1.The ESI Funds shall provide support, through multi-annual programmes, which complements national, regional and local intervention, to deliver the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the Fund-specific missions pursuant to their Treaty-based objectives, including economic, social and territorial cohesion taking account of the relevant Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines and the relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU, and of the relevant Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU and where appropriate at national level, the National Reform Programme.
2.The Commission and the Member States shall ensure, taking account of the specific context of each Member State, that support from the ESI Funds is consistent with the relevant policies, horizontal principles referred to in Articles 5, 7 and 8 and priorities of the Union, and that it is complementary to other instruments of the Union.
3.Support from the ESI Funds shall be implemented in close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.
4.Member States, at the appropriate territorial level, in accordance with their institutional, legal and financial framework, and the bodies designated by them for that purpose shall be responsible for preparing and implementing programmes and carrying out their tasks, in partnership with the relevant partners referred to in Article 5, in compliance with this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules.
5.Arrangements for the implementation and use of the ESI Funds, and in particular the financial and administrative resources required for the preparation and implementation of programmes, in relation to monitoring, reporting, evaluation, management and control, shall respect the principle of proportionality having regard to the level of support allocated and shall take into account the overall aim of reducing the administrative burden on bodies involved in the management and control of the programmes.
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.
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.
10.The Commission and the Member States shall carry out their respective roles in relation to the ESI Funds with the aim of reducing the administrative burden on beneficiaries.
1.For the Partnership Agreement and each programme, each Member State shall in accordance with its institutional and legal framework organise a partnership with the competent regional and local authorities. The partnership shall also include the following partners:
(a)competent urban and other public authorities;
(b)economic and social partners; and
(c)relevant bodies representing civil society, including environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, gender equality and non-discrimination.
2.In accordance with the multi-level governance approach, the partners referred to in paragraph 1 shall be involved by Member States in the preparation of Partnership Agreements and progress reports and throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes, including through participation in the monitoring committees for programmes in accordance with Article 48.
3.The Commission shall be empowered to adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 149 to provide for a European code of conduct on partnership (the 'code of conduct') in order to support and facilitate Member States in the organisation of partnership in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. The code of conduct shall set out the framework within which the Member States, in accordance with their institutional and legal framework as well as their national and regional competences, shall pursue the implementation of partnership. The code of conduct, while fully respecting the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, shall lay down the following elements:
(a)the main principles concerning transparent procedures to be followed for the identification of the relevant partners including, where appropriate, their umbrella organisations in order to facilitate Member States in designating the most representative relevant partners, in accordance with their institutional and legal framework;
(b)the main principles and good practices concerning the involvement of the different categories of relevant partners set out in paragraph 1 in the preparation of the Partnership Agreement and programmes, the information to be provided concerning their involvement, and at the various stages of implementation;
(c)the good practices concerning the formulation of the rules of membership and internal procedures of monitoring committees to be decided, as appropriate, by the Member States or the monitoring committees of programmes in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules;
(d)the main objectives and good practices in cases where the managing authority involves the relevant partners in the preparation of calls for proposals and in particular good practices for avoiding potential conflicts of interest in cases where there is a possibility of relevant partners also being potential beneficiaries, and for the involvement of the relevant partners in the preparation of progress reports and in relation to monitoring and evaluation of programmes in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules;
(e)the indicative areas, themes and good practices concerning how the competent authorities of the Member States may use the ESI Funds including technical assistance to strengthen the institutional capacity of relevant partners in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules;
(f)the role of the Commission in the dissemination of good practices;
(g)the main principles and good practices that are apt to facilitate the Member States' assessment of the implementation of partnership and its added value.
The provisions of the code of conduct shall not in any way contradict the relevant provisions of this Regulation or the Fund-specific rules.
4.The Commission shall notify the delegated act, referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, on the European code of conduct on partnership, simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council by 18 April 2014. That delegated act shall not specify a date of application that is earlier than the date of its adoption.
5.An infringement of any obligation imposed on Member States either by this Article or by the delegated act adopted pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article, shall not constitute an irregularity leading to a financial correction pursuant to Article 85.
6.At least once a year, for each ESI Fund, the Commission shall consult the organisations which represent the partners at Union level on the implementation of support from that ESI Fund and shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the outcome.
Operations supported by the ESI Funds shall comply with applicable Union law and the national law relating to its application ('applicable law').
The Member States and the Commission shall ensure that equality between men and women and the integration of gender perspective are taken into account and promoted throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes, including in relation to monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
The Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate steps to prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the preparation and implementation of programmes. In particular, accessibility for persons with disabilities shall be taken into account throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes.
The objectives of the ESI Funds shall be pursued in line with the principle of sustainable development and with the Union's promotion of the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, as set out in Article 11 and Article 191(1) TFEU, taking into account the polluter pays principle.
The Member States and the Commission shall ensure that environmental protection requirements, resource efficiency, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, disaster resilience, and risk prevention and management are promoted in the preparation and implementation of Partnership Agreements and programmes. Member States shall provide information on the support for climate change objectives using a methodology based on the categories of intervention, focus areas or measures, as appropriate, for each of the ESI Funds. That methodology shall consist of assigning a specific weighting to the support provided under the ESI Funds at a level which reflects the extent to which such support makes a contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. The specific weighting assigned shall be differentiated on the basis of whether the support makes a significant or a moderate contribution towards climate change objectives. Where the support does not contribute towards those objectives or the contribution is insignificant, a weighting of zero shall be assigned. In the case of the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund weightings shall be attached to categories of intervention established within the nomenclature adopted by the Commission. In the case of the EAFRD weightings shall be attached to focus areas set out in the EAFRD Regulation and in the case of the EMFF to measures set out in the EMFF Regulation.
The Commission shall set out uniform conditions for each of the ESI Funds for the application of the methodology referred to in the second paragraph by means of an implementing act. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).