Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy

TABLE OF CONTENTS	TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE I	OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL RULES ON SUPPORT
Chapter I	Subject-matter, definitions and general rules
Article 1	Subject-matter and scope
Article 2	Definitions
Article 3	Calculation of time limits for Commission actions
Article 4	Processing and protection of personal data
Chapter II	Policy objectives and principles for the support of the Funds
Article 5	Policy objectives
Article 6	Climate targets and climate adjustment mechanism
Article 7	Shared management
Article 8	Partnership and multi-level governance
Article 9	Horizontal Principles
TITLE II	STRATEGIC APPROACH
Chapter I	Partnership Agreement
Article 10	Preparation and submission of the Partnership Agreement
Article 11	Content of the Partnership Agreement
Article 12	Approval of the Partnership Agreement
Article 13	Amendment of the Partnership Agreement
Article 14	Use of the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFAF delivered through the InvestEU Programme
Chapter II	Enabling conditions and performance framework
Article 15	Enabling conditions
Article 16	Performance framework
Article 17	Methodology for the establishment of the performance framework
Article 18	Mid-term review and flexibility amount
Chapter III	Measures linked to sound economic governance and to exceptional or unusual circumstances
Article 19	Measures linking effectiveness of Funds to sound economic governance
Article 20	Temporary measures for the use of the Funds in response to exceptional or unusual circumstances
TITLE III	PROGRAMMING
Chapter I	General Provisions on the Funds
Article 21	Preparation and submission of programmes
Article 22	Content of programmes
Article 23	Approval of programmes
Article 24	Amendment of programmes
Article 25	Joint support from the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF
Article 26	Transfer of resources
Article 26a	Support for the objectives in Article 21c(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241
Article 26b	Resources transferred from the Social Climate Fund
Article 27	Transfer of resources from the ERDF and the ESF+ to the JTF
Chapter II	Territorial development
Article 28	Integrated territorial development
Article 29	Territorial strategies
Article 30	Integrated territorial investment
Article 31	Community-led local development
Article 32	Community-led local development strategies
Article 33	Local action groups
Article 34	Support from Funds for community-led local development
Chapter III	Technical assistance
Article 35	Technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission
Article 36	Technical assistance of Member States
Article 37	Financing not linked to costs for technical assistance of Member States
TITLE IV	MONITORING, EVALUATION, COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY
Chapter I	Monitoring
Article 38	Monitoring committee
Article 39	Composition of the monitoring committee
Article 40	Functions of the monitoring committee
Article 41	Annual performance review
Article 42	Transmission of data
Article 43	Final performance report
Chapter II	Evaluation
Article 44	Evaluations by the Member State
Article 45	Evaluation by the Commission
Chapter III	Visibility, transparency and communication
Section I	Visibility of support from the Funds
Article 46	Visibility
Article 47	Emblem of the Union
Article 48	Communication officers and networks
Section II	Transparency of implementation of the Funds and communication on programmes
Article 49	Responsibilities of the managing authority
Article 50	Responsibilities of beneficiaries
TITLE V	FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE FUNDS
Chapter I	Forms of Union contribution
Article 51	Forms of Union contribution to programmes
Chapter II	Forms of support by Member States
Article 52	Forms of support
Section I	Forms of Grants
Article 53	Forms of grants
Article 54	Flat-rate financing for indirect costs concerning grants
Article 55	Direct staff costs concerning grants
Article 56	Flat rate financing for eligible costs other than direct staff costs concerning grants
Article 57	Grants under conditions
Section II	Financial Instruments
Article 58	Financial instruments
Article 59	Implementation of financial instruments
Article 60	Interest and other gains generated by support from the Funds to financial instruments
Article 61	Differentiated treatment of investors
Article 62	Re-use of resources attributable to the support from the Funds
Chapter III	Eligibility rules
Article 63	Eligibility
Article 64	Non-eligible costs
Article 65	Durability of operations
Article 66	Relocation
Article 67	Specific eligibility rules for grants
Article 68	Specific eligibility rules for financial instruments
TITLE VI	MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL
Chapter I	General rules on management and control
Article 69	Responsibilities of Member States
Article 70	Commission powers and responsibilities
Article 71	Programme authorities
Chapter II	Standard management and control systems
Article 72	Functions of the managing authority
Article 73	Selection of operations by the managing authority
Article 74	Programme management by the managing authority
Article 75	Support of the work of the monitoring committee by the managing authority
Article 76	The accounting function
Article 77	Functions of the audit authority
Article 78	Audit strategy
Article 79	Audits of operations
Article 80	Single audit arrangements
Article 81	Management verifications and audits of financial instruments
Article 82	Availability of documents
Chapter III	Reliance on national management systems
Article 83	Enhanced proportionate arrangements
Article 84	Conditions for application of enhanced proportionate arrangements
Article 85	Adjustment during the programming period
TITLE VII	FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, SUBMISSION AND EXAMINATION OF ACCOUNTS AND FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS
Chapter I	Financial management
Section I	General Accounting Rules
Article 86	Budgetary commitments
Article 87	Use of the euro
Article 88	Repayment
Section II	Rules for Payments to Member States
Article 89	Types of payments
Article 90	Pre-financing
Article 91	Payment applications
Article 92	Specific elements for financial instruments in payment applications
Article 93	Common rules for payments
Article 94	Union contribution based on unit costs, lump sums and flat rates
Article 95	Union contribution based on financing not linked to costs
Section III	Interruptions and Suspensions
Article 96	Interruption of the payment deadline
Article 97	Suspension of payments
Chapter II	Submission and examination of accounts
Article 98	Content and submission of accounts
Article 99	Examination of accounts
Article 100	Calculation of the balance
Article 101	Procedure for the examination of accounts
Article 102	Contradictory procedure for the examination of accounts
Chapter III	Financial corrections
Article 103	Financial corrections by Member States
Article 104	Financial corrections by the Commission
Chapter IV	Decommitment
Article 105	Decommitment principles and rules
Article 106	Exceptions to the decommitment rules
Article 107	Procedure for decommitment
TITLE VIII	FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK
Article 108	Geographical coverage of support for the Investment for jobs and growth goal
Article 109	Resources for economic, social and territorial cohesion
Article 110	Resources for the Investment for jobs and growth goal and for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg)
Article 111	Transferability of resources
Article 112	Determination of co-financing rates
TITLE IX	DELEGATION OF POWER, IMPLEMENTING, TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Chapter I	Delegation of power and implementing provisions
Article 113	Delegation of powers as regards certain Annexes
Article 114	Exercise of the delegation
Article 115	Committee procedure
Chapter II	Transitional and final provisions
Article 116	Review
Article 117	Transitional provisions
Article 118	Conditions for operations subject to phased implementation
Article 118a	Conditions for operations subject to phased implementation that were selected for support before 29 June 2022 under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
Article 119	Entry into force
ANNEX I	DIMENSIONS AND CODES FOR THE TYPES OF INTERVENTION FOR THE ERDF, THE ESF+, THE COHESION FUND AND THE JTF – ARTICLE 22(5)
ANNEX II	TEMPLATE FOR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT – ARTICLE 10(6)
ANNEX III	HORIZONTAL ENABLING CONDITIONS – ARTICLE 15(1)
ANNEX IV	THEMATIC ENABLING CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO ERDF, ESF+ AND THE COHESION FUND – ARTICLE 15(1)
ANNEX V	TEMPLATE FOR PROGRAMMES SUPPORTED FROM THE ERDF (INVESTMENT FOR JOBS AND GROWTH GOAL), ESF+, THE JTF, THE COHESION FUND AND THE EMFAF – ARTICLE 21(3)
ANNEX VI	TEMPLATE OF A PROGRAMME FOR THE AMIF, THE ISF AND THE BMVI – ARTICLE 21(3)
ANNEX VII	TEMPLATE FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF DATA – ARTICLE 42
ANNEX VIII	A FORECAST OF THE AMOUNT FOR WHICH THE MEMBER STATE EXPECTS TO SUBMIT PAYMENT APPLICATIONS FOR THE CURRENT AND THE SUBSEQUENT CALENDAR YEAR (ARTICLE 69(10))
ANNEX IX	COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY – ARTICLES 47, 49 AND 50
ANNEX X	ELEMENTS FOR FUNDING AGREEMENTS AND STRATEGY DOCUMENTS – ARTICLE 59(1) AND (5)
ANNEX XI	KEY REQUIREMENTS OF MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEMS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION – ARTICLE 69(1)
ANNEX XII	DETAILED RULES AND TEMPLATE FOR THE REPORTING OF IRREGULARITIES – ARTICLE 69(2)
ANNEX XIII	ELEMENTS FOR THE AUDIT TRAIL – ARTICLE 69(6)
ANNEX XIV	ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE SYSTEMS BETWEEN PROGRAMME AUTHORITIES AND BENEFICIARIES – ARTICLE 69(8)
ANNEX XV	SFC2021: ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE SYSTEM BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION – ARTICLE 69(9)
ANNEX XVI	TEMPLATE FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM – ARTICLE 69(11)
ANNEX XVII	DATA TO BE RECORDED AND STORED ELECTRONICALLY ON EACH OPERATION – ARTICLE 72(1), POINT (E)
ANNEX XVIII	TEMPLATE FOR THE MANAGEMENT DECLARATION – ARTICLE 74(1), POINT (F)
ANNEX XIX	TEMPLATE FOR THE ANNUAL AUDIT OPINION – ARTICLE 77(3), POINT (A)
ANNEX XX	TEMPLATE FOR THE ANNUAL CONTROL REPORT – ARTICLE 77(3), POINT (B)
ANNEX XXI	TEMPLATE FOR THE ANNUAL AUDIT REPORT – ARTICLE 81(5)
ANNEX XXII	TEMPLATE FOR THE AUDIT STRATEGY – ARTICLE 78
ANNEX XXIII	TEMPLATE FOR PAYMENT APPLICATIONS – ARTICLE 91(3)
ANNEX XXIV	TEMPLATE FOR THE ACCOUNTS – ARTICLE 98(1), POINT (A)
ANNEX XXV	DETERMINATION OF THE LEVEL OF FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS: FLAT-RATE AND EXTRAPOLATED FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS – ARTICLE 104(1)
ANNEX XXVI	METHODOLOGY ON THE ALLOCATION OF GLOBAL RESOURCES PER MEMBER STATE – ARTICLE 109(2)

TITLE I

OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL RULES ON SUPPORT

CHAPTER I

Subject matter, definitions and general rules

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

• (a) financial rules for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund (JTF), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVI) (together referred to as the ‘Funds’);

• (b) common provisions applicable to the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund, the JTF and the EMFAF.

• (a) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0001]) (the ‘ERDF and CF Regulation’);

• (b) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0002]) (the ‘ESF+ Regulation’);

• (c) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0003]) (the ‘Interreg Regulation’);

• (d) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0004]) (the ‘JTF Regulation’).

• (e) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 (the ‘EMFAF Regulation’);

• (f) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (the ‘AMIF Regulation’);

• (g) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Internal Security Fund (the ‘ISF Regulation’);

• (h) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (the ‘BMVI Regulation’);

In case of doubt about the application between this Regulation and Fund-specific Regulations, this Regulation shall prevail.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

• (1) ‘relevant country-specific recommendations’ mean Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Articles 121(2) and 148(4) TFEU relating to structural challenges as well as complementary Commission recommendations issued in accordance with Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, which are appropriate to be addressed through multiannual investments that fall within the scope of the Funds as set out in Fund-specific Regulations;

• (2) ‘enabling condition’ means a prerequisite condition for the effective and efficient implementation of the specific objectives;

• (3) ‘applicable law’ means Union law and the national law relating to its application;

• (4) ‘operation’ means:
• (a) a project, contract, action or group of projects selected under the programmes concerned;
• (b) in the context of financial instruments, a programme contribution to a financial instrument and the subsequent financial support provided to final recipients by that financial instrument;

• (5) ‘operation of strategic importance’ means an operation which provides a significant contribution to the achievement of the objectives of a programme and which is subject to particular monitoring and communication measures;

• (6) ‘priority’ in the context of the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, means a specific objective;

• (7) ‘priority’ in the context of the EMFAF, for the purpose of Title VII only, means a specific objective;.

• (8) ‘intermediate body’ means a public or private body which acts under the responsibility of a managing authority, or which carries out functions or tasks on behalf of such an authority;

• (9) ‘beneficiary’ means:
• (a) a public or private body, an entity with or without legal personality, or a natural person, responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations;
• (b) in the context of public-private partnerships (‘PPPs’), the public body initiating a PPP operation or the private partner selected for its implementation;
• (c) in the context of State aid schemes, the undertaking which receives the aid;
• (d) in the context of de minimis aid provided in accordance with Commission Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 ([^E0005]) or (EU) No 717/2014 ([^E0006]), the Member State may decide that the beneficiary for the purposes of this Regulation is the body granting the aid, where it is responsible for intiating or both initiating and implementing the operation;
• (e) in the context of financial instruments, the body that implements the holding fund or, where there is no holding fund structure, the body that implements the specific fund or, where the managing authority manages the financial instrument, the managing authority;

• (10) ‘small project fund’ means an operation in an Interreg programme aimed at the selection and implementation of projects, including people-to-people actions, of limited financial volume;

• (11) ‘target’ means a pre-agreed value to be achieved by the end of the eligibility period in relation to an indicator included under a specific objective;

• (12) ‘milestone’ means an intermediate value to be achieved at a given point in time during the eligibility period in relation to an output indicator included under a specific objective;

• (13) ‘output indicator’ means an indicator to measure the specific deliverables of the intervention;

• (14) ‘result indicator’ means an indicator to measure the effects of the interventions supported, with particular reference to the direct addressees, population targeted or users of infrastructure;

• (15) ‘PPP operation’ means an operation which is implemented under a partnership between public bodies and the private sector in line with a PPP agreement, and which aims to provide public services through risk sharing by the pooling of either private sector expertise or additional sources of capital or both;

• (16) ‘financial instrument’ means a form of support delivered via a structure through which financial products are provided to final recipients;

• (17) ‘financial product’ means equity or quasi-equity investments, loans and guarantees as defined in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation;

• (18) ‘final recipient’ means a legal or natural person receiving support from the Funds through a beneficiary of a small project fund or from a financial instrument;

• (19) ‘programme contribution’ means the support from the Funds and the national public and private, if any, co-financing to a financial instrument;

• (20) ‘holding fund’ means a fund set up under the responsibility of a managing authority under one or more programmes, to implement one or more specific funds;

• (21) ‘specific fund’ means a fund through which a managing authority or a holding fund provides financial products to final recipients;

• (22) ‘body implementing a financial instrument’ means a body, governed by public or private law, carrying out tasks of a holding fund or specific fund;

• (23) ‘leverage effect’ means the amount of reimbursable financing provided to final recipients divided by the amount of the contribution from the Funds;

• (24) ‘multiplier ratio’ in the context of guarantee instruments means a ratio established on the basis of a prudent ex ante risk assessment in respect of each a guarantee product to be offered, between the value of the underlying disbursed new loans, equity or quasi-equity investments, and the amount of the programme contribution set aside for guarantee contracts to cover expected and unexpected losses from these new loans, equity or quasi-equity investments;

• (25) ‘management costs’ means direct or indirect costs reimbursed against evidence of expenditure incurred in the implementation of financial instruments;

• (26) ‘management fees’ means a price for services rendered, as determined in the funding agreement between the managing authority and the body implementing a holding fund or a specific fund; and, where applicable, between the body implementing a holding fund and the body implementing a specific fund;

• (27) ‘relocation’ means a transfer of the same or similar activity or part thereof within the meaning of point (61a) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014;

• (28) ‘public contribution’ means any contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities or of any European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0007]), the budget of the Union made available to the 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;

• (29) ‘accounting year’ means the period from 1 July to 30 June of the following year, 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 2022; for the final accounting year, it means the period from 1 July 2029 to 30 June 2030;

• (30) ‘economic operator’ means any natural or legal person, or other entity involved in the implementation of the Funds, with the exception of a Member State exercising its prerogatives as a public authority;

• (31) ‘irregularity’ means any breach of applicable law, resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the budget of the Union by charging unjustified expenditure to that budget;

• (32) ‘serious deficiency’ means a deficiency in the effective functioning of the management and control system of a programme for which significant improvements in the management and control systems are required and where any of the key requirements 2, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13 and 15 referred to in Annex XI, or two or more of the other key requirements are assessed into categories 3 and 4 of that Annex;

• (33) ‘systemic irregularity’ means any irregularity, which may be of a recurring nature, with a high probability of occurrence in similar types of operations, which results from a serious deficiency, including a failure to establish appropriate procedures in accordance with this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules;

• (34) ‘total errors’ means the sum of the projected random errors and, if applicable, delimited systemic errors and uncorrected anomalous errors;

• (35) ‘total error rate’ means total errors divided by the audit population;

• (36) ‘residual error rate’ means the total errors less the financial corrections applied by the Member State to reduce the risks identified by the audit authority, divided by the expenditure to be declared in the accounts;

• (37) ‘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;

• (38) ‘sampling unit’ means one of the units, which may be an operation, a project within an operation or a payment claim by a beneficiary, into which an audit population is divided for the purpose of sampling;

• (39) ‘escrow account’ means, in the case of a PPP operation, a bank account covered by a written agreement between a public body beneficiary and the private partner approved by the managing authority or an intermediate body used for payments during or after the eligibility period;

• (40) ‘participant’ means a natural person benefiting directly from an operation without being responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing the operation and who, in the context of the EMFAF, does not receive financial support;

• (41) ‘energy efficiency first’ means taking utmost account in energy planning, and in policy and investment decisions, of alternative cost-efficient energy efficiency measures to make energy demand and energy supply more efficient, in particular by means of cost-effective end-use energy savings, demand response initiatives and more efficient conversion, transmission and distribution of energy, whilst still achieving the objectives of those decisions;

• (42) ‘climate proofing’ means a process to prevent infrastructure from being vulnerable to potential long-term climate impacts whilst ensuring that the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle is respected and that the level of greenhouse gas emissions arising from the project is consistent with the climate neutrality objective in 2050;

• (43) ‘grants under conditions’ means a category of grant subject to conditions linked to the repayment of support;

• (44) ‘EIB’ means the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund or any subsidiary of the European Investment Bank;

• (45) ‘Seal of Excellence’ means the quality label attributed by the Commission in respect of a proposal, which shows that the proposal which has been assessed in a call for proposals under a Union instrument is deemed to comply with the minimum quality requirements of that Union instrument, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available for that call for proposals, and might receive support from other Union or national sources of funding; or the ‘Sovereignty Seal’ referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0008]).

Article 3

Calculation of time limits for Commission actions

Where a time limit is set for an action by the Commission, that time limit shall start when all information in accordance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation or in Fund-specific Regulations have been submitted by the Member State.

That time limit shall be suspended from the day following the date on which the Commission sends its observations or a request for revised documents to the Member State and until the Member State responds to the Commission.

Article 4

Processing and protection of personal data

The Member States and the Commission shall be allowed to process personal data only where necessary for the purpose of carrying out their respective obligations under this Regulation, in particular for monitoring, reporting, communication, publication, evaluation, financial management, verifications and audits and, where applicable, for determining the eligibility of participants. The personal data shall be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0009]), whichever is applicable.

CHAPTER II

Policy objectives and principles for the support of the funds

Article 5

Policy objectives

• (a) a more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity;

• (b) a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility;

• (c) a more connected Europe by enhancing mobility;

• (d) a more social and inclusive Europe implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights;

• (e) a Europe closer to citizens by fostering the sustainable and integrated development of all types of territories and local initiatives.

The JTF shall support the specific objective of enabling regions and people to address the social, employment, economic and environmental impacts of the transition towards the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and climate and a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050, based on the Paris Agreement.

The first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to the resources of the ERDF and the ESF+ that are transferred to the JTF in accordance with Article 27.

• (a) the Investment for jobs and growth goal in Member States and regions, to be supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF; and

• (b) the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg), to be supported by the ERDF.

Article 6

Climate targets and climate adjustment mechanism

Where, as a result of a programme amendment for the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) established by Regulation (EU) 2024/795, the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund would exceed the target of 37 % of its total allocation, the amount exceeding that target may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the ERDF for the purpose of reaching the target of 30 % of its total allocation. The amounts exceeding the ERDF climate contribution target of 30 % of its total allocation may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund.

Article 7

Shared management

Article 8

Partnership and multi-level governance

• (a) regional, local, urban and other public authorities;

• (b) economic and social partners;

• (c) relevant bodies representing civil society, such as environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, fundamental rights, rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and non-discrimination;

• (d) research organisations and universities, where appropriate.

In that context, Member States shall, where relevant, allocate an appropriate percentage of the resources coming from the Funds for the administrative capacity building of social partners and civil society organisations.

Article 9

Horizontal Principles

The objectives of the Funds shall be pursued in full respect of the Union environmental acquis.

TITLE II

STRATEGIC APPROACH

CHAPTER I

Partnership Agreement

Article 10

Preparation and submission of the Partnership Agreement

Article 11

Content of the Partnership Agreement

• (a) the selected policy objectives and the specific objective of the JTF, indicating by which of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement and programmes these objectives will be pursued and a justification thereto, taking into account relevant country-specific recommendations, the integrated national energy and climate plan, the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and, where relevant, regional challenges;

• (b) for each of the selected policy objectives and the specific objective of the JTF:
• (i) a summary of the policy choices and the main results expected for each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement;
• (ii) coordination, demarcation and complementarities between the Funds and, where appropriate, coordination between national and regional programmes;
• (iii) complementarities and synergies between the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement, the AMIF, the ISF, the BMVI, and other Union instruments, including LIFE strategic integrated projects and strategic nature projects, and, where appropriate, projects funded under Horizon Europe;

• (c) the preliminary financial allocation from each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement by policy objective at national and where appropriate at regional level, respecting Fund-specific rules on thematic concentration and the preliminary financial allocation for the specific objective of the JTF, including any ERDF and ESF+ resources to be transferred to the JTF in accordance with Article 27;

• (d) the preliminary climate contribution target in accordance with Article 6(2);

• (e) where applicable, the breakdown of financial resources by category of region drawn up in accordance with Article 108(2) and the amounts of allocations proposed to be transferred pursuant to Articles 26 and 111, including a justification for such transfers;

• (f) for technical assistance, the choice of the Member State of the form of Union contribution pursuant to Article 36(3) and, where applicable, the preliminary financial allocation from each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement at national level and breakdown of financial resources by programme and category of region;

• (g) the amounts to be contributed to the InvestEU Programme by Fund and by category of region, where applicable;

• (h) the list of planned programmes under the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement with the respective preliminary financial allocations by fund and the corresponding national contribution by category of region, where applicable;

• (i) a summary of the actions which the Member State concerned plans to take to reinforce its administrative capacity of the implementation of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement;

• (j) where appropriate, an integrated approach to address the demographic challenges or specific needs of regions and areas.

As regards the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg), the Partnership Agreement shall only contain the list of planned programmes.

Article 12

Approval of the Partnership Agreement

Article 13

Amendment of the Partnership Agreement

Article 14

Use of the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFAF delivered through the InvestEU Programme

Such amounts shall contribute to the achievement of the policy objectives selected in the Partnership Agreement or the programme and shall support investments essentially in the category of contributing regions.

Such contributions shall be implemented in accordance with the rules established in the InvestEU Regulation and shall not constitute transfers of resources under Article 26.

The contribution agreement for the amounts referred to in paragraph 1 allocated in the request of the amendment of a programme shall be concluded simultaneously with the adoption of the decision amending the programme.

Where the participation of a Member State in the InvestEU Fund is discontinued, the amounts concerned paid into the common provisioning fund as a provisioning shall be recovered as internal assigned revenue pursuant to Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation. The Member State concerned shall submit a request for one or more programme amendments to use the amounts recovered and the amounts allocated to future calendar years according to paragraph 2 of this Article. The termination or amendment of the contribution agreement shall be concluded simultaneously with the adoption of the decisions amending the programme or programmes concerned.

CHAPTER II

Enabling conditions and performance framework

Article 15

Enabling conditions

Annex III contains horizontal enabling conditions applicable to all specific objectives and the criteria necessary for the assessment of their fulfilment.

Annex IV contains thematic enabling conditions for the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund and the criteria necessary for the assessment of their fulfilment.

The enabling condition regarding the tools and capacity for effective application of State aid rules shall not be applicable to programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI.

Where the Commission disagrees with the Member State regarding the fulfilment of the enabling condition, it shall inform the Member State and set out its assessment.

Where the Member State disagrees with the Commission’s assessment, it shall present its observations within 1 month and the Commission shall proceed in accordance with the first subparagraph.

Where the Member State accepts the Commission’s assessment, it shall proceed in accordance with paragraph 3.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to operations that contribute to the fulfilment of the corresponding enabling condition.

Where the Commission considers that an enabling condition is no longer fulfilled, it shall inform the Member State setting out its assessment. Subsequently, the procedure set out in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 4 shall be followed.

Where the Commission concludes that the non-fulfilment of the enabling condition persists and without prejudice to Article 105, based on the observations of the Member State, expenditure related to the specific objective concerned may be included in payment applications but shall not be reimbursed by the Commission until the Commission has informed the Member State of the fulfilment of the enabling condition pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article.

Article 16

Performance framework

The performance framework shall consist of:

• (a) output and result indicators linked to specific objectives set out in the Fund-specific Regulations selected for the programme;

• (b) milestones to be achieved by the end of the year 2024 for output indicators; and

• (c) targets to be achieved by the end of the year 2029 for output and result indicators.

Article 17

Methodology for the establishment of the performance framework

• (a) the criteria applied by the Member State to select indicators;

• (b) data or evidence used, data quality assurance and the calculation method;

• (c) factors that may influence the achievement of the milestones and targets and how they were taken into account.

Article 18

Mid-term review and flexibility amount

• (a) the new challenges identified in relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in 2024;

• (b) the progress in implementing the integrated national energy and climate plan, if relevant;

• (c) the progress in implementing the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights;

• (d) the socioeconomic situation of the Member State or region concerned, with special emphasis on territorial needs, taking into account any major negative financial, economic or social development;

• (e) the main results of relevant evaluations;

• (f) the progress in achieving the milestones, taking into account major difficulties encountered in the implementation of the programme;

• (g) for programmes supported by the JTF, the assessment carried out by the Commission, pursuant to point (b) of Article 29(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

The revisions shall include:

• (a) the allocations of the financial resources by priority;

• (b) revised or new targets;

• (c) the amounts to be contributed to the InvestEU Programme per Fund and per category of region, where applicable.

The Commission shall approve the revised programme in accordance with Article 24, including a definitive allocation of the flexibility amount.

• (a) adopt a decision within 3 months of the submission of the assessment referred to in paragraph 2 confirming the definitive allocation of the flexibility amount; or

• (b) request the Member State within 2 months of the submission of the assessment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article to submit an amended programme in accordance with Article 24.

CHAPTER III

Measures linked to sound economic governance and to exceptional or unusual circumstances

Article 19

Measures linking effectiveness of Funds to sound economic governance

Such a request may be made for the following purposes:

• (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 Article 7(2) or 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0010]) provided that these amendments are deemed necessary to help correct the macroeconomic imbalances.

The Council shall decide on that proposal by means of an implementing act. That implementing act shall only apply with respect to payment applications submitted after the date of the adoption of that implementing act.

• (a) where the Council adopts two successive recommendations in the same excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 8(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 on the grounds that a Member State has submitted an insufficient corrective action plan;

• (b) where the Council adopts two successive decisions in the same excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 establishing non-compliance by a Member State on the grounds that it has not taken the recommended corrective action;

• (c) where the Commission concludes that a Member State has not taken measures as referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 ([^E0012]) and as a consequence decides not to authorise the disbursement of the financial assistance granted to that Member State;

• (d) where the Council decides that a Member State does not comply with the macroeconomic adjustment programme referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0013]), or with the measures requested by a Council decision adopted in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.

The suspension of commitments shall apply to the commitments from the Funds for the Member State concerned from 1 January of the year following the adoption of the decision to suspend.

The Council shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, on a proposal by the Commission referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8 in relation to the suspension of payments.

• (a) in the first case of non-compliance with an excessive deficit procedure as referred to in paragraph 7;

• (b) in the first case of non-compliance relating to a corrective action plan under an excessive imbalance procedure as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 8;

• (c) in the case of non-compliance with the recommended corrective action pursuant to an excessive imbalance procedure as referred to in point (b) of paragraph 8;

• (d) in the first case of non-compliance as referred to in points (c) and (d) of paragraph 8.

In the case of persistent non-compliance, the suspension of commitments may exceed the maximum percentages set out in the first subparagraph.

• (a) where the excessive deficit procedure is held in abeyance in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1467/97or 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;

• (c) where the Commission has concluded that the Member State concerned has taken appropriate measures as referred to in Regulation (EC) No 332/2002;

• (d) where the Commission has concluded that the Member State concerned has taken appropriate measures to implement the macroeconomic adjustment programme referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 or the measures requested by a Council decision adopted in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.

After the Council has lifted the suspension of commitments, the Commission shall re-budget the suspended commitments in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093.

Suspended commitments may not be re-budgeted beyond the year 2027.

The decommitment time limit for the re-budgeted amount in accordance with Article 105 shall start from the year in which the suspended commitment has been re-budgeted.

A decision concerning the lifting of the suspension of payments shall be taken by the Council on a proposal by the Commission where the applicable conditions set out in in the first subparagraph are fulfilled. A proposal by the Commission for a decision to lift the suspension of commitments shall be deemed adopted by the Council unless the Council decides, by means of an implementing act, to reject such a proposal by qualified majority within 1 month of the submission of the Commission proposal.

The European Parliament may invite the Commission for a structured dialogue on the application of this Article, having regard to the transmission of the information referred to in the first subparagraph.

The Commission shall transmit the proposal for suspension or the proposal to lift such a suspension to the European Parliament and to the Council without delay after its adoption. The European Parliament may invite the Commission to explain the reasons for its proposal.

Article 20

Temporary measures for the use of the Funds in response to exceptional or unusual circumstances

• (a) on request of one or more Member States concerned, increase interim payments by 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable, not exceeding 100 %, by way of derogation from Article 112(3) and (4) of this Regulation, as well as from Article 40 of the EMFAF Regulation, Article 15 of the AMIF Regulation, Article 12 of the ISF Regulation and Article 12 of the BMVI Regulation;