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 (c. 1303)

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ANNEX I U.K. COMMON STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

7. COOPERATION ACTIVITIES U.K.

7.1 Coordination and complementarity U.K.

1. Member States shall seek complementarity between cooperation activities and other actions supported by the ESI Funds. U.K.

2. Member States shall ensure that cooperation activities make an effective contribution to the objectives of the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and that cooperation is organised in support of wider policy goals. To achieve this Member States and the Commission shall, in accordance with their respective responsibilities, ensure complementarity and coordination with other Union-funded programmes or instruments. U.K.

3. To reinforce the effectiveness of cohesion policy Member States shall seek coordination and complementarity between programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal and the Investment for growth and jobs goal, in particular to ensure coherent planning and facilitate the implementation of large-scale investment. U.K.

4. Member States shall, where appropriate, ensure that the objectives of macro-regional and sea-basin strategies form part of the overall strategic planning, in Partnership Agreements, in accordance with Article 15(2) of this Regulation, and in programmes in the regions and Member States concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fund-specific rules. Member States shall seek also to ensure that where macro-regional and sea basin strategies have been put in place, the ESI Funds support their implementation in accordance with Article 15(2) of this Regulation and the relevant provisions of the Fund-specific rules and in line with the needs of the programme area identified by the Member States. To ensure efficient implementation there shall also be coordination with other Union-funded instruments and other relevant instruments. U.K.

5. Member States shall, where appropriate, make use of the possibility of carrying out interregional and transnational actions with beneficiaries located in at least one other Member State within the framework of the operational programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal, including on the implementation of relevant research and innovation measures emanating from their 'smart specialisation' strategies. U.K.

6. Member States and regions shall make the best use of territorial cooperation programmes in overcoming barriers to cooperation beyond administrative borders, while contributing to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as well as strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion. In this context, particular attention shall be paid to the regions covered by Article 349 TFEU. U.K.

7.2 Cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation under the ERDF U.K.

1. Member States and regions shall seek to make use of cooperation to achieve critical mass, inter alia, in the field of ICT and research and innovation, and also to promote the development of joint smart specialisation approaches and partnerships among educational institutions. Interregional cooperation shall, where appropriate, include fostering cooperation between innovative research-intensive clusters and exchanges between research institutions taking into consideration the experience of "Regions of Knowledge" and "Research Potential in Convergence and Outermost Regions" under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research. U.K.

2. Member States and regions shall, in the areas concerned, seek to draw on cross-border and transnational cooperation to: U.K.

(a)

ensure that areas that share major geographical features (islands, lakes, rivers, sea basins or mountain ranges) support the joint management and promotion of their natural resources;

(b)

exploit the economies of scale that can be achieved, in particular with regard to investment related to the shared use of common public services;

(c)

promote coherent planning and development of cross-border network infrastructure, in particular missing cross-border links, and environmentally friendly and interoperable transport modes in larger geographical areas;

(d)

achieve critical mass, particularly in the field of research and innovation and ICT, education and in relation to measures improving the competitiveness of SMEs;

(e)

strengthen cross-border labour market services to foster the mobility of workers across borders;

(f)

improve cross-border governance.

3. Member States and regions shall seek to make use of interregional cooperation to reinforce the effectiveness of Cohesion Policy by encouraging exchange of experience between regions and cities to enhance design and implementation of programmes under the Investment for growth and jobs goal and the European territorial cooperation goal. U.K.

7.3 Contribution of mainstream programmes to macro-regional and sea-basin strategies U.K.

1. In accordance with point (a)(ii) of Article 15(2) of this Regulation and the relevant provisions of the Fund-specific rules Member States shall seek to ensure successful mobilisation of Union funding for macro-regional and sea-basin strategies in line with the needs of the programme area identified by the Member States. Ensuring successful mobilisation may be done, among other actions, by prioritising operations deriving from macro-regional and sea-basin strategies by organising specific calls for them or giving priority to these operations in the selection process through identification of operations which can be jointly financed from different programmes. U.K.

2. Member States shall consider making use of relevant transnational programmes as frameworks to support the range of policies and funds needed to implement macro-regional and sea-basin strategies. U.K.

3. Member States shall promote, where appropriate, the use of ESI Funds in the context of macro-regional strategies, for the creation of European transport corridors, including supporting modernisation of customs, the prevention, preparedness and response to natural disasters, water management at river basin level, green infrastructure, integrated maritime cooperation across borders and sectors, R&I and ICT networks and management of shared marine resources in the sea basin and protection of marine biodiversity. U.K.

7.4 Transnational cooperation under the ESF U.K.

1. Member States shall seek to address policy areas identified in the relevant Council recommendations in order to maximise mutual learning. U.K.

2. Member States shall, where appropriate, select the themes for transnational activities and establish appropriate implementation mechanisms in accordance with their specific needs. U.K.