Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856Show full title

CHAPTER IV U.K. Governance

Article 16 U.K. Implementation of the Innovation Fund

1. The Commission shall implement the Innovation Fund in direct management in accordance with relevant provisions of Articles 125 to 153 of the Financial Regulation or in indirect management through bodies referred to in Article 62(1)(c) of the Financial Regulation.

2. Costs incurred, in relation to the Innovation Fund implementation activities, including the administrative and management costs, shall be financed from the Innovation Fund.

Article 17 U.K. Designation of implementing bodies

1. Where the Commission decides to delegate certain tasks related to the Innovation Fund implementation to an implementing body, the Commission shall adopt a decision designating such an implementing body.

The Commission and the designated implementing body shall enter into an agreement laying down the specific terms and conditions under which the implementing body is to perform its tasks.

2. Where the Commission implements the Innovation Fund in direct management and decides to delegate certain implementation tasks to an implementing body, the Commission shall designate an executive agency as implementing body.

3. Where the Commission implements the Innovation Fund in indirect management, the Commission shall designate as implementing body a body referred to in Article 62(1)(c) of the Financial Regulation.

4. To the extent that the tasks relating to the implementation of the Innovation Fund are not delegated to an implementing body, the Commission shall carry out those tasks.

Article 18 U.K. Tasks of the implementing body

The implementing body designated in accordance with Article 17(1) may be entrusted with the overall management of the call for proposals, the disbursement of the Innovation Fund support, and the monitoring of the implementation of selected projects. For that purpose, the implementing body may be entrusted with the following tasks:

(a)

organising the call for proposals;

(b)

organising the application procedure, including collecting the applications and analysing all the supporting documents;

(c)

organising the project selection, including the project evaluation or the due diligence assessment and ranking;

(d)

advising the Commission on the projects to be awarded the Innovation Fund support and on projects to be included in the reserve list;

(e)

awarding or providing project development assistance;

(f)

signature of the grant agreements and other contracts depending on the form of Innovation Fund support;

(g)

preparing and managing the contractual documentation concerning the awarded projects;

(h)

checking if the conditions for the financing are met and disbursing the Innovation Fund revenues to the project proponents;

(i)

monitoring of the project implementation;

(j)

communicating with the project proponents;

(k)

reporting to the Commission, including on general orientation for the further development of the Innovation Fund;

(l)

financial reporting;

(m)

information, communication and promotion actions, including the production of the promotion materials, and the development of the Innovation Fund logo;

(n)

management of knowledge sharing;

(o)

supporting the Member States in their efforts to promote the Innovation Fund and to communicate with the project proponents;

(p)

any other tasks relating to the implementation of the Innovation Fund

Article 19 U.K. Specific provisions applicable to the implementation of the Innovation Fund in direct management

1. Where the Commission designates an executive agency as implementing body under Article 17(1) of this Regulation, such a Commission decision shall be subject to the result of the cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003(1) and the agreement referred to in second subparagraph of Article 17(1) of this Regulation shall take the form of an instrument of delegation in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 58/2003.

2. Where amounts disbursed by way of direct management are recovered under Articles 7 and 8 of this Regulation, the recovered amounts shall constitute assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21 of the Financial Regulation and shall be used to finance the Innovation Fund operations.

3. For all implementing tasks carried out by the Commission, including through an executive agency, the revenue of the Innovation Fund shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 5 of Article 21 of the Financial Regulation. That assigned revenue shall also cover all administrative costs related to the implementation of the Innovation Fund. The Commission may use a maximum of 5 % of the Innovation Fund envelope to cover its management costs.

4. A project that has received the Innovation Fund support may also receive a contribution from any other Union programme, including Funds under shared management, provided that the contributions do not cover the same costs. The cumulative financing shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the project and the support from different Union programmes may be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Article 20 U.K. Management of the Innovation Fund revenues

1. The Commission shall ensure that the allowances destined for the Innovation Fund are auctioned in accordance with the principles and modalities laid down in Article 10(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC and shall manage the Innovation Fund revenues in accordance with the objectives of Directive 2003/87/EC.

2. The Commission shall ensure that the revenues referred to in paragraph 1 are passed on to the implementing body, in a timely manner, for financing the costs related to the implementation activities and for the disbursement to the awarded projects.

3. The Commission may delegate the monetisation of allowances and the management of the Innovation Fund revenues to the European Investment Bank (EIB). In the case of such a delegation, the Commission and the EIB shall enter into an agreement laying down the specific terms and conditions under which the EIB shall carry out its tasks related to the management of the Innovation Fund revenues.

4. Subject to the provisions of Directive 2003/87/EC, Innovation Fund revenues remaining at the end of the eligibility period for the supported projects shall be used to support new projects that meet the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 10a(8) of Directive 2003/87/EC until all the revenues are spent for the objectives of the Innovation Fund. Such new projects shall be selected via new calls for proposals in accordance with Article 9 or supported in accordance with Articles 14 or15.

Article 21 U.K. Role of the Member States

1. When implementing the Innovation Fund, the Commission shall consult with and be assisted by the Member States.

2. The Member States shall be consulted on:

(a) the list of the pre-selected projects, including the reserve list, and the list of projects proposed for project development assistance in accordance with Article 12(2), prior to the award of the support;

(b) draft Commission decisions referred to in Article 9(1), Article 14(2) and Article 15(1);

(c) the maximum amount of the Innovation Fund support to be made available for the project development assistance;

3. The Member States shall, if requested by the Commission, advise and assist the Commission in:

(a) setting general orientations for the Innovation Fund;

(b) addressing existing or emerging project implementation problems;

(c) dealing with any other issue relating to the project implementation.

4. The Commission shall report to the Member States on the progress made in implementing this Regulation, in particular on the implementation of award decisions referred to in Article 12(5).

Article 22 U.K. Role of the stakeholders

The Commission may involve stakeholders in the discussions relating to the implementation of the Innovation Fund, including on the issues listed in Article 21(3).

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19 December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes (OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1).