1 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion EU Cohesion Policy...

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020

Proposals from theEuropean Commission

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Legislative package

• The General Regulation• Common provisions for cohesion policy, the rural

development policy and the maritime and fisheries policy• Common provisions for cohesion policy only (ERDF, CF,

ESF)• Fund specific regulations

• ERDF regulation• CF regulation• ESF regulation• ETC regulation

• EGTC regulation

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Content of General Regulation

• Common provisions • Principles of Union support

• Thematic objectives

• Common Strategic Framework

• Partnership Contract

• Operational Programmes

• Conditionality and performance

• Local development

• Financial instruments

• Monitoring, reporting, evaluation

• Eligibility of expenditure

• Management and control systems

• Cohesion policy provisions

• Mission and objectives

• Geographical eligibility

• Financial resources

• Major projects and joint action plans

• Monitoring and evaluation

• Information and communication

• Co-financing rates

• Management and control systems

• Financial management

• Financial corrections

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Objectives and Budget

• Primary objective of EU cohesion policy: to reduce the significant economic, social and territorial disparities between Europe's regions

• Cohesion policy: key role in delivering the Europe 2020 objectives

• Proposed budget for Cohesion Policy: 376 Billion €

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Budget for Cohesion Policy post 2013

billion EUR (2011 prices)

Cohesion Fund* 68.7

Less developed regions 162.6

Transition regions 39.0

More developed regions 53.1

Territorial Cooperation 11.7

Extra allocation for outermost and northern regions0.9

TOTAL 336.0

Connecting Europe facility for transport, energy and ICT40.0

TOTAL 376.0

* Cohesion Fund will ringfence 10 billion EUR for the new Connecting Europe Facility

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Financial FrameworkReinforcing a fair system for all EU regions

• Three categories of regions: – Less developed regions (GDP per capita < 75% of EU

average)– Transition regions (GDP per capita between 75% and

90%)– More developed regions (GDP per capita > 90%)

• Why a new category for transition regions?– Simpler and fairer system– Helps these regions to soften the transition between

less and more developed regions

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Principles of Union Support

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Common Principles for all Funds (1)

• Strengthening partnership and multi-level governance– Introduction of a binding European Code of

conduct • Sets out objectives and criteria to support the

implementation of partnerships

• Facilitates sharing of information and good practices among Member States

• Compliance with Union and national law

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Common Principles for all Funds (2)

• Reinforcement of gender equality and non-discrimination:– Horizontal principle of the regulations– Specific actions in OPs, covered by ex-ante evaluation– Opinion of the national equal oportunities’ body on the OPs– Project selection – Followed up in reporting

• Promoting sustainable development– Horizontal principle of the regulations– Specific actions in OPs, covered by ex-ante evaluation– Project selection – Followed up in reporting– Tracking of expenditure for climate change objectives

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Strengthening the Strategic Approach

Adoption of Operational Programmes

Partnership contract:- Ex-ante conditionalities- Performance framework

Common Strategic Framework – Key actions for Thematic objectives derived from Europe 2020

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Thematic Objectives to Deliver Europe 2020• Strengthening research, technological development and innovation

• Enhancing access to, and use and quality of, information and communication technologies

• Enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, the agricultural sector (for the EAFRD) and the fisheries and aquaculture sector (for the EMFF)

• Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors

• Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management

• Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency

• Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures

• Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility

• Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty

• Investing in education, skills and lifelong learning

• Enhancing institutional capacity and an efficient public administration

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Common Strategic Framework

• Sets a comprehensive investment strategy for all the funds, including rural development and maritime and fisheries policies

• Translates the targets and objectives of Europe 2020 into key actions for Member States and regions

• Ensures better coherence and consistency with the National Reform Programmes

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Partnership Contract

• Results from negotiation between the Commission and Member State on:

– Thematic objectives to address the priorities/targets established in Europe 2020

– Specific objectives and corresponding indicators that translate Europe 2020 priorities in a national and/or regional context

– An integrated approach for territorial development supported by the Cohesion Policy Funds, the EAFRD and the EMFF

– Arrangements for effective implementation: ex-ante conditionalities, partnerships, performance framework

– Arrangements for efficient implementation: administrative capacity, administrative burden reduction

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Thematic Concentration for Less Developed Regions

•At least 50% of ERDF at national level to be allocated to:– Energy efficiency and renewables (at least 6% of total)

– Innovation

– SME support

•At least 25% of the Structural Funds to be allocated to the ESF

•60% of the ESF allocation to each OP to be concentrated on up to 4 investment priorities

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Thematic Concentration for Transition & More Developed Regions

•At least 80% of ERDF resources at national level to be allocated to:

– Energy efficiency and renewables (at least 20% of total)

– Innovation

– SME support

•Minimum ESF shares established for each category of regions:– 40% for transition regions– 52% for more developed regions

•70% for transition regions and 80% for more developed regions of the ESF allocation to each OP to be concentrated on up to 4 investment priorities

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Reinforcing Effectiveness and Performance

• Ex-ante conditionality – Conditions prior to submission of Partnership Contracts and OPs – Directly related to the thematic objectives– Specified criteria for fulfillment

• Reinforced macroeconomic conditionality for the Funds

– Closer and gradual link between cohesion policy and the economic governance of the Union

– Decisions on suspensions – proportionate, effective and should respect equality of treatment between Member States

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Performance framework

• Sets out milestones/indicators for performance of programmes

• Focuses on the achievement of Europe 2020

objectives

• A performance reserve of 5% - allocated depending on progress on the milestones

• If unsatisfactory performance - warning,

reprogramming of resources, or suspension of funds

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Reinforcing Integrated Programming

• Integrated programme approach – Possibility for Member States to prepare and

implement multifund programmes combining ERDF, ESF and the Cohesion Fund

• Introduction of Joint Action Plans – Represent an extension of the current system of

simplified costs– Can create significant savings in the management

and control costs enabling beneficiaries to focus on delivering results

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Strengthening Territorial Cohesion

• Integrated approach to community-led local development– Facilitates integrated investment by small communities

including local authorities, NGOs, and economic and social partners

– Integrated local development strategies– Local action groups to design and implement these

strategies

• Integrated territorial investments – Investments under 1 or more Operational Programmes can

take the form of integrated territorial investments– Requires urban development strategy or other territorial

strategies or pacts

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Reinforcing Territorial Cohesion • Focus on sustainable urban development

– At least 5% of the ERDF resources to be allocated to integrated actions for sustainable urban development

• Creation of an urban development platform – To promote capacity-building and networking between cities and exchange of

experience on urban policy at EU level– Adoption of a list of cities to participate in the platform

• Support for innovative actions in the field of sustainable urban development - Subject to a ceiling of 0,2% of the annual funding

• Particular attention to areas with specific natural or demographic features– Specific additional allocation for the outermost regions and sparsely populated regions– For the outermost regions, at least 50% of this allocation to focus on actions

contributing to the diversification and modernisation of their economies, with particular focus on research and innovation, information and communication technologies and SMEs competitiveness

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Financial Instruments – Simplification and Clarification

• Financial instruments will remain similar to those in the period 2007-2013

• Innovations for the period 2014-2020:– Clarification of implementation rules – Reinforcement of legal certainty– Extension of the scope of financial

instruments– Simplification of access to JEREMIE, JESSICA

and JASMINE

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Monitoring and Evaluation

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A Stronger Focus on Results: Indicators

• Fund Specific Common Indicators– Fund specific common output and some result indicators with common

definitions

– Fund specific rules on baselines, targets and cumulative (or not) reporting

• Programme Specific Indicators– Outputs where not covered by common indicators

– Result indicators related to the priority or sub-priority

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A Stronger Focus on Results: Monitoring & Reporting

• Lighter Annual Reporting in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021

• More strategic reporting in other years• Admissibility of AIR depending on provision of

data • Stronger role of monitoring committee in

reviewing performance and results of evaluation• Provisions on data collection

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A Stronger Focus on Results: Evaluation

• Ex-ante evaluation:– Justification for selected thematic objectives

contributing to EU2020 & consistency, relevance and realism of indicators, targets & financial allocations

– Monitoring and evaluation capacities and appropriate data collection arrangements

– Milestones for performance framework

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A Stronger Focus on Results: Evaluation

• Evaluation during the programming period:– Evaluation plan obligatory – to be adopted by first

Monitoring Committee– More evaluation of the effects of interventions

(impact) – Implementation evaluations when necessary– Synthesis report of evaluations by MS in 2020

• Ex-post evaluation by the Commission

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• Review of the rules on revenue generation – Introduction of a flat rate approach – Reduction in administrative effort needed

• Harmonisation of rules on eligibility and durability

• Clear rules for simplified costs and flat rates– Introduction of some rates and unit costs established at EU

level

Financial Support from the Funds Streamlined Delivery System

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Financial Support from the Funds Streamlined Delivery System

• Measures proposed to improve the funding absorption level:– To fix at 2,5% of GNI the capping rates for cohesion allocations;

– Co-financing rate ceilings

• 75-85% in less developed regions and outermost regions;

• 60% in transition regions

• 50% in more developed regions– To include certain conditions in the Partnership Contracts

regarding the improvement of administrative capacity

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Streamlining Management and Control

• Closure - annual rolling closure of completed projects or expenditure

• Proportional approach to the ex-ante review of management and control systems

• Exemptions for– Operational Programmes of low financial volume – Management and control systems that have delivered

consistently good results during the previous programming period

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• A move towards E-cohesion– One stop shop for beneficiaries – Significant reduction of administrative burden for

beneficiaries and lower costs for national and regional administrations

• Reduction of layers of control & duplication of controls– Possibility for Member States to designate Managing

Authorities, which may act as Certifying Authorities

Streamlining Management and Control

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Timeline

• November-December 2011: Communication from the Commission – Common Strategic Framework

• January 2012: Public consultation on Communication

• June 2012: Commission document on Common Strategic Framework

• 2012-2013: Adoption of new legislative package and agreement on new budget post 2013

• 2014: Entry into force and adoption of programmes

1 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion EU Cohesion Policy...

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