total eligible expenditure is between EUR 200 000 and EUR 400 000 for the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, between EUR 150 000 and EUR 300 000 for the ESF and between EUR 100 000 and EUR 200 000 for the EMFF may be subject to more than one audit, if the audit authority concludes, based on its professional judgment, that it is not possible to issue or draw up an audit opinion on the basis of statistical or non-statistical sampling methods referred to in Article 127(1) without carrying out more than one audit of the respective operation.
2. For operational programmes for which the most recent audit opinion indicates that there are no significant deficiencies, the Commission may agree with the audit authority in the subsequent meeting referred to in Article 128(3) that the level of audit work required may be reduced so that it is proportionate to the risk established. In such cases, the Commission shall not carry out its own on-the-spot audits unless there is evidence suggesting deficiencies in the management and control system affecting expenditure declared to the Commission in an accounting year for which the accounts have been accepted by the Commission.
@@ -3524,13 +3721,15 @@
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Article 40(4), Article 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61 (3),Articles 63(4) and 64(4), the second subparagraph of Article 68(1), the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8) and Article 144(6) shall be conferred on the Commission from.21 December 2013 until 31 December 2020.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Article 40(4), Article 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61 (3),Articles 63(4) and 64(4), the second subparagraph of Article 68(1), the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8) and Article 144(6) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the *Official Journal of the European Union* or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Article 39a(7), Article 40(4), Article 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61(3), Articles 63(4), 64(4) and 67(5a), the second paragraph of Article 68, the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8), and Article 144(6) shall be conferred on the Commission from 21 December 2013 until 31 December 2020.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Article 39a(7), Article 40(4), Article 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61(3), Articles 63(4), 64(4) and 67(5a), the second paragraph of Article 68, the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8), and Article 144(6) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the *Official Journal of the European Union* or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
3a. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Article 40(4), Article 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61 (3),Articles 63(4) and 64(4), the second subparagraph of Article 68(1), the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8) and Article 144(6) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 5(3), the second paragraph of Article 12, the fourth subparagraph of Article 22(7), Article 37(13), the third subparagraph of Article 38(4), Articles 39a(7), 40(4) and 41(3), the second subparagraph of Article 42(1), Article 42(6), the second, third, fourth and seventh subparagraphs of Article 61(3),Articles 63(4), 64(4) and 67(5a), the second paragraph of Article 68, the fourth paragraph of Article 101, the fifth subparagraph of Article 122(2), the first subparagraph of Article 125(8), Article 125(9), Article 127(7) and (8), and Article 144(6) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
#### Article 150
@@ -3572,6 +3771,12 @@
Greece shall submit a report to the Commission on the implementation of paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article by the end of 2016 and shall further report in the final implementation report to be submitted pursuant to point (a) of Article 89(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.
7. The managing authority, or the monitoring committee for the programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal, may decide not to apply Article 67(2a) for a maximum period of 12 months starting from 2 August 2018.
Where the managing authority, or the monitoring committee for the programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal, considers that Article 67(2a) creates a disproportionate administrative burden, it may decide to extend the transitional period referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph for a period it considers appropriate. It shall notify the Commission of such decision before the expiration of the initial transitional period.
The first and second subparagraphs do not apply to grants and repayable assistance supported by the ESF for which the public support does not exceed EUR 50 000 .
#### Article 153
##### Repeal
@@ -3672,7 +3877,7 @@
### 4.3 **Horizon 2020 and other centrally managed Union programmes in the areas of research and innovation**
1.Member States and the Commission shall have due regard to strengthening coordination, synergies and complementarities between the ESI Funds and Horizon 2020, the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>23</sup>), and other relevant centrally managed Union funding programmes while also establishing a clear division of areas of intervention between them.
1.Member States and the Commission shall have due regard to strengthening coordination, synergies and complementarities between the ESI Funds and Horizon 2020, the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>28</sup>), and other relevant centrally managed Union funding programmes while also establishing a clear division of areas of intervention between them.
2.Member States shall develop national and/or regional 'smart specialisation' strategies in line with the National Reform Programme, where appropriate. Such strategies may take the form of or be included in a national or a regional research and innovation strategic policy framework for 'smart specialisation'. Smart specialisation strategies shall be developed through involving national or regional managing authorities and stakeholders such as universities and other higher education institutions, industry and social partners in an entrepreneurial discovery process. The authorities directly concerned by Horizon 2020 shall be closely associated with that process. Smart specialisation strategies shall include:
@@ -3700,11 +3905,11 @@
Member States shall endeavour to use where appropriate, and in accordance with Article 70, the flexibility to support operations outside the programme area, with a level of investment sufficient to attain a critical mass, in order to implement the measures referred to in the first subparagraph as effectively as possible.
### 4.4 **New Entrants Reserve (NER) 300 demonstration funding (<sup>24</sup>)**
### 4.4 **New Entrants Reserve (NER) 300 demonstration funding (<sup>29</sup>)**
Member States shall ensure that financing from the ESI Funds is coordinated with support from the NER 300 Programme, which uses the revenues from auctioning 300 million allowances reserved under the new entrants reserve of the European Emissions Trading Scheme.
### 4.5 **Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) (<sup>25</sup>) and the environmental acquis**
### 4.5 **Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) (<sup>30</sup>) and the environmental acquis**
1.Member States and the Commission shall, through a stronger thematic focus in programmes and the application of the principle of sustainable development in accordance with Article 8, seek to exploit synergies with Union policy instruments (both funding and non-funding instruments) serving climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental protection and resource efficiency.
@@ -3712,7 +3917,7 @@
3.The relevant sectoral plans, programmes or strategies (including the Prioritised Action Framework, the River Basin Management Plan, the Waste Management Plan, the mitigation plan or adaptation strategy) may serve as the coordination framework, where support is envisaged for the areas concerned.
### 4.6 **ERASMUS + (<sup>26</sup>)**
### 4.6 **ERASMUS + (<sup>31</sup>)**
1.Member States shall seek to use ESI Funds to mainstream tools and methods developed and tested successfully under "Erasmus +" in order to maximise the social and economic impact of investment in people and, inter alia give impetus to youth initiatives and citizens actions.
@@ -3720,13 +3925,13 @@
3.Coordination shall be achieved by putting in place appropriate cooperation mechanisms between managing authorities and the national agencies established under the 'Erasmus +' programme, which can foster transparent and accessible communication towards citizens at Union, national and regional level.
### 4.7 **European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) (<sup>27</sup>)**
### 4.7 **European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) (<sup>32</sup>)**
1.Member States shall promote and ensure in accordance with Article 4(6) effective coordination between the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and the support provided by the ESI Funds under the employment and social inclusion thematic objectives. That effective coordination includes coordination of support provided under the EURES axis of the EaSI with actions to enhance transnational labour mobility supported by the ESF in order to promote workers' geographical mobility and boost employment opportunities, as well as coordination between the ESI Funds' support for self-employment, entrepreneurship, business creation and social enterprises and the EaSI support under the microfinance and social entrepreneurship axis.
2.Member States shall seek to scale-up the most successful measures developed under the Progress axis of the EaSI, notably on social innovation and social policy experimentation with the support of the ESF.
### 4.8 **Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) (<sup>28</sup>)**
### 4.8 **Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) (<sup>33</sup>)**
1.To maximise European added value in the fields of transport, telecommunication and energy, Member States and the Commission shall ensure that ERDF and Cohesion Fund interventions are planned in close cooperation with the support provided from the CEF, so as to ensure complementarity, avoid duplication of efforts and ensure the optimal linkage of different types of infrastructure at local, regional and national levels, and across the Union. Maximum leverage of the different funding instruments shall be ensured for projects with a Union and Internal Market dimension, which deliver the highest European added-value, and promote social economic and territorial cohesion, in particular those projects implementing the priority transport, energy and digital infrastructure networks as identified in the respective trans-European network policy frameworks, in order to build new infrastructure and substantially upgrade existing infrastructure.
@@ -3770,7 +3975,7 @@
2.Member States shall take into consideration the climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of investments made with the support of the ESI Funds, in accordance with Article 8, and ensure that they are resilient to the impact of climate change and natural disasters such as increased risks of flooding, droughts, heat waves, forest fires and extreme weather events.
3.Investments shall be consistent with the water management hierarchy, in line with Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>29</sup>), with a focus on demand management options. Alternative supply options shall only be considered when the potential for water savings and efficiency has been exhausted. Public intervention in the waste management sector shall complement efforts by the private sector, in particular in relation to producer responsibility. Investments shall encourage innovative approaches that promote high levels of recycling. Investments shall be consistent with the waste hierarchy established under Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>30</sup>). Expenditure related to biodiversity and the protection of natural resources shall be consistent with Council Directive 92/43/EEC (<sup>31</sup>).
3.Investments shall be consistent with the water management hierarchy, in line with Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>34</sup>), with a focus on demand management options. Alternative supply options shall only be considered when the potential for water savings and efficiency has been exhausted. Public intervention in the waste management sector shall complement efforts by the private sector, in particular in relation to producer responsibility. Investments shall encourage innovative approaches that promote high levels of recycling. Investments shall be consistent with the waste hierarchy established under Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (<sup>35</sup>). Expenditure related to biodiversity and the protection of natural resources shall be consistent with Council Directive 92/43/EEC (<sup>36</sup>).
### 5.3 **Promotion of equality between men and women and non-discrimination**
@@ -3975,7 +4180,7 @@
### **IMPLEMENTATION OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: FUNDING AGREEMENTS**
1.Where a financial instrument is implemented under points (a) and (b) of Article 38(4), the funding agreement shall include the terms and conditions for making contributions from the programme to the financial instrument and shall include at least the following elements:
1.Where a financial instrument is implemented under Article 39a and points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4), the funding agreement shall include the terms and conditions for making contributions from the programme to the financial instrument and shall include at least the following elements:
(a)the investment strategy or policy including implementation arrangements, financial products to be offered, final recipients targeted, and envisaged combination with grant support (as appropriate);
@@ -3987,13 +4192,13 @@
(e)audit requirements, such as minimum requirements for documentation to be kept at the level of the financial instrument (and at the level of the fund of funds where appropriate), and requirements in relation to the maintenance of separate records for the different forms of support in compliance with Article 37(7) and (8) (where applicable), including provisions and requirements regarding access to documents by audit authorities of Member States, Commission auditors and the European Court of Auditors in order to ensure a clear audit trail, in accordance with Article 40;
(f)requirements and procedures for managing the phased contribution provided by the programme in accordance with Article 41 and for the forecast of deal flows, including requirements for fiduciary/separate accounting as set out in Article 38(6);
(f)requirements and procedures for managing the phased contribution provided by the programme in accordance with Article 41 and for the forecast of deal flows, including requirements for fiduciary/separate accounting as set out in Article 38(6) and the second subparagraph of Article 39a(5);
(g)requirements and procedures for managing interest and other gains generated as referred to in Article 43, including acceptable treasury operations/investments, and the responsibilities and liabilities of the parties concerned;
(h)provisions regarding the calculation and payment of management costs incurred or of the management fees of the financial instrument;
(i)provisions regarding the re-use of resources attributable to the support from the ESI Funds until the end of the eligibility period in compliance with Article 44;
(i)provisions regarding the re-use of resources attributable to the support from the ESI Funds until the end of the eligibility period in compliance with Article 44 and, where applicable, provisions regarding differentiated treatment as referred to in Article 43a;
(j)provisions regarding the re-use of resources attributable to the support of the ESI Funds after the end of the eligibility period in compliance with Article 45 and a policy regarding the exit of those resources from the financial instrument;
@@ -4005,13 +4210,13 @@
In addition, where financial instruments are organised through a fund of funds, the funding agreement between the managing authority and the body that implements the fund of funds must also provide for the appraisal and selection of bodies implementing the financial instruments, including calls for expression of interest or public procurement procedures.
2.Strategy documents referred to under Article 38(8) for financial instruments implemented under point (c) of Article 38(4) shall include at least the following elements:
2.Strategy documents referred to under Article 38(8) for financial instruments implemented under point (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(4) shall include at least the following elements:
(a)the investment strategy or policy of the financial instrument, general terms and conditions of envisaged loan or guarantees, target final recipients and actions to be supported;
(b)a business plan or equivalent documents for the financial instrument to be implemented, including the expected leverage effect referred to in Article 37(2);
(c)the re-use of resources attributable to the support of the ESI Funds in accordance with Articles 44 and 45;
(c)the use and re-use of resources attributable to the support of the ESI Funds in accordance with Articles 43, 44 and 45, and, where applicable, provisions regarding differentiated treatment as referred to in Article 43a;
(d)monitoring and reporting of the implementation of the financial instrument to ensure compliance with Article 46.
@@ -4297,7 +4502,7 @@
## ANNEX XII
### **INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ON SUPPORT FROM THE FUNDS**
### **INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY OF SUPPORT FROM THE FUNDS**
### 1. **LIST OF OPERATIONS**
@@ -4327,13 +4532,13 @@
The headings of the data fields shall be also provided in at least one other official language of the Union.
### 2. **INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION MEASURES FOR THE PUBLIC**
### 2. **INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION MEASURES AND MEASURES TO ENHANCE VISIBILITY FOR THE PUBLIC**
The Member State, the managing authority and the beneficiaries shall take the steps necessary to provide information to, and communicate with, the public on operations supported by an operational programme in accordance with this Regulation.
### 2.1. **Responsibilities of the Member State and the managing authority**
1.The Member State and the managing authority shall ensure that the information and communication measures are implemented in accordance with the communication strategy and that those measures aim for the widest possible media coverage using various forms and methods of communication at the appropriate level.
1.The Member State and the managing authority shall ensure that the information and communication measures are implemented in accordance with the communication strategy, in order to improve visibility and interaction with citizens, and that those measures aim for the widest possible media coverage using various forms and methods of communication at the appropriate level and adapted, as appropriate, to technological innovation;
2.The Member State or the managing authority shall be responsible for at least the following information and communication measures:
@@ -4345,9 +4550,9 @@
(d)publishing electronically the list of operations in accordance with Section 1 of this Annex;
(e)giving examples of operations, by operational programme, on the single website or on the operational programme's website that is accessible through the single website portal; the examples should be in a widely spoken official language of the Union other than the official language or languages of the Member State concerned;
(f)updating information about the operational programme's implementation, including, when appropriate, its main achievements, on the single website or on the operational programme's website that is accessible through the single website portal.
(e)giving examples of operations, in particular of operations where the added value of the intervention of the Funds is particularly visible, by operational programme, on the single website or on the operational programme’s website that is accessible through the single website portal; the examples shall be in a widely spoken official language of the Union other than the official language or languages of the Member State concerned;
(f)updating information about the operational programme’s implementation, including its main achievements and results, on the single website or on the operational programme’s website that is accessible through the single website portal.
3.The managing authority shall involve in information and communication measures, in accordance with national laws and practices, the following bodies where appropriate:
@@ -4361,7 +4566,7 @@
### 2.2. **Responsibilities of the beneficiaries**
1.All information and communication measures provided by the beneficiary shall acknowledge support from the Funds to the operation by displaying:
1.All information and communication measures and measures to enhance visibility of the Funds provided by the beneficiary shall acknowledge support from the Funds to the operation by displaying:
(a)the Union emblem in accordance with the technical characteristics laid down in the implementing act adopted by the Commission under Article 115(4), together with a reference to the Union;
@@ -4389,6 +4594,8 @@
The plaque or billboard shall state the name and the main objective of the operation. It shall be prepared in accordance with the technical characteristics adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 115(4).
6.The responsibilities laid down in this subsection shall apply as from the time the beneficiary is provided with the document setting out the conditions for support to the operation referred to in point (c) of Article 125(3).
### 3. **INFORMATION MEASURES FOR POTENTIAL BENEFICIARIES AND BENEFICIARIES**
### 3.1. **Information measures for potential beneficiaries**
@@ -4407,7 +4614,7 @@
(e)the contacts at national, regional or local level that are able to provide information on the operational programmes;
(f)the responsibility of potential beneficiaries to inform the public about the aim of the operation and the support from the Funds to the operation in accordance with point 2.2. The managing authority may request potential beneficiaries to propose indicative communication activities, proportional to the size of the operation, in the applications.
(f)the responsibility of beneficiaries to inform the public about the aim of the operation and the support from the Funds to the operation in accordance with subsection 2.2 as from the time the beneficiary is provided with the document setting out the conditions for support to the operation referred to in point (c) of Article 125(3). The managing authority may request that potential beneficiaries propose indicative communication activities to enhance the visibility of the Funds, proportional to the size of the operation, in the applications.
### 3.2. **Information measures for beneficiaries**
@@ -4435,7 +4642,7 @@
(h)where appropriate, a description of the use of the main results of the previous operational programme;
(i)an annual update setting out the information and communication activities to be carried out in the following year.
(i)an annual update setting out the information and communication activities, including measures to enhance visibility of the Funds, to be carried out in the following year, based on, inter alia, lessons learnt on the effectiveness of such measures.
## ANNEX XIII
@@ -4638,58 +4845,68 @@
(<sup>3</sup>) Council Decision 2010/707/EU of 21 October 2010 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (OJ L 308, 24.11.2010, p. 46).
(<sup>4</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to de minimis aid (OJ L 379, 28.12.2006, p. 5).
(<sup>5</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 of 20 December 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the sector of agricultural production (OJ L 337, 21.12.2007, p. 35).
(<sup>6</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 of 24 July 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the fisheries sector and amending Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 (OJ L 193, 25.7.2007, p. 6).
(<sup>7</sup>) Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 114).
(<sup>8</sup>) Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 19).
(<sup>9</sup>) Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(<sup>10</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances (OJ L 306, 23.11.2011, p. 25).
(<sup>11</sup>) Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism (OJ L 118, 12.5.2010, p. 1).
(<sup>12</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments (OJ L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 1).
(<sup>13</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the strengthening of economic and budgetary surveillance of Member States in the euro area experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability (OJ L 140, 27.05.2013, p. 1).
(<sup>14</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6).
(<sup>15</sup>) Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on the establishment of the Structural Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 1305/2013 (OJ L 129, 19.5.2017, p. 1).
(<sup>16</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1).
(<sup>17</sup>) Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338).
(<sup>18</sup>) Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30).
(<sup>19</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1).
(<sup>20</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (OJ L 311, 14.11.2002, p. 3).
(<sup>21</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (OJ L 223, 15.8.2006, p. 1).
(<sup>22</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty (OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1).
(<sup>23</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) (2014 - 2020) and repealing Decision No 1639/2006/EC (See page 33 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>24</sup>) Commission Decision 2010/670/EU of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 290, 6.11.2010, p. 39).
(<sup>25</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the establishment of a Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 614/2007 (See page 185 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>26</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing "Erasmus+": the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions Nos 1719/2006/EC, 1720/2006/EC and 1298/2008/EC (See page 50 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>27</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation ("EaSI") and amending Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion (See page 238 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>28</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013, establishing the Connecting Europe Facility, amending Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 680/2007 and (EC) No 67/2010 (OJ L 348, 20.12.2013, p. 129).
(<sup>29</sup>) Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1).
(<sup>30</sup>) Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3).
(<sup>31</sup>) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7).
(<sup>4</sup>) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to *de minimis* aid (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 1).
(<sup>5</sup>) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to *de minimis* aid in the agriculture sector (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 9).
(<sup>6</sup>) Commission Regulation (EU) No 717/2014 of 27 June 2014 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to *de minimis* aid in the fishery and aquaculture sector (OJ L 190, 28.6.2014, p. 45).
(<sup>7</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to de minimis aid (OJ L 379, 28.12.2006, p. 5).
(<sup>8</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 of 20 December 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the sector of agricultural production (OJ L 337, 21.12.2007, p. 35).
(<sup>9</sup>) Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 of 24 July 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the fisheries sector and amending Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 (OJ L 193, 25.7.2007, p. 6).
(<sup>10</sup>) Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 114).
(<sup>11</sup>) Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 19).
(<sup>12</sup>) Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(<sup>13</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, amending Council Decision 2008/381/EC and repealing Decisions No 573/2007/EC and No 575/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Decision 2007/435/EC (OJ L 150, 20.5.2014, p. 168).
(<sup>14</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances (OJ L 306, 23.11.2011, p. 25).
(<sup>15</sup>) Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism (OJ L 118, 12.5.2010, p. 1).
(<sup>16</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments (OJ L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 1).
(<sup>17</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the strengthening of economic and budgetary surveillance of Member States in the euro area experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability (OJ L 140, 27.05.2013, p. 1).
(<sup>18</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6).
(<sup>19</sup>) Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on the establishment of the Structural Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 1305/2013 (OJ L 129, 19.5.2017, p. 1).
(<sup>20</sup>) Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments (OJ L 169, 1.7.2015, p. 1).
(<sup>21</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1).
(<sup>22</sup>) Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338).
(<sup>23</sup>) Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30).
(<sup>24</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1).
(<sup>25</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (OJ L 311, 14.11.2002, p. 3).
(<sup>26</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (OJ L 223, 15.8.2006, p. 1).
(<sup>27</sup>) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty (OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1).
(<sup>28</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) (2014 - 2020) and repealing Decision No 1639/2006/EC (See page 33 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>29</sup>) Commission Decision 2010/670/EU of 3 November 2010 laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies under the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 290, 6.11.2010, p. 39).
(<sup>30</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the establishment of a Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 614/2007 (See page 185 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>31</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing "Erasmus+": the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions Nos 1719/2006/EC, 1720/2006/EC and 1298/2008/EC (See page 50 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>32</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation ("EaSI") and amending Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion (See page 238 of this Official Journal).
(<sup>33</sup>) Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013, establishing the Connecting Europe Facility, amending Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 680/2007 and (EC) No 67/2010 (OJ L 348, 20.12.2013, p. 129).
(<sup>34</sup>) Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1).
(<sup>35</sup>) Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3).
(<sup>36</sup>) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7).
2017-12-16
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2017-05-20
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2016-12-14
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the C
2015-10-16
the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, th
original version
Text at this date