Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

TITLE III U.K. PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I U.K. General provisions on the ESI Funds

Article 26 U.K. Preparation of programmes

1. The ESI Funds shall be implemented through programmes in accordance with the Partnership Agreement. Each programme shall cover the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.

2. Programmes shall be drawn up by Member States or any authority designated by them, in cooperation with the partners referred to in Article 5. Member States shall draw up the programmes based on procedures that are transparent for the public, in accordance with their institutional and legal framework.

3. The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate to ensure effective coordination in the preparation and implementation of programmes for the ESI Funds, including, where appropriate, multi-fund programmes for the Funds, taking account of the proportionality principle.

4. Programmes shall be submitted by the Member States to the Commission within three months of the submission of the Partnership Agreement. European territorial cooperation programmes shall be submitted by 22 September 2014. All programmes shall be accompanied by the ex ante evaluation as set out in Article 55.

5. Where one or more of the Fund-specific Regulations for the ESI Funds enters into force between 22 February 2014 and 22 June 2014, the programme or programmes supported by the ESI Fund affected by the delay in the entry into force of the Fund-specific Regulation shall be submitted within three months of the submission of the revised Partnership Agreement referred to in Article 17(1).

6. Where one or more of the Fund-specific Regulations for the ESI Funds enters into force later than on 22 June 2014, the programme or programmes supported by the ESI Fund affected by the delay in the entry into force of the Fund-specific Regulation shall be submitted within three months of the date of entry into force of the Fund-specific Regulation that was subject to the delay.

Article 27 U.K. Content of programmes

1. Each programme shall set out a strategy for the programme's contribution to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth consistent with this Regulation, the Fund-specific rules, and with the content of the Partnership Agreement.

Each programme shall include arrangements to ensure effective, efficient and coordinated implementation of the ESI Funds and actions to achieve a reduction of the administrative burden on beneficiaries.

2. Each programme shall define priorities setting out specific objectives, financial appropriations of support from the ESI Funds and corresponding national co-financing, including amounts related to the performance reserve, which may be public or private in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.

3. Where Member States and regions participate in macro-regional strategies or sea basin strategies, the relevant programme, in accordance with the needs of the programme area as identified by the Member State, shall set out the contribution of the planned interventions to those strategies.

4. Each priority shall set out indicators and corresponding targets expressed in qualitative or quantitative terms, in accordance with the Fund-specific rules, in order to assess progress in programme implementation aimed at achievement of objectives as the basis for monitoring, evaluation and review of performance. Those indicators shall include:

(a) financial indicators relating to expenditure allocated;

(b) output indicators relating to the operations supported;

(c) result indicators relating to the priority concerned.

For each ESI Fund, the Fund-specific rules shall set out common indicators and may set out provisions related to programme-specific indicators.

5. Each programme, except those which cover exclusively technical assistance, shall include a description, in accordance with the Fund-specific rules, of the actions to take into account the principles set out in Articles 5, 7 and 8.

6. Each programme, except those where technical assistance is undertaken under a specific programme, shall set out the indicative amount of support to be used for climate change objectives, based on the methodology referred to in Article 8.

7. Member States shall draft the programme in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.

Article 28 U.K. Specific provisions on the content of programmes dedicated to joint instruments for uncapped guarantees and securitisation providing capital relief implemented by the EIB

1. By way of derogation from Article 27, the dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) shall include:

(a) the elements set out under the first subparagraph of Article 27(1), and under paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of that Article as regards the principles set out under Article 5;

(b) an identification of the bodies referred to under Articles 125, 126 and 127 of this Regulation and Article 65(2) of the EAFRD Regulation as relevant for the Fund concerned;

(c) for each ex ante conditionality, established in accordance with Article 19 and Annex XI, which is applicable to the programme, an assessment of whether the ex ante conditionality is fulfilled at the date of submission of the Partnership Agreement and programme, and where ex ante conditionalities are not fulfilled, a description of the actions to fulfil the ex ante conditionality, the bodies responsible and a timetable for such actions in accordance with the summary submitted in the Partnership Agreement.

2. By way of derogation from Article 55, the ex ante assessment referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) shall be considered as the ex ante evaluation of such programmes.

3. For the purposes of programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) of this Regulation, Article 6(2) and Article 59(5) and (6) of the EAFRD Regulation shall not apply. In addition to the elements referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, only the provisions set out in points (c)(i), (f), (h), (i) and (m)(i) to (iii) of Article 8(1) of the EAFRD Regulation shall apply for programmes under the EAFRD.

Article 29 U.K. Procedure for the adoption of programmes

1. The Commission shall assess the consistency of programmes with this Regulation and with the Fund-specific rules, their effective contribution to the selected thematic objectives and to the Union priorities specific to each ESI Fund, and also the consistency with the Partnership Agreement, taking account of the relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU and relevant Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU as well as of the ex ante evaluation. The assessment shall address, in particular, the adequacy of the programme strategy, the corresponding objectives, indicators, targets and the allocation of budgetary resources.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the Commission shall not need to assess the consistency of the dedicated operational programmes for the YEI referred to in point (a) of the second paragraph of Article 18 of the ESF Regulation and dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) of this Regulation with the Partnership Agreement in the absence of the submission by the Member State of its Partnership Agreement at the date of submission of such dedicated programmes.

3. The Commission shall make observations within three months of the date of submission of the programme. The Member State shall provide to the Commission all necessary additional information and, where appropriate, revise the proposed programme.

4. In accordance with the Fund-specific rules, the Commission shall approve each programme no later than six months following its submission by the Member State concerned, provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account, but not before 1 January 2014 or before adoption by the Commission of a decision approving the Partnership Agreement.

By way of derogation from the requirement referred to in the first subparagraph, programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal may be approved by the Commission before the adoption of the decision approving the Partnership Agreement and dedicated operational programmes for the YEI referred to in point (a) of the second paragraph of Article 18 of the ESF Regulation and dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) of this Regulation may be approved by the Commission before the submission of the Partnership Agreement.

Article 30 U.K. Amendment of programmes

1. Requests for amendment of programmes submitted by a Member State shall be duly justified and shall in particular set out the expected impact of the changes to the programme on achieving the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and the specific objectives defined in the programme, taking account of this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules, the horizontal principles referred to in Articles 5, 7 and 8, as well as of the Partnership Agreement. They shall be accompanied by the revised programme.

2. The Commission shall assess the information provided in accordance with paragraph 1, taking account of the justification provided by the Member State. The Commission may make observations within one month of the submission of the revised programme and the Member State shall provide to the Commission all necessary additional information. In accordance with the Fund-specific rules, the Commission shall approve requests for amendment of a programme as soon as possible but no later than three months after their submission by the Member State provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account.

Where the amendment of a programme affects the information provided in the Partnership Agreement in accordance with points (a)(iii), (iv) and (vi) of Article 15(1)), the approval of the amendment of the programme by the Commission shall at the same time constitute an approval for the consequential revision of the information in the Partnership Agreement.

3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, where the request for amendment is submitted to the Commission in order to reallocate the performance reserve following the performance review, the Commission shall make observations only where it considers that the allocation proposed is not in compliance with applicable rules, is not consistent with the development needs of the Member State or the region, or entails a significant risk that the objectives and targets included in the proposal cannot be achieved. The Commission shall approve the request for amendment of a programme as soon as possible and no later than two months after the submission of the request by the Member State provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account. The approval of the amendment of the programme by the Commission shall at the same time constitute an approval for the consequential revision of the information in the Partnership Agreement.

4. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, specific procedures for the amendment of operational programmes may be established in the EMFF Regulation.

Article 31 U.K. Participation of the EIB

1. The EIB may, at the request of Member States, participate in the preparation of the Partnership Agreement, as well as in activities relating to the preparation of operations, in particular major projects, financial instruments and PPPs.

2. The Commission may consult the EIB before the adoption of the Partnership Agreement or the programmes.

3. The Commission may request the EIB to examine the technical quality, economic and financial sustainability, and the viability of major projects and to assist it as regards the financial instruments to be implemented or developed.

4. The Commission, in implementing the provisions of this Regulation, may award grants or service contracts to the EIB covering initiatives implemented on a multi-annual basis. The commitment of the contributions of the budget of the Union in respect of such grants or service contracts shall be effected annually.

CHAPTER II U.K. Community-led local development

Article 32 U.K. Community-led local development

1. Community-led local development shall be supported by the EAFRD, which shall be designated as LEADER local development and may be supported by the ERDF, ESF or EMFF. For the purposes of this Chapter, those Funds are hereinafter referred to as the "ESI Funds concerned".

2. Community-led local development shall be:

(a) focused on specific subregional areas;

(b) led by local action groups composed of representatives of public and private local socio-economic interests, in which, at the decision-making level neither public authorities, as defined in accordance with national rules, nor any single interest group represents more than 49 % of the voting rights;

(c) carried out through integrated and multi-sectoral area-based local development strategies;

(d) designed taking into consideration local needs and potential, and shall include innovative features in the local context, networking and, where appropriate, cooperation.

3. Support from the ESI Funds concerned to community-led local development shall be consistent and coordinated between the ESI Funds concerned. This shall be ensured inter alia through coordinated capacity-building, selection, approval and funding of community-led local development strategies and local action groups.

4. Where the selection committee for the community-led local development strategies set up under Article 33(3) determines that the implementation of the community-led local development strategy selected requires support from more than one Fund, it may designate in accordance with national rules and procedures, a lead Fund to support all running and animation costs under points (d) and (e) of Article 35(1) for the community-led local development strategy.

5. Community-led local development supported by the ESI Funds concerned shall be carried out under one or more priorities of the relevant programme or programmes in accordance with Fund-specific rules of the ESI Funds concerned.

Article 33 U.K. Community-led local development strategies

1. A community-led local development strategy shall contain at least the following elements:

(a) the definition of the area and population covered by the strategy;

(b) an analysis of the development needs and potential of the area, including an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats;

(c) a description of the strategy and its objectives, a description of the integrated and innovative features of the strategy and a hierarchy of objectives, including measurable targets for outputs or results. In relation to results, targets may be expressed in quantitative or qualitative terms. The strategy shall be consistent with the relevant programmes of all the ESI Funds concerned that are involved;

(d) a description of the community involvement process in the development of the strategy;

(e) an action plan demonstrating how objectives are translated into actions;

(f) a description of the management and monitoring arrangements of the strategy, demonstrating the capacity of the local action group to implement the strategy and a description of specific arrangements for evaluation;

(g) the financial plan for the strategy, including the planned allocation from each of the ESI Funds concerned.

2. Member States shall define criteria for the selection of community-led local development strategies.

3. Community-led local development strategies shall be selected by a committee set up for that purpose by the managing authority or authorities responsible and approved by the managing authority or authorities responsible.

4. The first round of selection of community-led local development strategies shall be completed within two years of the date of the approval of the Partnership Agreement. Member States may select additional community-led local development strategies after that date but no later than 31 December 2017.

5. The decision approving a community-led local development strategy shall set out the allocations of each of the ESI Funds concerned. The decision shall also set out the responsibilities for the management and control tasks under the programme or programmes in relation to the community-led local development strategy.

6. The population of the area referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be not less than 10 000 and not more than 150 000 inhabitants. However, in duly justified cases and [X1 on the basis of a proposal by a Member State, the Commission may adopt or amend those population limits in its decision under Article 16(2) or (4)] to approve or amend respectively the Partnership Agreement in the case of that Member State, in order to take account of sparsely or densely populated areas or in order to ensure the territorial coherence of areas covered by the community-led local development strategies.

Editorial Information

X1 Substituted by Corrigendum to 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 (Official Journal of the European Union L 347 of 20 December 2013).

Article 34 U.K. Local action groups

1. Local action groups shall design and implement the community-led local development strategies.

Member States shall define the respective roles of the local action group and the authorities responsible for the implementation of the relevant programmes, concerning all implementation tasks relating to the community-led local development strategy.

2. The managing authority or authorities responsible shall ensure that the local action groups either select one partner within the group as a lead partner in administrative and financial matters, or come together in a legally constituted common structure.

3. The tasks of local action groups shall include the following:

(a) building the capacity of local actors to develop and implement operations including fostering their project management capabilities;

(b) drawing up a non-discriminatory and transparent selection procedure and objective criteria for the selection of operations, which avoid conflicts of interest, ensure that at least 50 % of the votes in selection decisions are cast by partners which are not public authorities, and allow selection by written procedure;

(c) ensuring coherence with the community-led local development strategy when selecting operations, by prioritising those operations according to their contribution to meeting that strategy's objectives and targets;

(d) preparing and publishing calls for proposals or an ongoing project submission procedure, including defining selection criteria;

(e) receiving and assessing applications for support;

(f) selecting operations and fixing the amount of support and, where relevant, presenting the proposals to the body responsible for final verification of eligibility before approval;

(g) monitoring the implementation of the community-led local development strategy and the operations supported and carrying out specific evaluation activities linked to that strategy.

4. Without prejudice to point (b) of paragraph 3, the local action group may be a beneficiary and implement operations in accordance with the community-led local development strategy.

5. In the case of cooperation activities of local action groups as referred to in point (c) of Article 35(1), the tasks set out in point (f) of paragraph 3 of this Article may be carried out by the managing authority responsible.

Article 35 U.K. Support from the ESI Funds for community-led local development

1. Support from the ESI Funds concerned for community-led local development shall cover:

(a) the costs of preparatory support consisting of capacitybuilding, training and networking with a view to preparing and implementing a community-led local development strategy.

Such costs may include one or more of the following elements:

(i)

training actions for local stakeholders;

(ii)

studies of the area concerned;

(iii)

costs related to the design of the community-led local development strategy, including consultancy costs and costs for actions related to consultations of stakeholders for the purposes of preparing the strategy;

(iv)

administrative costs (operating and personnel costs) of an organisation that applies for preparatory support during the preparation phase;

(v)

support for small pilot projects.

Such preparatory support shall be eligible regardless of whether the community-led local development strategy designed by the local action group benefitting from the support is selected for funding by the selection committee set up under Article 33(3).

(b) implementation of operations under the community-led local development strategy;

(c) preparation and implementation of the local action group's cooperation activities;

(d) running costs linked to the management of the implementation of the community-led local development strategy consisting of operating costs, personnel costs, training cost, costs linked to public relations, financial costs as well as the costs linked to monitoring and evaluation of that strategy as referred to in point (g) of Article 34(3);

(e) animation of the community-led local development strategy in order to facilitate exchange between stakeholders to provide information and to promote the strategy and to support potential beneficiaries with a view to developing operations and preparing applications.

2. Support for running costs and animation as referred to in points (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 shall not exceed 25 % of the total public expenditure incurred within the community-led local development strategy.

CHAPTER ΙΙΙ U.K. Territorial development

Article 36 U.K. Integrated territorial investment

1. Where an urban development strategy or other territorial strategy, or a territorial pact referred to in Article 12(1) of the ESF Regulation, requires an integrated approach involving investments from the ESF, ERDF or Cohesion Fund under more than one priority axis of one or more operational programmes, actions may be carried out as an integrated territorial investment (an 'ITI').

Actions carried out as an ITI may be complemented with financial support from the EAFRD or the EMFF.

2. Where an ITI is supported by ESF, ERDF or Cohesion Fund, the relevant operational programme or programmes shall describe the approach to the use of the ITI instrument and the indicative financial allocation from each priority axis in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.

Where an ITI is complemented with financial support from the EAFRD or the EMFF, the indicative financial allocation and the measures covered shall be set out in the relevant programme or programmes in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.

3. The Member State or the managing authority may designate one or more intermediate bodies, including local authorities, regional development bodies or non-governmental organisations, to carry out the management and implementation of an ITI in accordance with the Fund-specific rules.

4. The Member State or the relevant managing authorities shall ensure that the monitoring system for the programme or programmes provides for the identification of operations and outputs of a priority contributing to an ITI.