Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1204 of 10 May 2021 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 as regards the application and selection procedures under the Innovation Fund

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (1), and in particular Article 10a(8), fourth subparagraph, thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 (2) lays down rules on the operation of the Innovation Fund. It establishes a two-phase application procedure comprising an expression of interest and the full application.

(2) While the two-phase application procedure has the advantage of reducing the administrative burden for project proponents in the first phase, it increases the period between the submission of applications and the provision of funding to successful projects. The experience with the first call for proposals, where a high number of applications were received at different stages of project maturity, showed the need to reduce that period in order to allow providing timely support to mature projects. Reducing that period would also be beneficial in the context of economic recovery where investments in scaling-up of clean technologies need to be mobilised quickly.

(3) It is therefore necessary to provide for a one-phase application procedure comprising the full application without the phase of expression of interest. The Commission should be able to choose between the two-phase application procedure and the one-phase application procedure as appropriate when deciding on the launching of the calls for proposals.

(4) Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 provides for project development assistance for projects that do not meet the project maturity criterion set out in Article 11(1), point (c), of that Regulation, but which have the potential to meet that criterion. In accordance with Article 13(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 that assistance may only take the form of a grant. In order to facilitate further development of those projects, it is necessary to allow such assistance to be provided also in the form of technical assistance.

(5) Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Amendments to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 is amended as follows:

(5) in Article 13, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2.   The project development assistance shall be awarded by the Commission or by the implementing body in accordance with Article 12(2) or 12a(3) in the form of a grant or a technical assistance.’;

(7) in Article 27, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4.   The project proponents shall provide detailed information on the planned actions in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article in the knowledge-sharing plan submitted in accordance with Article 10(2), third subparagraph.’.

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 10 May 2021.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32.

(2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 of 26 February 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the operation of the Innovation Fund (OJ L 140, 28.5.2019, p. 6).