Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER III U.K. Programming

Article 8 U.K. Content, adoption and amendment of cooperation programmes

1. A cooperation programme shall consist of priority axes. Without prejudice to Article 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, a priority axis shall correspond to a thematic objective and comprise one or more of the investment priorities of that thematic objective in line with Articles 6 and 7 of this Regulation. Where appropriate, and in order to increase its impact and effectiveness through a thematically coherent integrated approach to pursuing the objectives of the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, a priority axis may, in duly justified cases, combine one or more complementary investment priorities from different thematic objectives in order to achieve the maximum contribution to that priority axis.

2. A cooperation programme shall contribute to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and to the achievement of economic, social and territorial cohesion, and shall set out:

(a) a justification for the choice of thematic objectives, corresponding investment priorities and financial allocations, having regard to the Common Strategic Framework set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, based on an analysis of the needs within the programme area as a whole and the strategy chosen in response to such needs, addressing where appropriate missing links in cross-border infrastructure, taking into account the results of the ex-ante evaluation carried out in accordance with Article 55 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(b) for each priority axis other than technical assistance:

(i)

the investment priorities and corresponding specific objectives;

(ii)

in order to strengthen the result-orientation of the programming, the expected results for the specific objectives, and the corresponding result indicators, with a baseline value and a target value, where appropriate quantified, in accordance with Article 16;

(iii)

a description of the type and examples of actions to be supported under each investment priority and their expected contribution to the specific objectives referred to in point (i) including the guiding principles for the selection of operations and where appropriate, the identification of the main target groups, specific territories targeted, types of beneficiaries, the planned use of financial instruments, and major projects;

(iv)

the common and specific output indicators, including the quantified target value, which are expected to contribute to the results, in accordance with Article 16, for each investment priority;

(v)

identification of implementation steps and financial and output indicators, and where appropriate, result indicators, to be used as milestones and targets for the performance framework in accordance with Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Annex II to that Regulation;

(vi)

where appropriate, a summary of the planned use of technical assistance including, where necessary, actions to reinforce the administrative capacity of authorities involved in the management and control of the programmes and beneficiaries and, where necessary, actions to enhance the administrative capacity of relevant partners to participate in the implementation of the programmes;

(vii)

the corresponding categories of intervention based on a nomenclature adopted by the Commission and an indicative breakdown of the programmed resources;

(c) for each priority axis concerning technical assistance:

(i)

specific objectives;

(ii)

the expected results for each specific objective, and, where objectively justified given the content of the actions, the corresponding result indicators, with a baseline value and a target value, in accordance with Article 16;

(iii)

a description of actions to be supported and their expected contribution to the specific objectives referred to in point (i);

(iv)

the output indicators which are expected to contribute to the results;

(v)

the corresponding categories of intervention based on a nomenclature adopted by the Commission and an indicative breakdown of the programmed resources.

Point (ii) shall not apply where the Union contribution to the priority axis or axes concerning technical assistance in a cooperation programme does not exceed EUR 15 000 000;

(d) a financing plan containing the following tables (without any division per participating Member State):

(i)

a table specifying for each year, in accordance with the rules on co-financing rates laid down in Articles 60, 120 and 121 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the amount of the total financial appropriation envisaged for the support from the ERDF;

(ii)

a table specifying, for the whole programming period, for the cooperation programme and for each priority axis, the amount of the total financial appropriation of the support from the ERDF and the national co-financing. For priority axes, which combine investment priorities from different thematic objectives, the table shall specify the amount of total financial appropriation and the national co-financing for each of the corresponding thematic objectives. Where the national co-financing is made up of public and private co-financing, the table shall give the indicative breakdown between the public and the private components. It shall show, for information purposes, any contribution from third countries participating in the programme and the envisaged participation from the EIB;

(e) a list of major projects for which the implementation is planned during the programming period.

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts concerning the nomenclature referred to in points (b)(vii) and (c)(v) of the first subparagraph. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2000.

3. Taking into account its content and objectives, a cooperation programme shall describe the integrated approach to territorial development, including in relation to regions and areas referred to in Article 174(3) TFEU, having regard to the Partnership Agreements of the participating Member States, and showing how that cooperation programme contributes to the accomplishment of its objectives and expected results, specifying, where appropriate, the following:

(a) the approach to the use of community-led local development instruments and the principles for identifying the areas where it will be implemented;

(b) the principles for identifying the urban areas where integrated actions for sustainable urban development are to be implemented and the indicative allocation of the ERDF support for such actions;

(c) the approach to the use of the integrated territorial investment instrument referred to in Article 11, other than in cases covered by point (b), and their indicative financial allocation from each priority axis;

(d) where Member States and regions participate in macro-regional strategies and sea basin strategies, the contribution of the planned interventions under the cooperation programme to those strategies, subject to the needs of the programme area as identified by the relevant Member States and taking into account, where applicable, the strategically important projects identified in those strategies.

4. The cooperation programme shall also identify:

(a) the implementing provisions which:

(i)

identify the managing authority, the certifying authority, where appropriate, and the audit authority;

(ii)

identify the body or bodies designated to carry out control tasks;

(iii)

identify the body or bodies designated to be responsible for carrying out audit tasks;

(iv)

lay down the procedure for setting up the joint secretariat;

(v)

set out a summary description of the management and control arrangements;

(vi)

set out the apportionment of liabilities among the participating Member States in the event of financial corrections imposed by the managing authority or the Commission.

(b) the body to which payments are to be made by the Commission;

(c) the actions taken to involve the partners referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 in the preparation of the cooperation programme, and the role of those partners in the preparation and implementation of the cooperation programme, including their involvement in the monitoring committee.

5. The cooperation programme shall also set out the following, having regard to the content of the Partnership Agreements and taking into account the institutional and legal framework of the Member States:

(a) mechanisms to ensure effective coordination between the ERDF, the ESF, the Cohesion Fund, the EAFRD, the EMFF and other Union and national funding instruments, including the coordination and possible combination with the Connecting Europe Facility pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1), the ENI, the EDF, and the IPA II, as well as with the EIB, taking into account the provisions set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 where Member States and third countries or territories participate in cooperation programmes that include the use of ERDF appropriations for outermost regions and resources from the EDF, coordination mechanisms at the appropriate level to facilitate effective coordination in the use of those appropriations and resources;

(b) a summary of the assessment of the administrative burden on beneficiaries and, where necessary, the actions planned, accompanied by an indicative timeframe, to reduce the administrative burden.

6. Information required under point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, point (b)(i) to (vii) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, paragraph 3 and point (a) of paragraph 5 shall be adapted to the specific character of cooperation programmes under point (3)(b), (c) and (d) of Article 2. Information required under point (e) of the first subpararaph of paragraph 2 and point (b) of paragraph 5 shall not be included in cooperation programmes under point (3)(c) and (d) of Article 2.

7. Each cooperation programme shall, where appropriate and subject to the relevant Member States' duly justified assessment of their relevance to the content and objectives of the programme, include a description of:

(a) the specific actions to take into account environmental protection requirements, resource efficiency, climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster resilience and risk prevention and risk management, in the selection of operations;

(b) the specific actions to promote equal opportunities and prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the preparation, design and implementation of the cooperation programme and in particular in relation to access to funding, taking account of the needs of the various target groups at risk of such discrimination and in particular the requirements to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities;

(c) the contribution of the cooperation programme to the promotion of equality between men and women and, where appropriate, the arrangements to ensure the integration of gender perspective at programme and operation level.

Points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to cooperation programmes under point (3)(b), (c) and (d) of Article 2.

8. Cooperation programmes under point (3)(c) and (d) of Article 2 shall define the beneficiary or beneficiaries and may specify the granting procedure.

9. The participating Member States and, where they have accepted the invitation to participate in the cooperation programme, third countries or territories, where applicable, shall confirm, in writing, their agreement to the contents of a cooperation programme prior to its submission to the Commission. This agreement shall also include a commitment of all participating Member States and, where applicable, third countries or territories, to provide the co-financing necessary to implement the cooperation programme and, where applicable, the commitment for the financial contribution of the third countries or territories.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, in the case of cooperation programmes involving outermost regions and third countries or territories, the Member States concerned shall consult the respective third countries or territories before submitting the cooperation programmes to the Commission. In that case, the agreements to the contents of the cooperation programmes and the possible contribution of the third countries or territories may instead be expressed in the formally approved minutes of the consultation meetings with the third countries or territories or of the deliberations of the regional cooperation organisations.

10. The participating Member States and, where they have accepted the invitation to participate in the cooperation programme, third countries or territories shall draft the cooperation programmes in accordance with the model adopted by the Commission.

11. The Commission shall adopt the model referred to in paragraph 10 by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 150(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

12. The Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of implementing acts, approving all elements, including future amendments, falling under this Article except those falling under point (b)(vii) of paragraph 2, point (c)(v) of paragraph 2, point (e) of paragraph 2, points (a)(i) and (c) of paragraph 4, and paragraphs 5 and 7 of this Article, which remain under the responsibility of the participating Member States.

13. The managing authority shall notify the Commission of any decision amending the elements of the cooperation programme not covered by the Commission decision referred to in paragraph 12, within one month of the date of that amending decision. The amending decision shall specify the date of its entry into force, which shall not be earlier than the date of its adoption.

Article 9 U.K. Joint Action Plan

Where a joint action plan referred to in Article 104(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is carried out under the responsibility of an EGTC as beneficiary, staff of the joint secretariat of the cooperation programme and members of the assembly of the EGTC may become members of the steering committee referred to in Article 108(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The members of the assembly of the EGTC shall not form the majority within that steering committee.

Article 10 U.K. Community-led local development

Community-led local development under Article 32 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 may be implemented in cross-border cooperation programmes, provided that the local development group is composed of representatives of at least two countries, of which one is a Member State.

Article 11 U.K. Integrated territorial investment

For cooperation programmes, the intermediate body for carrying out the management and implementation of an integrated teritorial investment as referred to in Article 36(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be either a legal body established under the laws of one of the participating countries provided that it is set up by public authorities or bodies from at least two participating countries, or an EGTC.

Article 12 U.K. Selection of operations

1. Operations under cooperation programmes shall be selected by a monitoring committee as referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. That monitoring committee may set up a steering committee that acts under its responsibility for the selection of operations.

2. Operations selected under cross-border and transnational cooperation shall involve beneficiaries from at least two participating countries, at least one of which shall be from a Member State. An operation may be implemented in a single country, provided that cross-border or transnational impacts and benefits are identified.

Operations under interregional cooperation referred to in point (3)(a) and (b) of Article 2 shall involve beneficiaries from at least three countries, at least two of which shall be Member States.

The conditions set out in the first subparagraph shall not apply to operations under the PEACE cross-border programme, between Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland, in support of peace and reconciliation as referred to in Article 7(2).

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, an EGTC or other legal body established under the laws of one of the participating countries may be the sole beneficiary of an operation provided that it is set up by public authorities or bodies from at least two participating countries, in the case of cross-border and transnational cooperation, and from at least three participating countries, in the case of interregional cooperation.

A legal body that implements a financial instrument or a fund of funds, as applicable, may be the sole beneficiary of an operation without the application of the requirements for its composition set out in the first subparagraph.

4. Beneficiaries shall cooperate in the development and implementation of operations. In addition, they shall cooperate in the staffing or the financing of operations, or in both.

For operations in programmes set up between outermost regions and third countries or territories, the beneficiaries shall be required to cooperate only in two of the fields mentioned in the first subparagraph.

5. For each operation, the managing authority shall provide to the lead or sole beneficiary a document setting out the conditions for support of the 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.

Article 13 U.K. Beneficiaries

1. Where there are two or more beneficiaries of an operation in a cooperation programme, one of them shall be designated by all the beneficiaries as the lead beneficiary.

2. The lead beneficiary shall:

(a) lay down the arrangements with other beneficiaries in an agreement comprising provisions that, inter alia, guarantee the sound financial management of the funds allocated to the operation, including the arrangements for recovering amounts unduly paid;

(b) assume responsibility for ensuring implementation of the entire operation;

(c) ensure that expenditure presented by all beneficiaries has been incurred in implementing the operation and corresponds to the activities agreed between all the beneficiaries, and is in accordance with the document provided by the managing authority pursuant to Article 12(5);

(d) ensure that the expenditure presented by other beneficiaries has been verified by a controller or controllers where this verification is not carried out by the managing authority pursuant to Article 23(3).

3. If not otherwise specified in the arrangements laid down in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 2 the lead beneficiary shall ensure that the other beneficiaries receive the total amount of the contribution from the funds as quickly as possible and in full. No amount shall be deducted or withheld and no specific charge or other charge with equivalent effect shall be levied that would reduce that amount for the other beneficiaries.

4. Lead beneficiaries shall be located in a Member State participating in the cooperation programme. However, Member States and third countries or territories participating in a cooperation programme may agree to the lead beneficiary being located in a third country or territory participating in that cooperation programme, provided that the managing authority is satisfied that the lead beneficiary can carry out the tasks set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 and that the requirements for management, verification and audit are fulfilled.

5. Sole beneficiaries shall be registered in a Member State participating in the cooperation programme. However, they may be registered in a Member State not participating in the programme, provided the conditions set out in Article 12(3) are satisfied.

(1)

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).