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Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy

Type Regulation

Publication 2021-06-24

Last updated 2026-07-01

State In force

Department Council of the European Union, European Parliament

Source EUR-Lex

articles 122

Reform history JSON API

TITLE I

OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL RULES ON SUPPORT

CHAPTER I

Subject matter, definitions and general rules

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation lays down:

(a) financial rules for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund (JTF), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVI) (together referred to as the ‘Funds’);

(b) common provisions applicable to the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund, the JTF and the EMFAF.

The Fund-specific Regulations listed below may establish rules to complement this Regulation which shall not be in contradiction with this Regulation:

(a) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) (the ‘ERDF and CF Regulation’);

(b) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²) (the ‘ESF+ Regulation’);

(d) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴) (the ‘JTF Regulation’).

(e) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 (the ‘EMFAF Regulation’);

(f) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (the ‘AMIF Regulation’);

(g) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Internal Security Fund (the ‘ISF Regulation’);

(h) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (the ‘BMVI Regulation’);

In case of doubt about the application between this Regulation and Fund-specific Regulations, this Regulation shall prevail.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘relevant country-specific recommendations’ mean Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Articles 121(2) and 148(4) TFEU relating to structural challenges as well as complementary Commission recommendations issued in accordance with Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, which are appropriate to be addressed through multiannual investments that fall within the scope of the Funds as set out in Fund-specific Regulations;

(2) ‘enabling condition’ means a prerequisite condition for the effective and efficient implementation of the specific objectives;

(3) ‘applicable law’ means Union law and the national law relating to its application;

(4) ‘operation’ means: (a) a project, contract, action or group of projects selected under the programmes concerned; (b) in the context of financial instruments, a programme contribution to a financial instrument and the subsequent financial support provided to final recipients by that financial instrument;

(5) ‘operation of strategic importance’ means an operation which provides a significant contribution to the achievement of the objectives of a programme and which is subject to particular monitoring and communication measures;

(6) ‘priority’ in the context of the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, means a specific objective;

(7) ‘priority’ in the context of the EMFAF, for the purpose of Title VII only, means a specific objective;.

(8) ‘intermediate body’ means a public or private body which acts under the responsibility of a managing authority, or which carries out functions or tasks on behalf of such an authority;

(9) ‘beneficiary’ means: (a) a public or private body, an entity with or without legal personality, or a natural person, responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations; (b) in the context of public-private partnerships (‘PPPs’), the public body initiating a PPP operation or the private partner selected for its implementation; (c) in the context of State aid schemes, the undertaking which receives the aid; (d) in the context of de minimis aid provided in accordance with Commission Regulations (EU) No 1407/2013 (⁵) or (EU) No 717/2014 (⁶), the Member State may decide that the beneficiary for the purposes of this Regulation is the body granting the aid, where it is responsible for intiating or both initiating and implementing the operation; (e) in the context of financial instruments, the body that implements the holding fund or, where there is no holding fund structure, the body that implements the specific fund or, where the managing authority manages the financial instrument, the managing authority;

(10) ‘small project fund’ means an operation in an Interreg programme aimed at the selection and implementation of projects, including people-to-people actions, of limited financial volume;

(11) ‘target’ means a pre-agreed value to be achieved by the end of the eligibility period in relation to an indicator included under a specific objective;

(12) ‘milestone’ means an intermediate value to be achieved at a given point in time during the eligibility period in relation to an output indicator included under a specific objective;

(13) ‘output indicator’ means an indicator to measure the specific deliverables of the intervention;

(14) ‘result indicator’ means an indicator to measure the effects of the interventions supported, with particular reference to the direct addressees, population targeted or users of infrastructure;

(15) ‘PPP operation’ means an operation which is implemented under a partnership between public bodies and the private sector in line with a PPP agreement, and which aims to provide public services through risk sharing by the pooling of either private sector expertise or additional sources of capital or both;

(16) ‘financial instrument’ means a form of support delivered via a structure through which financial products are provided to final recipients;

(17) ‘financial product’ means equity or quasi-equity investments, loans and guarantees as defined in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation;

(18) ‘final recipient’ means a legal or natural person receiving support from the Funds through a beneficiary of a small project fund or from a financial instrument;

(19) ‘programme contribution’ means the support from the Funds and the national public and private, if any, co-financing to a financial instrument;

(20) ‘holding fund’ means a fund set up under the responsibility of a managing authority under one or more programmes, to implement one or more specific funds;

(21) ‘specific fund’ means a fund through which a managing authority or a holding fund provides financial products to final recipients;

(22) ‘body implementing a financial instrument’ means a body, governed by public or private law, carrying out tasks of a holding fund or specific fund;

(23) ‘leverage effect’ means the amount of reimbursable financing provided to final recipients divided by the amount of the contribution from the Funds;

(24) ‘multiplier ratio’ in the context of guarantee instruments means a ratio established on the basis of a prudent ex ante risk assessment in respect of each a guarantee product to be offered, between the value of the underlying disbursed new loans, equity or quasi-equity investments, and the amount of the programme contribution set aside for guarantee contracts to cover expected and unexpected losses from these new loans, equity or quasi-equity investments;

(25) ‘management costs’ means direct or indirect costs reimbursed against evidence of expenditure incurred in the implementation of financial instruments;

(26) ‘management fees’ means a price for services rendered, as determined in the funding agreement between the managing authority and the body implementing a holding fund or a specific fund; and, where applicable, between the body implementing a holding fund and the body implementing a specific fund;

(27) ‘relocation’ means a transfer of the same or similar activity or part thereof within the meaning of point (61a) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014;

(28) ‘public contribution’ means any contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities or of any European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁷), the budget of the Union made available to the Funds, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or of public law bodies and, for the purpose of determining the co-financing rate for ESF+ programmes or priorities, may include any financial resources collectively contributed by employers and workers;

(29) ‘accounting year’ means the period from 1 July to 30 June of the following year, except for the first accounting year of the programming period, in respect of which it means the period from the start date for eligibility of expenditure until 30 June 2022; for the final accounting year, it means the period from 1 July 2029 to 30 June 2030;

(30) ‘economic operator’ means any natural or legal person, or other entity involved in the implementation of the Funds, with the exception of a Member State exercising its prerogatives as a public authority;

(31) ‘irregularity’ means any breach of applicable law, resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the budget of the Union by charging unjustified expenditure to that budget;

(32) ‘serious deficiency’ means a deficiency in the effective functioning of the management and control system of a programme for which significant improvements in the management and control systems are required and where any of the key requirements 2, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13 and 15 referred to in Annex XI, or two or more of the other key requirements are assessed into categories 3 and 4 of that Annex;

(33) ‘systemic irregularity’ means any irregularity, which may be of a recurring nature, with a high probability of occurrence in similar types of operations, which results from a serious deficiency, including a failure to establish appropriate procedures in accordance with this Regulation and the Fund-specific rules;

(34) ‘total errors’ means the sum of the projected random errors and, if applicable, delimited systemic errors and uncorrected anomalous errors;

(35) ‘total error rate’ means total errors divided by the audit population;

(36) ‘residual error rate’ means the total errors less the financial corrections applied by the Member State to reduce the risks identified by the audit authority, divided by the expenditure to be declared in the accounts;

(37) ‘completed operation’ means an operation that has been physically completed or fully implemented and in respect of which all related payments have been made by beneficiaries and the corresponding public contribution has been paid to the beneficiaries;

(38) ‘sampling unit’ means one of the units, which may be an operation, a project within an operation or a payment claim by a beneficiary, into which an audit population is divided for the purpose of sampling;

(39) ‘escrow account’ means, in the case of a PPP operation, a bank account covered by a written agreement between a public body beneficiary and the private partner approved by the managing authority or an intermediate body used for payments during or after the eligibility period;

(40) ‘participant’ means a natural person benefiting directly from an operation without being responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing the operation and who, in the context of the EMFAF, does not receive financial support;

(41) ‘energy efficiency first’ means taking utmost account in energy planning, and in policy and investment decisions, of alternative cost-efficient energy efficiency measures to make energy demand and energy supply more efficient, in particular by means of cost-effective end-use energy savings, demand response initiatives and more efficient conversion, transmission and distribution of energy, whilst still achieving the objectives of those decisions;

(42) ‘climate proofing’ means a process to prevent infrastructure from being vulnerable to potential long-term climate impacts whilst ensuring that the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle is respected and that the level of greenhouse gas emissions arising from the project is consistent with the climate neutrality objective in 2050;

(43) ‘grants under conditions’ means a category of grant subject to conditions linked to the repayment of support;

(44) ‘EIB’ means the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund or any subsidiary of the European Investment Bank;

(45) ‘Seal of Excellence’ means the quality label attributed by the Commission in respect of a proposal, which shows that the proposal which has been assessed in a call for proposals under a Union instrument is deemed to comply with the minimum quality requirements of that Union instrument, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available for that call for proposals, and might receive support from other Union or national sources of funding; or the ‘Sovereignty Seal’ referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁸).

Article 3

Calculation of time limits for Commission actions

Where a time limit is set for an action by the Commission, that time limit shall start when all information in accordance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation or in Fund-specific Regulations have been submitted by the Member State.

That time limit shall be suspended from the day following the date on which the Commission sends its observations or a request for revised documents to the Member State and until the Member State responds to the Commission.

Article 4

Processing and protection of personal data

The Member States and the Commission shall be allowed to process personal data only where necessary for the purpose of carrying out their respective obligations under this Regulation, in particular for monitoring, reporting, communication, publication, evaluation, financial management, verifications and audits and, where applicable, for determining the eligibility of participants. The personal data shall be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁹), whichever is applicable.

CHAPTER II

Policy objectives and principles for the support of the funds

Article 5

Policy objectives

The ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFAF shall support the following policy objectives:

(a) a more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity;

(b) a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility;

(d) a more social and inclusive Europe implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights;

(e) a Europe closer to citizens by fostering the sustainable and integrated development of all types of territories and local initiatives.

The JTF shall support the specific objective of enabling regions and people to address the social, employment, economic and environmental impacts of the transition towards the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and climate and a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050, based on the Paris Agreement.

The first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to the resources of the ERDF and the ESF+ that are transferred to the JTF in accordance with Article 27.

The ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF shall contribute to the actions of the Union, leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion in accordance with Article 174 TFEU, by pursuing the following goals:

(a) the Investment for jobs and growth goal in Member States and regions, to be supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF; and

(b) the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg), to be supported by the ERDF.

Article 6

Climate targets and climate adjustment mechanism

Where, as a result of a programme amendment for the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) established by Regulation (EU) 2024/795, the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund would exceed the target of 37 % of its total allocation, the amount exceeding that target may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the ERDF for the purpose of reaching the target of 30 % of its total allocation. The amounts exceeding the ERDF climate contribution target of 30 % of its total allocation may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund.

Article 7

Shared management

Article 8

Partnership and multi-level governance

For the Partnership Agreement and each programme, each Member State shall organise and implement a comprehensive partnership in accordance with its institutional and legal framework and taking into account the specificities of the Funds. That partnership shall include at least the following partners:

(a) regional, local, urban and other public authorities;

(b) economic and social partners;

(c) relevant bodies representing civil society, such as environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, fundamental rights, rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and non-discrimination;

(d) research organisations and universities, where appropriate.

In that context, Member States shall, where relevant, allocate an appropriate percentage of the resources coming from the Funds for the administrative capacity building of social partners and civil society organisations.

Article 9

Horizontal Principles

The objectives of the Funds shall be pursued in full respect of the Union environmental acquis.

TITLE II

STRATEGIC APPROACH

CHAPTER I

Partnership Agreement

Article 10

Preparation and submission of the Partnership Agreement

Article 11

Content of the Partnership Agreement

The Partnership Agreement shall contain the following elements:

(a) the selected policy objectives and the specific objective of the JTF, indicating by which of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement and programmes these objectives will be pursued and a justification thereto, taking into account relevant country-specific recommendations, the integrated national energy and climate plan, the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and, where relevant, regional challenges;

(b) for each of the selected policy objectives and the specific objective of the JTF: (i) a summary of the policy choices and the main results expected for each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement; (ii) coordination, demarcation and complementarities between the Funds and, where appropriate, coordination between national and regional programmes; (iii) complementarities and synergies between the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement, the AMIF, the ISF, the BMVI, and other Union instruments, including LIFE strategic integrated projects and strategic nature projects, and, where appropriate, projects funded under Horizon Europe;

(c) the preliminary financial allocation from each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement by policy objective at national and where appropriate at regional level, respecting Fund-specific rules on thematic concentration and the preliminary financial allocation for the specific objective of the JTF, including any ERDF and ESF+ resources to be transferred to the JTF in accordance with Article 27;

(d) the preliminary climate contribution target in accordance with Article 6(2);

(e) where applicable, the breakdown of financial resources by category of region drawn up in accordance with Article 108(2) and the amounts of allocations proposed to be transferred pursuant to Articles 26 and 111, including a justification for such transfers;

(f) for technical assistance, the choice of the Member State of the form of Union contribution pursuant to Article 36(3) and, where applicable, the preliminary financial allocation from each of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement at national level and breakdown of financial resources by programme and category of region;

(g) the amounts to be contributed to the InvestEU Programme by Fund and by category of region, where applicable;

(h) the list of planned programmes under the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement with the respective preliminary financial allocations by fund and the corresponding national contribution by category of region, where applicable;

(i) a summary of the actions which the Member State concerned plans to take to reinforce its administrative capacity of the implementation of the funds covered by the Partnership Agreement;

(j) where appropriate, an integrated approach to address the demographic challenges or specific needs of regions and areas.

As regards the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg), the Partnership Agreement shall only contain the list of planned programmes.

Article 12

Approval of the Partnership Agreement

Article 13

Amendment of the Partnership Agreement

Article 14

Use of the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFAF delivered through the InvestEU Programme

Such amounts shall contribute to the achievement of the policy objectives selected in the Partnership Agreement or the programme and shall support investments essentially in the category of contributing regions.

Such contributions shall be implemented in accordance with the rules established in the InvestEU Regulation and shall not constitute transfers of resources under Article 26.

The contribution agreement for the amounts referred to in paragraph 1 allocated in the request of the amendment of a programme shall be concluded simultaneously with the adoption of the decision amending the programme.

Where the participation of a Member State in the InvestEU Fund is discontinued, the amounts concerned paid into the common provisioning fund as a provisioning shall be recovered as internal assigned revenue pursuant to Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation. The Member State concerned shall submit a request for one or more programme amendments to use the amounts recovered and the amounts allocated to future calendar years according to paragraph 2 of this Article. The termination or amendment of the contribution agreement shall be concluded simultaneously with the adoption of the decisions amending the programme or programmes concerned.

CHAPTER II

Enabling conditions and performance framework

Article 15

Enabling conditions

Annex III contains horizontal enabling conditions applicable to all specific objectives and the criteria necessary for the assessment of their fulfilment.

Annex IV contains thematic enabling conditions for the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund and the criteria necessary for the assessment of their fulfilment.

The enabling condition regarding the tools and capacity for effective application of State aid rules shall not be applicable to programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI.

Where the Commission disagrees with the Member State regarding the fulfilment of the enabling condition, it shall inform the Member State and set out its assessment.

Where the Member State disagrees with the Commission’s assessment, it shall present its observations within 1 month and the Commission shall proceed in accordance with the first subparagraph.

Where the Member State accepts the Commission’s assessment, it shall proceed in accordance with paragraph 3.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to operations that contribute to the fulfilment of the corresponding enabling condition.

Where the Commission considers that an enabling condition is no longer fulfilled, it shall inform the Member State setting out its assessment. Subsequently, the procedure set out in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 4 shall be followed.

Where the Commission concludes that the non-fulfilment of the enabling condition persists and without prejudice to Article 105, based on the observations of the Member State, expenditure related to the specific objective concerned may be included in payment applications but shall not be reimbursed by the Commission until the Commission has informed the Member State of the fulfilment of the enabling condition pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article.

Article 16

Performance framework

The performance framework shall consist of:

(a) output and result indicators linked to specific objectives set out in the Fund-specific Regulations selected for the programme;

(b) milestones to be achieved by the end of the year 2024 for output indicators; and

Article 17

Methodology for the establishment of the performance framework

The methodology to establish the performance framework shall include:

(a) the criteria applied by the Member State to select indicators;

(b) data or evidence used, data quality assurance and the calculation method;

Article 18

Mid-term review and flexibility amount

For programmes supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF, the Member State shall review each programme, taking into account the following elements:

(a) the new challenges identified in relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in 2024;

(b) the progress in implementing the integrated national energy and climate plan, if relevant;

(d) the socioeconomic situation of the Member State or region concerned, with special emphasis on territorial needs, taking into account any major negative financial, economic or social development;

(e) the main results of relevant evaluations;

(f) the progress in achieving the milestones, taking into account major difficulties encountered in the implementation of the programme;

(g) for programmes supported by the JTF, the assessment carried out by the Commission, pursuant to point (b) of Article 29(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

The revisions shall include:

(a) the allocations of the financial resources by priority;

(b) revised or new targets;

The Commission shall approve the revised programme in accordance with Article 24, including a definitive allocation of the flexibility amount.

Where, as a result of the mid-term review, the Member State considers that the programme does not need to be amended, the Commission shall either:

(a) adopt a decision within 3 months of the submission of the assessment referred to in paragraph 2 confirming the definitive allocation of the flexibility amount; or

(b) request the Member State within 2 months of the submission of the assessment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article to submit an amended programme in accordance with Article 24.

CHAPTER III

Measures linked to sound economic governance and to exceptional or unusual circumstances

Article 19

Measures linking effectiveness of Funds to sound economic governance

Such a request may be made for the following purposes:

(a) to support the implementation of a relevant country-specific recommendation adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU and of a relevant Council recommendation adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU, addressed to the Member State concerned;

(b) to support the implementation of relevant Council Recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned and adopted in accordance with Article 7(2) or 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹⁰) provided that these amendments are deemed necessary to help correct the macroeconomic imbalances.

The Council shall decide on that proposal by means of an implementing act. That implementing act shall only apply with respect to payment applications submitted after the date of the adoption of that implementing act.

The Commission may make a proposal to the Council to suspend all or part of the commitments or payments for one or more of the programmes of a Member State in the following cases:

(a) where the Council adopts two successive recommendations in the same excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 8(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 on the grounds that a Member State has submitted an insufficient corrective action plan;

(b) where the Council adopts two successive decisions in the same excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 establishing non-compliance by a Member State on the grounds that it has not taken the recommended corrective action;

(c) where the Commission concludes that a Member State has not taken measures as referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 (¹²) and as a consequence decides not to authorise the disbursement of the financial assistance granted to that Member State;

(d) where the Council decides that a Member State does not comply with the macroeconomic adjustment programme referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹³), or with the measures requested by a Council decision adopted in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.

The suspension of commitments shall apply to the commitments from the Funds for the Member State concerned from 1 January of the year following the adoption of the decision to suspend.

The Council shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, on a proposal by the Commission referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8 in relation to the suspension of payments.

The suspension of commitments shall be subject to a maximum of 25 % of the commitments relating to the next calendar year for the Funds or 0,25 % of nominal GDP, whichever is lower, in any of the following cases:

(a) in the first case of non-compliance with an excessive deficit procedure as referred to in paragraph 7;

(b) in the first case of non-compliance relating to a corrective action plan under an excessive imbalance procedure as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 8;

(c) in the case of non-compliance with the recommended corrective action pursuant to an excessive imbalance procedure as referred to in point (b) of paragraph 8;

(d) in the first case of non-compliance as referred to in points (c) and (d) of paragraph 8.

In the case of persistent non-compliance, the suspension of commitments may exceed the maximum percentages set out in the first subparagraph.

The Council shall lift the suspension of commitments on a proposal from the Commission in the following cases:

(a) where the excessive deficit procedure is held in abeyance in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1467/97or the Council has decided in accordance with Article 126(12) TFEU to abrogate the decision on the existence of an excessive deficit;

(b) where the Council has endorsed the corrective action plan submitted by the Member State concerned in accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 or the excessive imbalance procedure is placed in a position of abeyance in accordance with Article 10(5) of that Regulation or the Council has closed the excessive imbalance procedure in accordance with Article 11 of that Regulation;

(c) where the Commission has concluded that the Member State concerned has taken appropriate measures as referred to in Regulation (EC) No 332/2002;

(d) where the Commission has concluded that the Member State concerned has taken appropriate measures to implement the macroeconomic adjustment programme referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 or the measures requested by a Council decision adopted in accordance with Article 136(1) TFEU.

After the Council has lifted the suspension of commitments, the Commission shall re-budget the suspended commitments in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093.

Suspended commitments may not be re-budgeted beyond the year 2027.

The decommitment time limit for the re-budgeted amount in accordance with Article 105 shall start from the year in which the suspended commitment has been re-budgeted.

A decision concerning the lifting of the suspension of payments shall be taken by the Council on a proposal by the Commission where the applicable conditions set out in in the first subparagraph are fulfilled. A proposal by the Commission for a decision to lift the suspension of commitments shall be deemed adopted by the Council unless the Council decides, by means of an implementing act, to reject such a proposal by qualified majority within 1 month of the submission of the Commission proposal.

The European Parliament may invite the Commission for a structured dialogue on the application of this Article, having regard to the transmission of the information referred to in the first subparagraph.

The Commission shall transmit the proposal for suspension or the proposal to lift such a suspension to the European Parliament and to the Council without delay after its adoption. The European Parliament may invite the Commission to explain the reasons for its proposal.

Article 20

Temporary measures for the use of the Funds in response to exceptional or unusual circumstances

Where after 1 July 2021 the Council has recognised the occurrence of an unusual event outside the control of one or more Member States, which has a major impact on the financial position of the general government or a severe economic downturn for the euro area or the Union as a whole as referred to in the tenth subparagraph of Article 5(1), the fourth subparagraph of Article 6(3), the tenth subparagraph of Article 9(1) and the fourth subparagraph of Article 10(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 (¹⁴) or the occurrence of unexpected adverse economic events with major unfavourable consequences for government finances as referred to in Articles 3(5) and 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1467/97, the Commission may, by means of an implementing decision and for a period of a maximum of 18 months, adopt one or more of the following measures provided that they are strictly necessary to respond to such exceptional or unusual circumstances:

(a) on request of one or more Member States concerned, increase interim payments by 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable, not exceeding 100 %, by way of derogation from Article 112(3) and (4) of this Regulation, as well as from Article 40 of the EMFAF Regulation, Article 15 of the AMIF Regulation, Article 12 of the ISF Regulation and Article 12 of the BMVI Regulation;

(b) allow the authorities of a Member State to select for support operations that have been physically completed or fully implemented before the application for the funding under the programme is duly submitted to the managing authority, by way of derogation from Article 63(6), provided that the operation is in response to the exceptional circumstances;

(c) provide that expenditure for operations in response to such circumstances may be eligible from the date on which the Council endorsed the occurrence of those circumstances, by way of derogation from Article 63(7);

(d) extend the deadlines for the submission of documents and the submission of data to the Commission by up to 3 months, by way of derogation from Articles 41(6), 42(1), 44(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 49(3).

TITLE III

PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I

General provisions on the Funds

Article 21

Preparation and submission of programmes

For the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, Member States shall prepare programmes in accordance with the programme template set out in Annex VI.

Article 22

Content of programmes

For programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, a programme shall use support from one Fund and consist of specific objectives and of technical assistance specific objectives.

Each programme shall set out:

(a) a summary of the main challenges, taking into account: (i) economic, social and territorial disparities as well as inequalities, except for programmes supported by the EMFAF; (ii) market failures; (iii) investment needs and complementarity and synergies with other forms of support; (iv) challenges identified in relevant country-specific recommendations, relevant national or regional strategies of that Member State, including its integrated national energy and climate plan, in relation to the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and, for the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, other relevant Union recommendations addressed to the Member State; (v) challenges in administrative capacity and governance and simplification measures; (vi) an integrated approach to address demographic challenges, where relevant; (vii) lessons learnt from past experience; (viii) macro-regional strategies and sea-basin strategies where Member States and regions participate in such strategies; (ix) for programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, progress in implementing the relevant Union acquis and action plans and a justification for the choice of specific objectives; (x) for programmes supported by the JTF, transition challenges identified in the territorial just transition plans; Points (i), (ii) and (viii) shall not apply to programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI.

(b) a justification for the selected policy objectives, corresponding priorities, specific objectives and the forms of support;

(d) for each specific objective: (i) the related types of actions and their expected contribution to those specific objectives, to macro-regional strategies, sea-basin strategies, and to territorial just transition plans supported by the JTF, where appropriate; (ii) output indicators and result indicators with the corresponding milestones and targets; (iii) the main target groups; (iv) actions safeguarding equality, inclusion and non-discrimination; (v) indication of the specific territories targeted, including the planned use of integrated territorial investment, community-led local development or other territorial tools; (vi) the interregional, cross-border and transnational actions with beneficiaries located in at least one other Member State or outside the Union, where relevant; (vii) the planned use of financial instruments; (viii) the types of intervention and an indicative breakdown of the programmed resources by type of intervention; (ix) for the specific objective of the JTF, the justification of any amounts transferred from the ERDF and the ESF+ resources in accordance with Article 27, as well as their breakdown by category of region, reflecting the types of interventions planned in accordance with the territorial just transition plans;

(e) for each priority on technical assistance implemented pursuant to Article 36(4): (i) the related types of actions; (ii) output indicators with the corresponding milestones and targets; (iii) the main target groups; (iv) the types of intervention and an indicative breakdown of the programmed resources by type of intervention;

(f) the planned use of technical assistance pursuant to Article 37, if applicable, and relevant types of intervention;

(g) a financing plan containing: (i) a table specifying the total financial allocations for each of the Funds and, where applicable, for each category of region for the whole programming period and by year, including any amounts transferred pursuant to Article 26 or 27, and the Member State’s request for supporting measures contributing to the objectives set out in Article 21c(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹⁶); (ii) for programmes supported by ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF, a table specifying the total financial allocations for each priority by Fund and by category of region, where applicable, and the national contribution and whether it is made up of public or private contribution, or both; (iii) for programmes supported by the EMFAF, a table specifying for each specific objective, the amount of the total financial allocations of the support from the Fund and the national contribution; (iv) for programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, a table specifying, by specific objective, the total financial allocations by type of action, the national contribution and whether it is made up of public or private contribution, or both;

(h) the actions taken to involve the relevant partners referred to in Article 8(1) in the preparation of the programme, and the role of those partners in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme;

(i) for each enabling condition linked to the selected specific objective, established in accordance with Article 15 and Annexes III and IV, an assessment of whether the enabling condition is fulfilled at the date of submission of the programme;

(j) the envisaged approach to communication and visibility for the programme through defining its objectives, target audiences, communication channels, including social media outreach, where appropriate, planned budget and relevant indicators for monitoring and evaluation;

(k) the programme authorities and the body or, in case of technical assistance pursuant to Article 36(5), where applicable, bodies which receive payments from the Commission.

Points (a)(i), (ii) and (viii) of this paragraph shall not apply to programmes limited to supporting the specific objective set out in point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation. Point (d) of this paragraph shall not apply to the specific objective set out in point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation.

For the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund, the ESF+, the JTF and the EMFAF, the programme shall be accompanied for information purposes by a list of planned operations of strategic importance, with a timetable.

If, in accordance with point (k), more than one body is identified to receive payments from the Commission, the Member State shall set out the share of the reimbursed amounts between those bodies.

By way of derogation from point (b) to (e) of paragraph 3, for each specific objective of programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, the following shall be provided:

(a) a description of the initial situation, challenges and responses supported by the Fund;

(b) indication of the implementation measures;

(d) where applicable, a justification for the operating support, specific actions, emergency assistance, and actions as referred to in Articles 19 and 20 of the AMIF Regulation;

(e) output and result indicators with the corresponding milestones and targets;

(f) an indicative breakdown of the programmed resources by type of intervention.

Article 23

Approval of programmes

Article 24

Amendment of programmes

For programmes supported by the EMFAF, the Member State may transfer during the programming period an amount of up to 8 % of the initial allocation of a specific objective to another specific objective, including technical assistance implemented pursuant to Article 36(4).

For programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, the Member State may transfer during the programming period allocations between types of actions within the same priority and, in addition, an amount of up to 15 % of the initial allocation of a priority to another priority of the same Fund.

Such transfers shall not affect previous years. The transfers and related changes shall be considered to be not substantial and shall not require a decision of the Commission approving the amendment of the programme. They shall however, comply with all regulatory requirements and shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance pursuant to point (d) of Article 40(2). The Member State shall submit to the Commission the amended table referred to under points (g)(ii), (iii) or (iv) of Article 22(3), as applicable, together with any related changes in the programme.

Article 25

Joint support from the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF

Article 26

Transfer of resources

The sum of the transfers referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph and the contributions in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 14(1) shall not exceed 5 % of the initial national allocation of each Fund.

Member States may also request in the Partnership Agreement or in the request for an amendment of a programme the transfer of up to 5 % of the initial national allocation of each Fund to another Fund or Funds, except for transfers which are set out in the fourth subparagraph.

Member States may also request in the Partnership Agreement or in the request for an amendment of a programme an additional transfer of up to 20 % of the initial national allocation by Fund between the ERDF, the ESF+ or the Cohesion Fund within the Member State’s global resources under the Investment for jobs and growth goal. The Member States whose average total unemployment rate for the period 2017-2019 is under 3 % may request such an additional transfer of up to 25 % of the initial national allocation.

The Commission shall also object to the request where it considers that the Member State has not provided an adequate justification for the transfer with regard to the results to be achieved or the contribution to be made to the objectives of the receiving Fund or instrument in direct or indirect management.

The JTF shall not receive transfers pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 5.

To this end, the Member State shall submit a request for a programme amendment in accordance with Article 24(1), at the latest 4 months before the time limit for commitments set out in the first subparagraph of Article 114(2) of the Financial Regulation.

Article 26a

Support for the objectives in Article 21c(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241

Article 26b

Article 27

Transfer of resources from the ERDF and the ESF+ to the JTF

CHAPTER II

Territorial development

Article 28

Integrated territorial development

Where a Member State supports integrated territorial development, it shall do so through territorial or local development strategies in any of the following forms:

(a) integrated territorial investments;

(b) community-led local development; or

Where implementing territorial or local development strategies under more than one Fund, the Member State shall ensure coherence and coordination among the Funds concerned.

Article 29

Territorial strategies

Territorial strategies implemented pursuant to point (a) or (c) of Article 28 shall contain the following elements:

(a) the geographical area covered by the strategy;

(b) an analysis of the development needs and the potential of the area, including economic, social and environmental interlinkages;

(d) a description of the involvement of partners in accordance with Article 8 in the preparation and in the implementation of the strategy.

They may also contain a list of operations to be supported.

Selected operations shall comply with the territorial strategy.

Article 30

Integrated territorial investment

Where a territorial strategy referred to in Article 29 involves investments that receive support from one or more Funds, from more than one programme or from more than one priority of the same programme, actions may be carried out as an integrated territorial investment.

Article 31

Community-led local development

The Member State shall ensure that community-led local development is:

(a) focused on subregional areas;

(b) led by local action groups composed of representatives of public and private local socioeconomic interests, in which no single interest group controls the decision-making;

(d) supportive of networking, accessibility, innovative features in the local context and, where appropriate, cooperation with other territorial actors.

Article 32

Community-led local development strategies

The relevant managing authorities shall ensure that each strategy referred to in point (c) of Article 31(2) sets out the following elements:

(a) the geographical area and population covered by that strategy;

(b) the community involvement process in the development of that strategy;

(d) the objectives of that strategy, including measurable targets for results, and related planned actions;

(e) the management, monitoring and evaluation arrangements, demonstrating the capacity of the local action group to implement that strategy;

(f) a financial plan, including the planned allocation from each Fund, and also, where appropriate, the planned allocation from the EAFRD and each programme concerned.

It may also contain types of measures and operations to be financed by each affected Fund.

Article 33

Local action groups

The following tasks shall be carried out exclusively by the local action groups:

(a) building the capacity of local actors to develop and implement operations;

(b) drawing up a non-discriminatory and transparent selection procedure and criteria, which avoids conflicts of interest and ensures that no single interest group controls selection decisions;

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

(e) monitoring progress towards the achievement of objectives of the strategy;

(f) evaluating the implementation of the strategy.

Article 34

Support from Funds for community-led local development

The Member State shall ensure that support from the Funds for community-led local development covers:

(a) capacity building and preparatory actions supporting the design and future implementation of the strategy;

(b) the implementation of operations, including cooperation activities and their preparation, selected under the strategy;

(c) the management, monitoring and evaluation of the strategy and its animation, including the facilitation of exchanges between stakeholders;

The support referred to under point (c) of paragraph 1 shall not exceed 25 % of the total public contribution to the strategy.

CHAPTER III

Technical assistance

Article 35

Technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission

The actions referred to in paragraph 1 may include in particular:

(a) assistance for project preparation and appraisal;

(b) support for institutional strengthening and administrative capacity-building for the effective management of the Funds;

(d) measures related to the analysis, management, monitoring, information exchange and implementation of the Funds, as well as measures relating to the implementation of control systems and technical and administrative assistance;

(e) evaluations, expert reports, statistics and studies, including those of a general nature, concerning the current and future operation of the Funds;

(f) actions to disseminate information, support networking where appropriate, carry out communication activities with particular attention to the results and added value of support from the Funds, and to raise awareness and promote cooperation and exchange of experience, including with third countries;

(g) the installation, operation and interconnection of computerised systems for management, monitoring, audit, control and evaluation;

(h) actions to improve evaluation methods and the exchange of information on evaluation practices;

(i) actions related to auditing;

(j) the strengthening of national and regional capacity regarding investment planning, funding needs, preparation, design and implementation of financial instruments, joint action plans and major projects;

(k) the dissemination of good practices in order to assist Member States to strengthen the capacity of the relevant partners referred to in Article 8(1) and their umbrella organisations.

Article 36

Technical assistance of Member States

The amounts for technical assistance under this Article and Article 37 shall not be taken into account for the purposes of thematic concentration in accordance with the fund-specific rules.

The Member State shall indicate its choice of the form of Union contribution for technical assistance in the Partnership Agreement in accordance with Annex II. That choice shall apply to all programmes in the Member State concerned for the entire programming period and cannot be modified subsequently.

For programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI and for Interreg programmes the Union contribution for technical assistance shall be made only pursuant to point (e) of Article 51.

Where the Union contribution for technical assistance in a Member State is reimbursed pursuant to point (b) of Article 51, the following elements shall apply:

(a) technical assistance takes the form of a priority relating to one single Fund in one or more programmes, or of a specific programme, or a combination thereof;

(b) the amount of the Funds allocated to technical assistance is limited to the following: (i) for the ERDF support under the Investment for jobs and growth goal: 3,5 %; (ii) for the Cohesion Fund support: 2,5 %; (iii) for the ESF+ support: 4 % and for programmes under point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation: 5 %; (iv) for the JTF support: 4 %; (v) for the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund, where the total amount allocated to a Member State under the Investment for jobs and growth goal does not exceed EUR 1 billion: 6 %; (vi) for the EMFAF support: 6 %; (vii) for programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal that concern only the outermost regions, the percentage shall be increased by 1 percentage point.

Where the Union contribution for technical assistance is reimbursed pursuant to point (e) of Article 51, the following elements shall apply:

(a) the amount of the Funds allocated to technical assistance is identified as part of the financial allocations of each priority of the programme in accordance with point (g)(ii) of Article 22(3), and for the EMFAF, each specific objective in accordance with point (g)(iii) of that paragraph; it does not take the form of a separate priority or a specific programme except for programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI, for which it takes the form of a specific objective;

(b) the reimbursement is made, by applying the percentages set out in points (i) to (vii) to the eligible expenditure included in each payment application pursuant to points (a) or (c) of Article 91(3) as appropriate and from the same fund to which the eligible expenditure is reimbursed, to one or more bodies which receive payments from the Commission in accordance with point (k) of Article 22(3); (i) for the ERDF support under the Investment for jobs and growth goal: 3,5 %; (ii) for the Cohesion Fund support: 2,5 %; (iii) for the ESF+ support: 4 % and for programmes under point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation: 5 %; (iv) for the JTF support: 4 %; (v) for the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund, where the total amount allocated to a Member State under the Investment for jobs and growth goal does not exceed EUR 1 billion, the percentage reimbursed for technical assistance: 6 %; (vi) for the EMFAF, the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI support: 6 %; (vii) for programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal that concern only the outermost regions, the percentage shall be increased by 1 percentage point;

(c) the amounts allocated to technical assistance identified in the programme correspond to the percentages set out in points (i) to (vi) of point (b) for each priority and fund.

Article 37

Financing not linked to costs for technical assistance of Member States

In addition to Article 36, the Member State may propose to undertake additional technical assistance actions to reinforce the capacity and efficiency of public authorities and bodies, beneficiaries and relevant partners necessary for the effective administration and use of the Funds.

Support for such actions shall be implemented by financing not linked to costs in accordance with Article 95. Such support may also take the form of a specific programme.

TITLE IV

MONITORING, EVALUATION, COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY

CHAPTER I

Monitoring

Article 38

Monitoring committee

The Member State may set up a single monitoring committee to cover more than one programme.

Article 39

Composition of the monitoring committee

Each member of the monitoring committee shall have a vote. The rules of procedures shall regulate the exercise of the voting right and the details on the procedure in the monitoring committee in accordance with the institutional, legal and financial framework of the Member State concerned.

The rules of procedure may allow non-members, including the EIB, to participate in the work of the monitoring committee.

The monitoring committee shall be chaired by a representative of the Member State or of the managing authority.

The list of the members of the monitoring committee shall be published on the website referred to in Article 49(1).

Article 40

Functions of the monitoring committee

The monitoring committee shall examine:

(a) the progress in programme implementation and in achieving the milestones and targets;

(b) any issues that affect the performance of the programme and the measures taken to address those issues;

(c) the contribution of the programme to tackling the challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations that are linked to the implementation of the programme;

(d) the elements of the ex ante assessment listed in Article 58(3) and the strategy document referred to in Article 59(1);

(e) the progress made in carrying out evaluations, syntheses of evaluations and any follow-up given to findings;

(f) the implementation of communication and visibility actions;

(g) the progress in implementing operations of strategic importance, where relevant;

(h) the fulfilment of enabling conditions and their application throughout the programming period;

(i) the progress in administrative capacity building for public institutions, partners and beneficiaries, where relevant.

(j) information regarding the implementation of the contribution of the programme to the InvestEU Programme in accordance with Article 14 or of the resources transferred in accordance with Article 26, where applicable.

As regards the programmes supported by the EMFAF, the monitoring committee shall be consulted and shall, if it considers it appropriate, give an opinion on any amendment of the programme proposed by the managing authority.

The monitoring committee shall approve:

(a) the methodology and criteria used for the selection of operations, including any changes thereto, without prejudice to points (b), (c) and (d) of Article 33(3); at the request of the Commission, the methodology and criteria used for the selection of operations, including any changes thereto, shall be submitted to the Commission at least 15 working days prior to their submission to the monitoring committee.

(b) the annual performance reports for programmes supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, and the final performance report for programmes supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund, the JTF and the EMFAF.

(d) any proposal by the managing authority for the amendment of a programme including for transfers in accordance with Article 24(5) and Article 26, with the exception of programmes supported by the EMFAF.

Article 41

Annual performance review

The review meeting may cover more than one programme.

The review meeting shall be chaired by the Commission or, if the Member State so requests, co-chaired by the Member State and the Commission.

For programmes limited to the specific objective set out in point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation, the information to be provided, based on the most recent data available, shall be limited to points (a), (b), (e), (f) and (h) of Article 40(1) of this Regulation.

Article 42

Transmission of data

The first transmission shall be due by 31 January 2022 and the last one by 31 January 2030.

For priorities supporting the specific objective set out in point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation, data shall be transmitted annually by 31 January.

The ESF+ Regulation may determine specific rules for the frequency of collecting and transmitting longer-term result indicators.

The data shall be broken down for each priority by specific objective and, where applicable, by category of region and shall refer to:

(a) the number of selected operations, their total eligible cost, the contribution from the Funds and the total eligible expenditure declared by the beneficiaries to the managing authority, all broken down by type of intervention;

(b) the values of output and result indicators for selected operations and values achieved by operations.

For financial instruments data shall also be provided on the following:

(a) eligible expenditure by type of financial product;

(b) amount of management costs and fees declared as eligible expenditure;

(d) interest and other gains generated by support from the Funds to financial instruments referred to in Article 60 and resources returned attributable to support from the Funds as referred to in Article 62;

(e) total value of loans, equity or quasi-equity investments in final recipients which were guaranteed with programme resources and which were actually disbursed to final recipients.

Article 43

Final performance report

CHAPTER II

Evaluation

Article 44

Evaluations by the Member State

Article 45

Evaluation by the Commission

CHAPTER III

Visibility, transparency and communication

Article 46

Visibility

Each Member State shall ensure:

(a) the visibility of support in all activities relating to operations supported by the Funds with particular attention to operations of strategic importance;

(b) communication to Union citizens of the role and achievements of the Funds through a single website portal providing access to all programmes involving that Member State.

Article 47

Emblem of the Union

Member States, managing authorities and beneficiaries shall use the emblem of the Union in accordance with Annex IX when carrying out visibility, transparency and communication activities.

Article 48

Communication officers and networks

The communication coordinator shall involve in the visibility, transparency and communication activities the following bodies:

(a) European Commission Representations and European Parliament Liaison Offices in the Member States, as well as Europe Direct Information Centres and other relevant networks, educational and research organisations;

(b) other relevant partners referred to in Article 8(1).

Article 49

Responsibilities of the managing authority

The managing authority shall ensure the publication on the website referred to in paragraph 1, or on the single website portal referred to in point (b) of Article 46, of a timetable of the planned calls for proposals, that is updated at least three times a year, with the following indicative data:

(a) geographical area covered by the call for proposal;

(b) policy objective or specific objective concerned;

(d) total amount of support for the call;

(e) start and end date of the call.

The managing authority shall make the list of operations selected for support by the Funds publicly available on the website in at least one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union and shall update that list at least every 4 months. Each operation shall have a unique code. The list shall contain the following data:

(a) in the case of legal entities, the beneficiary’s and, in the case of public procurement, the contractor’s name;

(b) where the beneficiary is a natural person the first name and the surname;

(c) for EMFAF operations linked to a fishing vessel, the Union fishing fleet register identification number as referred to in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/218 (¹⁸);

(d) name of the operation;

(e) the purpose of the operation and its expected or actual achievements;

(f) start date of the operation;

(g) expected or actual date of completion of the operation;

(h) total cost of the operation;

(i) fund concerned;

(j) specific objective concerned;

(k) Union co-financing rate;

(l) location indicator or geolocation for the operation and country concerned;

(m) for mobile operations or operations covering several locations the location of the beneficiary where the beneficiary is a legal entity; or the NUTS 2 level region where the beneficiary is a natural person;

(n) type of intervention for the operation in accordance with point (g) of Article 73(2).

For data referred to in points (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph, the data shall be removed 2 years from the date of the initial publication on the website.

Article 50

Responsibilities of beneficiaries

Beneficiaries and bodies implementing financial instruments shall acknowledge support from the Funds, including resources reused in accordance with Article 62, to the operation by:

(a) providing on the beneficiary’s official website, where such a site exists, and social media sites, a short description of the operation, proportionate to the level of support, including its aims and results, and highlighting the financial support from the Union;

(b) providing a statement highlighting the support from the Union in a visible manner on documents and communication material relating to the implementation of the operation, intended for the public or for participants;

(c) displaying durable plaques or billboards clearly visible to the public, that present the emblem of the Union in accordance with the technical characteristics laid down in Annex IX, as soon as the physical implementation of operations involving physical investment starts or purchased equipment is installed, in respect of the following: (i) operations supported by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund the total cost of which exceeds EUR 500 000 ; (ii) operations supported by the ESF+, the JTF, the EMFAF, the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI the total cost of which exceeds EUR 100 000 ;

(d) for operations not falling under point (c), displaying at a location clearly visible to the public at least one poster of a minimum size A3 or equivalent electronic display with information about the operation highlighting the support from the Funds; where the beneficiary is a natural person, the beneficiary shall ensure, to the extent possible, that appropriate information is available, highlighting the support from the funds, at a location visible to the public or through an electronic display;

(e) for operations of strategic importance and operations the total cost of which exceeds EUR 10 000 000 , organising a communication event or activity, as appropriate, and involving the Commission and the responsible managing authority in a timely manner.

Where an ESF+ beneficiary is a natural person or for operations supported under the specific objective set out in point (m) of Article 4(1) of the ESF+ Regulation, the requirement set out in point (d) of the first subparagraph shall not apply.

By derogation from points (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph, for operations supported by the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, the document setting out the conditions for support may establish specific requirements for the public display of information on the support from the Funds where this is justified by reasons of security and public order in accordance with Article 69(5).

For financial instruments, the beneficiary shall ensure by means of the contractual terms that final recipients comply with the requirements set out in point (c) of paragraph 1.

Where the beneficiary does not comply with its obligations under Article 47 or paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, and where remedial actions have not been put into place, the managing authority shall apply measures, taking into account the principle of proportionality, by cancelling up to 3 % of the support from the Funds to the operation concerned.

TITLE V

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE FUNDS

CHAPTER I

Forms of Union contribution

Article 51

Forms of Union contribution to programmes

The Union contribution may take any of the following forms:

(a) financing not linked to costs of the relevant operations in accordance with Article 95 and based on either of the following: (i) the fulfilment of conditions; (ii) the achievement of results;

(b) reimbursement of support provided to beneficiaries in accordance with Chapters II and III of this Title;

(c) unit costs in accordance with Article 94, which cover all or certain specific categories of eligible costs, clearly identified in advance by reference to an amount per unit;

(d) lump sums in accordance with Article 94, which cover in global terms all or certain specific categories of eligible costs, clearly identified in advance;

(e) flat-rate financing in accordance with Article 94 or Article 36(5), which covers specific categories of eligible costs, clearly identified in advance, by applying a percentage;

(f) a combination of the forms referred to in points (a) to (e).

CHAPTER II

Forms of support by Member States

Article 52

Forms of support

Member States shall use the contribution from the Funds to provide support to beneficiaries in the form of grants, financial instruments or prizes or a combination thereof.

Article 53

Forms of grants

Grants provided by Member States to beneficiaries may take any of the following forms:

(a) reimbursement of eligible costs actually incurred by a beneficiary or the private partner of PPP operations and paid in implementing operations, contributions in kind and depreciation;

(b) unit costs;

(d) flat-rate financing;

(e) a combination of the forms referred to in points (a) to (d), provided that each form covers different categories of costs or where they are used for different projects forming a part of an operation or for successive phases of an operation;

(f) financing not linked to costs, provided such grants are covered by a reimbursement of the Union contribution pursuant to Article 95.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the managing authority may agree to exempt some operations in the area of research and innovation from the requirement set out in that subparagraph, provided that the monitoring committee has given prior approval for such an exemption. In addition, allowances and salaries paid to participants may be reimbursed in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1.

The amounts for the forms of grants referred to under points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 1, shall be established in one of the following ways:

(a) a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method based on: (i) statistical data, other objective information or an expert judgement; (ii) the verified historical data of individual beneficiaries; (iii) the application of the usual cost accounting practices of individual beneficiaries;

(b) draft budget established on a case-by-case basis and agreed ex ante by the body selecting the operation, where the total cost of the operation does not exceed EUR 200 000 ;

(c) in accordance with the rules for application of corresponding unit costs, lump sums and flat rates applicable in Union policies for a similar type of operation;

(d) in accordance with the rules for application of corresponding unit costs, lump sums and flat rates applied under schemes for grants funded entirely by the Member State for a similar type of operation;

(e) flat rates and specific methods established by or on the basis of this Regulation or the Fund-specific Regulations.

Article 54

Flat-rate financing for indirect costs concerning grants

Where a flat rate is used to cover indirect costs of an operation, it may be based on one of the following:

(a) up to 7 % of eligible direct costs, in which case the Member State shall not be required to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate;

(b) up to 15 % of eligible direct staff costs, in which case the Member State shall not be required to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate;

(c) up to 25 % of eligible direct costs, provided that the rate is calculated in accordance with point (a) of Article 53(3).

In addition, where a Member State has calculated a flat rate in accordance with point (a) of Article 67(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, that flat rate may be used for a similar operation for the purposes of point (c) of this Article.

Article 55

Direct staff costs concerning grants

Where a flat rate is applied in accordance with the first subparagraph for the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, that flat rate shall only be applied to the direct costs of the operation not subject to public procurement.

For the purposes of determining direct staff costs, an hourly rate may be calculated in one of the following ways:

(a) by dividing the latest documented annual gross employment costs by 1 720 hours for persons working full time, or by a corresponding pro-rata of 1 720 hours, for persons working part-time;

(b) by dividing the latest documented monthly gross employment costs by the average monthly working time of the person concerned in accordance with applicable national rules referred to in the employment or work contract or an appointment decision (both referred to as the employment document).

Article 56

Flat rate financing for eligible costs other than direct staff costs concerning grants

Article 57

Grants under conditions

Article 58

Financial instruments

Such support shall be provided only for the elements of the investments which are not physically completed or fully implemented at the date of the investment decision.

The ex ante assessment shall include at least the following elements:

(a) the proposed amount of programme contribution to a financial instrument and the estimated leverage effect accompanied by a short justification;

(b) the proposed financial products to be offered, including the possible need for differentiated treatment of investors;

(d) the expected contribution of the financial instrument to the achievement of specific objectives.

The ex ante assessment may be reviewed or updated, may cover part or the entire territory of the Member State, and may be based on existing or updated ex ante assessments.

Article 59

Implementation of financial instruments

Financial instruments implemented under the responsibility of the managing authority may be either of the following:

(a) an investment of programme resources into the capital of a legal entity;

(b) separate blocks of finance or fiduciary accounts.

The managing authority shall select the body implementing a financial instrument.

The managing authority may directly award a contract for the implementation of a financial instrument to:

(a) the EIB;

(b) international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder;

(c) a publicly-owned bank or institution, established as a legal entity carrying out financial activities on a professional basis, which fulfils all of the following conditions: (i) there is no direct private capital participation, with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the relevant bank or institution, and with the exception of forms of private capital participation which confer no influence on decisions regarding the day-to-day management of the financial instrument supported by the Funds; (ii) operates under a public policy mandate given by the relevant authority of a Member State at national or regional level, which includes carrying out, as all or part of its activities, economic development activities contributing to the objectives of the Funds; (iii) carries out, as all or part of its activities, economic development activities contributing to the objectives of the Funds in regions, policy areas or sectors for which access to funding from market sources is not generally available or sufficient; (iv) operates without primarily focusing on maximising profits, but ensures a long-term financial sustainability for its activities; (v) ensures that the direct award of a contract referred to in point (b) does not provide any direct or indirect benefit for commercial activities by way of appropriate measures in accordance with applicable law; (vi) is subject to the supervision of an independent authority in accordance with applicable law,

(d) other bodies, also entering under the scope of Article 12 of Directive 2014/24/EU.

The terms and conditions of programme contributions to financial instruments implemented in accordance with paragraph 2, shall be set out in funding agreements between:

(a) the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority and the body implementing a holding fund, where applicable;

(b) the duly mandated representatives of the managing authority, or, where applicable, the body implementing a holding fund and the body implementing a specific fund.

Those funding agreements shall include all the elements set out in Annex X.

Article 60

Interest and other gains generated by support from the Funds to financial instruments

Article 61

Differentiated treatment of investors

Article 62

Re-use of resources attributable to the support from the Funds

CHAPTER III

Eligibility rules

Article 63

Eligibility

For costs reimbursed pursuant to points (b), (c) and (f) of Article 53(1), the actions constituting the basis for reimbursement shall be carried out between the date of submission of the programme to the Commission or from 1 January 2021, whichever is earlier, and 31 December 2029.

For the ESF+, expenditure related to operations may be allocated to any of the categories of region of the programme under the condition that the operation contributes to the achievement of the specific objectives of the programme.

For the JTF, expenditure related to operations shall contribute to the implementation of the relevant territorial just transition plan.

The first subparagraph of this paragraph shall not apply to support for solidarity actions, as defined in point (15) of Article 2 of the AMIF Regulation and point (11) of Article 2 of the BMVI Regulation.

For the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF, expenditure becomes eligible as a result of a programme amendment when a new type of intervention referred to in Table 1 of Annex I or, for the EMFAF, the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, in the Fund-specific Regulations is added in the programme.

Where a programme is amended in order to provide a response to natural disasters, the programme may provide that the eligibility of expenditure relating to such amendment starts from the date when the natural disaster occurred.

Where a programme is amended to introduce financial support for solidarity actions, as defined in point (15) of Article 2 of the AMIF Regulation and point (11) of Article 2 of the BMVI Regulation, the programme may provide that the eligibility of expenditure relating to such amendment starts from 11 June 2024.

An operation may receive support from one or more Funds or from one or more programmes and from other Union instruments. In such cases, expenditure declared in a payment application for one of the Funds shall not be declared for either of the following:

(a) support from another Fund or Union instrument;

(b) support from the same Fund under another programme.

The amount of expenditure to be entered into a payment application of a Fund may be calculated for each Fund and for the programme or programmes concerned on a pro rata basis, in accordance with the document setting out the conditions for support.

Article 64

Non-eligible costs

The following costs shall not be eligible for a contribution from the Funds:

(a) interest on debt, except in relation to grants given in the form of an interest rate subsidy or guarantee fee subsidy;

(b) the purchase of land for an amount exceeding 10 % of the total eligible expenditure for the operation concerned; for derelict sites and for those formerly in industrial use which comprise buildings, that limit shall be increased to 15 %; for financial instruments, those percentages shall apply to the programme contribution paid to the final recipient or, in case of guarantees, to the amount of the underlying loan;

(c) value added tax (‘VAT’), except: (i) for operations the total cost of which is below EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT); (ii) for operations the total cost of which is at least EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT) where it is non-recoverable under national VAT legislation; (iii) investments made by final recipients in the context of financial instruments; where these investments are supported by financial instruments combined with programme support in the form of a grant as referred to in Article 58(5), the VAT shall not be eligible for the part of the investment cost which corresponds to the programme support in the form of a grant, unless the VAT for the investment cost is non-recoverable under national VAT legislation or where the part of the investment cost corresponding to the programme support in the form of the grant is below EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT); (iv) for small project funds and investments made by final recipients in the context of small project funds under Interreg.

Point (b) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to operations concerning environmental conservation.

Article 65

Durability of operations

The Member State shall repay the contribution from the Funds to an operation comprising investment in infrastructure or productive investment, if within 5 years of the final payment to the beneficiary or within the period of time set out in State aid rules, where applicable, that operation is subject to any of the following:

(a) a cessation or transfer of a productive activity outside the NUTS level 2 region in which it received support;

(b) a change in ownership of an item of infrastructure which gives to a firm or a public body an undue advantage;

(c) a substantial change affecting its nature, objectives or implementation conditions which would result in undermining its original objectives.

The Member State may reduce the time limit set out in the first subparagraph to 3 years in cases concerning the maintenance of investments or jobs created by SMEs.

Repayment by the Member State due to non-compliance with this Article shall be made in proportion to the period of non-compliance.

Article 66

Relocation

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TITLE I

OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL RULES ON SUPPORT

CHAPTER I

Subject matter, definitions and general rules

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

Article 2

Definitions

Article 3

Calculation of time limits for Commission actions

Article 4

Processing and protection of personal data

CHAPTER II

Policy objectives and principles for the support of the funds

Article 5

Policy objectives

Article 6

Climate targets and climate adjustment mechanism

Article 7

Shared management

Article 8

Partnership and multi-level governance

Article 9

Horizontal Principles

TITLE II

STRATEGIC APPROACH

CHAPTER I

Partnership Agreement

Article 10

Preparation and submission of the Partnership Agreement

Article 11

Content of the Partnership Agreement

Article 12

Approval of the Partnership Agreement

Article 13

Amendment of the Partnership Agreement

Article 14

Use of the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the EMFAF delivered through the InvestEU Programme

CHAPTER II

Enabling conditions and performance framework

Article 15

Enabling conditions

Article 16

Performance framework

Article 17

Methodology for the establishment of the performance framework

Article 18

Mid-term review and flexibility amount

CHAPTER III

Measures linked to sound economic governance and to exceptional or unusual circumstances

Article 19

Measures linking effectiveness of Funds to sound economic governance

Article 20

Temporary measures for the use of the Funds in response to exceptional or unusual circumstances

TITLE III

PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I

General provisions on the Funds

Article 21

Preparation and submission of programmes

Article 22

Content of programmes

Article 23

Approval of programmes

Article 24

Amendment of programmes

Article 25

Joint support from the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF

Article 26

Transfer of resources

Article 26a

Support for the objectives in Article 21c(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241

Article 26b

Resources transferred from the Social Climate Fund

Article 27

Transfer of resources from the ERDF and the ESF+ to the JTF

CHAPTER II

Territorial development

Article 28

Integrated territorial development