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PART THREE U.K. GENERAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO THE ERDF, THE ESF AND THE COHESION FUND

TITLE IIIU.K. MONITORING, EVALUATION, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER I U.K. Monitoring and evaluation

Article 110U.K.Functions of the monitoring committee

1.The monitoring committee shall examine in particular:

(a)any issues that affect the performance of the operational programme;

(b)progress made in implementation of the evaluation plan and the follow-up given to findings of evaluations;

[F1(c) implementation of the communication strategy, including information and communication measures, and of measures to enhance the visibility of the Funds;]

(d)implementation of major projects;

(e)implementation of joint action plans;

(f)actions to promote equality between men and women, equal opportunities, and non-discrimination, including accessibility for persons with disabilities;

(g)actions to promote sustainable development;

(h)where applicable ex ante conditionalities are not fulfilled at the date of the submission of the Partnership Agreement and operational programme, progress on actions to fulfil the applicable ex ante conditionalities;

(i)financial instruments.

2.By way of derogation from Article 49(3), the monitoring committee shall examine and approve:

[F1(a) the methodology and criteria used for selection of operations, except where those criteria are approved by local action groups in accordance with point (c) of Article 34(3);]

(b)the annual and final implementation reports;

(c)the evaluation plan for the operational programme and any amendment of the evaluation plan, including where either is part of a common evaluation plan pursuant to Article 114(1);

(d)the communication strategy for the operational programme and any amendment of the strategy;

(e)any proposal by the managing authority for any amendment to the operational programme.

Textual Amendments

Article 111U.K.Implementation reports for the Investment for growth and jobs goal

1.By 31 May 2016 and by the same date of each subsequent year until and including 2023 the Member State shall submit to the Commission an annual implementation report in accordance with Article 50(1). The report submitted in 2016 shall cover the financial years 2014 and 2015, as well as the period between the starting date for eligibility of expenditure and 31 December 2013.

2.For the reports submitted in 2017 and 2019, the deadline referred to in paragraph 1 shall be 30 June.

3.Annual implementation reports shall set out information on:

(a)implementation of the operational programme in accordance with Article 50(2);

(b)progress in preparation and implementation of major projects and joint action plans.

4.The annual implementation reports submitted in 2017 and 2019 shall set out and assess the information required under Article 50(4) and (5) respectively and the information set out in paragraph 3 of this Article together with the following information:

(a)progress in the implementation of the evaluation plan and the follow-up given to the findings of evaluations;

(b)the results of the information and publicity measures of the Funds carried out under the communication strategy;

(c)the involvement of the partners in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the operational programme.

The annual implementation reports submitted in 2017 and 2019 may, depending on the content and objectives of operational programmes, set out information and assess the following:

(a)progress in the implementation of the integrated approach to territorial development, including development of regions facing demographic challenges and permanent or natural handicaps, sustainable urban development, and community-led local development under the operational programme;

(b)progress in the implementation of actions to reinforce the capacity of Member State authorities and beneficiaries to administer and use the Funds;

(c)progress in the implementation of any interregional and transnational actions;

(d)where appropriate, the contribution to macro-regional and sea basin strategies;

(e)the specific actions taken to promote equality between men and women and to prevent discrimination, in particular accessibility for persons with disabilities, and the arrangements implemented to ensure the integration of the gender perspective in the operational programme and operations;

(f)actions taken to promote sustainable development in accordance with Article 8;

(g)progress in the implementation of actions in the field of social innovation, where appropriate;

(h)progress in the implementation of measures to address the specific needs of geographical areas most affected by poverty or of target groups at highest risk of poverty, discrimination or social exclusion, with special regard to marginalised communities and persons with disabilities, long term unemployed and young people not in employment, including, where appropriate, the financial resources used.

By way of derogation from the first and second subparagraphs, and in order to ensure consistency between the Partnership Agreement and the progress report, [X1Member States with no more than one operational programme per Fund may include the information relating to ex ante conditionalities referred to in Article 50(4), the information required by Article 50(5)] and the information referred to in points (a), (b), (c) and (h) of the second subparagraph of this paragraph in the progress report instead of the annual implementation reports submitted in 2017 and 2019 respectively and the final implementation report, without prejudice to point (b) of Article 110(2).

5.The Commission shall, in order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article, adopt implementing acts establishing the models for the annual and final implementation reports. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 150(2).

Editorial Information

Article 112U.K.Transmission of financial data

1.By 31 January, 31 July and 31 October, the Member State shall transmit electronically to the Commission for monitoring purposes, for each operational programme and by priority axis:

(a)the total and public eligible cost of the operations and the number of operations selected for support;

(b)the total eligible expenditure declared by beneficiaries to the managing authority.

2.In addition, the transmission made by 31 January shall contain the above data broken down by category of intervention. That transmission shall be considered to fulfil the requirement for the submission of financial data referred to in Article 50(2).

3.A forecast of the amount for which Member States expect to submit payment applications for the current financial year and the subsequent financial year shall accompany the transmissions to be made by 31 January and 31 July.

4.The cut-off date for the data submitted under this Article shall be the end of the month preceding the month of submission.

5.The Commission shall, in order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article, adopt implementing acts establishing the model to be used when submitting the financial data to the Commission for monitoring purposes. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).

Article 113U.K.Cohesion Report

The report of the Commission referred to in Article 175 TFEU shall include:

(a)

a record of progress made towards achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion, including the socio-economic situation and development of the regions, as well as the integration of the Union's priorities;

(b)

a record of the role of the Funds, EIB funding and the other instruments in, as well as the effect of other Union and national policies on, the progress made;

(c)

where appropriate an indication of future Union measures and policies necessary to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion, as well as to deliver the Union's priorities.

Article 114U.K.Evaluation

[F11. An evaluation plan shall be drawn up by the managing authority or a Member State for one or more operational programmes. The evaluation plan shall be submitted to the monitoring committee no later than one year after the adoption of the operational programme. In the cases of dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) adopted before 2 August 2018 , the evaluation plan shall be submitted to the monitoring committee no later than one year after that date.]

2.By 31 December 2022, managing authorities shall submit to the Commission, for each operational programme, a report summarising the findings of evaluations carried out during the programming period and the main outputs and results of the operational programme, providing comments on the reported information.

3.The Commission shall carry out ex post evaluations in close cooperation with the Member States and managing authorities.

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Textual Amendments

CHAPTER II U.K. [F1Information, communication and visibility]

Article 115U.K. [F1Information, communication and visibility]

1.Member States and managing authorities shall be responsible for:

(a)drawing up communication strategies;

(b)ensuring the establishment of a single website or a single website portal providing information on, and access to, all operational programmes in that Member State, including information about the timing of implementation of programming and any related public consultation processes;

(c)informing potential beneficiaries about funding opportunities under operational programmes;

[F1(d) publicising to Union citizens the role and achievements of cohesion policy and of the Funds through measures to enhance the visibility of the results and impact of Partnership Agreements, operational programmes and operations.]

2.Member States or managing authorities shall, in order to ensure transparency concerning support from the Funds, maintain a list of operations by operational programme and by Fund in a spreadsheet data format, which allows data to be sorted, searched, extracted, compared and easily published on the internet, for instance in CSV or XML format. The list of operations shall be accessible through the single website or the single website portal providing a list and summary of all operational programmes in that Member State.

In order to encourage the use of the list of operations subsequently by the private sector, civil society or national public administration, the website may clearly indicate the applicable licensing rules under which data are published.

The list of operations shall be updated at least every six months.

The minimum information to be set out in the list of operations is laid down in Annex XII.

[F13. Detailed rules concerning information, communication and visibility for the public and information measures for potential beneficiaries and for beneficiaries are laid down in Annex XII.]

4.The Commission shall adopt implementing acts concerning the technical characteristics of information and communication measures for the operation and instructions for creating the emblem and a definition of the standard colours. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 150(3).

Article 116U.K.Communication strategy

1.The Member State or the managing authorities shall draw up a communication strategy for each operational programme. A common communication strategy may be drawn up for several operational programmes. The communication strategy shall take into account the size of the operational programme or programmes concerned, in accordance with the principle of proportionality.

The communication strategy shall include the elements set out in Annex XII.

2.The communication strategy shall be submitted to the monitoring committee for approval in accordance with point (d) of Article 110(2) no later than six months after the adoption of the operational programme or programmes concerned.

Where a common communication strategy is drawn up for several operational programmes and concerns several monitoring committees, the Member State may designate one monitoring committee to be responsible, in consultation with the other relevant monitoring committees, for the approval of the common communication strategy and for the approval of any subsequent amendments of that strategy.

Where necessary, the Member State or managing authorities may amend the communication strategy during the programming period. The amended communication strategy shall be submitted by the managing authority to the monitoring committee for approval in accordance with point (d) of Article 110(2).

[F13. By way of derogation from the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, the managing authority shall inform the monitoring committee or committees responsible at least once a year on the progress in the implementation of the communication strategy as referred to in point (c) of Article 110(1) and on its analysis of the results of that implementation as well as on the information and communication activities and measures to enhance visibility of the Funds that are planned for the following year. The monitoring committee shall give an opinion on the activities and measures planned for the following year, including on ways to increase the effectiveness of communication activities aimed at the public.]

Article 117U.K.Information and communication officers and their networks

1.Each Member State shall designate an information and communication officer to coordinate information and communication actions in relation to one or more Funds, including relevant programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal, and shall inform the Commission accordingly.

2.The information and communication officer shall be responsible for the coordination of the national network of Fund communicators, where such a network exists, the creation and maintenance of the website or website portal referred to in Annex XII and the provision of an overview of communication measures undertaken at Member State level.

3.Each managing authority shall designate one person to be responsible for information and communication at operational programme level and shall inform the Commission of those designated. Where appropriate, one person may be designated for several operational programmes.

[F14. Union networks comprising the members designated by Member States shall be set up by the Commission to ensure exchange of information on the results of the implementation of the communication strategies, the exchange of experience in implementing the information and communication measures, the exchange of good practices, and to enable joint planning or coordination of communication activities between the Member States and with the Commission where appropriate. The networks shall at least once a year debate and assess the effectiveness of the information and communication measures, and propose recommendations to enhance the outreach and impact of communication activities and to raise awareness about the results and added value of those activities.]