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To that end, it is clear from the relevant provisions of Regulation No 1083/2006 that: — the objectives of the structural funds are to be pursued in the framework of close cooperation, referred to as partnership, between the Commission and each Member State (see Article 11(1) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — the funds are to provide assistance which complements national actions and their contributions are not to replace structural expenditure by a Member State (see Article 9(1) and Article 15(1) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — each Member State is to present a national strategic reference framework which ensures that assistance from the funds is consistent with the EU strategic guidelines on cohesion and constitutes a reference instrument for preparing the programming of the funds (see Article 27(1) and (2) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — in each Member State, the activities of the funds are to take the form of operational programmes drawn up by the Member States and submitted to the Commission for evaluation and adoption (see Article 32(1) to (5) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — Member States are responsible for the management and control of operational programmes and, to that end, are to appoint, inter alia, a managing authority, a certifying authority, and may, if they so wish, appoint intermediate bodies to carry out some or all of their tasks, as well as an audit authority (see Article 58, Article 59(1) and (2), and Article 70(1) of Regulation No 1083/2006). The managing authority is responsible for managing and implementing the operational programme and, in particular, ‘ensuring that operations are selected for funding in accordance with the criteria applicable to the operational programme and that they comply with applicable [EU] and national rules for the whole of their implementation period’ (see Article 60(a) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — for each operational programme, the Member States are to set up a monitoring committee, which is to satisfy itself as to the effectiveness and quality of the implementation of the operational programme, inter alia by considering and approving the criteria for selecting the operations financed (see Articles 63 and 65 of Regulation No 1083/2006); — each operation, namely a project or group of projects intended to achieve the objectives of the operational programme, is selected by the managing authority according to criteria laid down by the monitoring committee (see Article 2(3) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — where the Member State selects a major project, that is ‘expenditure comprising a series of works, activities or services intended in itself to accomplish an indivisible task of a precise economic or technical nature, which has clearly identified goals and whose total cost exceeds EUR [50] million’ (see Article 39 of Regulation No 1083/2006), and includes it in an operational programme for funding by the ERDF, it must be approved by the Commission, in order for its purpose and impact, as well as the arrangements for the planned use of EU resources, to be evaluated (see recital 49 of Regulation No 1083/2006): — to that end, the major project is to be submitted to the Commission by the Member State or its managing authority, together with the information referred to in Article 40 of Regulation No 1083/2006 (see Article 41(1) of that regulation); — the Member State or the managing authority are to submit the request for assistance in accordance with the application scheme (entitled ‘Major project request for confirmation of assistance under Articles 39 to 41 of Regulation … No 1083/2006’) provided for in Annexes XX to XXII to Regulation No 1828/2006 (see Article 40(2)(e) and (3) of that regulation); — on the basis of the information contained in that application, the Commission is to appraise the consistency of the major project with the priorities of the operational programme or the relevant programmes, its contribution to achieving the goals of those priorities and its consistency with other EU policies (see Article 41(1) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — provided that the application is submitted in accordance with Article 40 of Regulation No 1083/2006, the Commission is to adopt a decision as soon as possible but no later than three months after the submission of a major project (see Article 41(2) of Regulation No 1083/2006) ; — the Commission’s decision, where positive, is to define the physical object, the amount to which the co-financing rate for the priority axis applies, and the fund’s contribution plan (see Article 41(2) of Regulation No 1083/2006); — where the Commission refuses to make a financial contribution to a major project, it must notify the Member State of its reasons (see Article 41(3) of Regulation No 1083/2006) ; — where the Commission refuses to contribute to a major project and the Member State has already included payments for the major project in a statement of expenditure submitted to the Commission, the statement of expenditure following the adoption of the decision must be adjusted accordingly (see Article 78(4) of Regulation No 1083/2006).