2002/421/EC: Commission Decision of 17 November 2000 approving the single programming document for Community structural assistance in the areas of Corsica in France qualifying for transitional support under Objective 1 (notified under document number C(2000) 3243)
Date: 2000-11-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Corsica, EU financial instrument, European Investment Bank, Structural Funds, aid system, development aid, development plan, financing plan, less-favoured region, regional aid

L 156/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.6.2002

COMMISSION DECISION

of 17 November 2000

approving the single programming document for Community structural assistance in the areas of
Corsica in France qualifying for transitional support under Objective 1

(notified under document number C(2000) 3243)

(Only the French text is authentic)

(2002/421/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of
21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural
Funds (1), and in particular Article 15(5) thereof,

After consulting the Committee on the Development and
Conversion of Regions, the Committee pursuant to Article 147
of the Treaty and the Committee on Agricultural Structures
and Rural Development,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Articles 13 et seq. of Title II of Regulation (EC) No 1260/
1999 lay down the procedure for preparing and
implementing single programming documents.

Article 15(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/
1999 provides that, after consultation with the partners
referred to in Article 8 of the Regulation, the Member
State may submit to the Commission a development
plan which is treated as a draft single programming
document, and which contains the information referred
to in Article 16 of the Regulation.

Under Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999,
on the basis of the regional development plan submitted
by the Member State and within the partnership estab-
lished in accordance with Article 8 of that Regulation,
the Commission is to take a decision on the single
programming document, in agreement with the Member
State concerned and in accordance with the procedures
laid down in Articles 48 to 51.

The French Government submitted to the Commission
on 31 December 1999 an acceptable draft single
programming document for the areas of Corsica qualify-
ing for transitional support under Objective 1 pursuant
to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999. The
draft contains the information listed in Article 16 of

the Regulation, and in particular a description of the
priorities selected and an indication of the financial
contribution from the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF),
the
European Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Guid-
ance Section, and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries
Guidance (FIFG).

the European Social Fund (ESF),

The date of submission of the draft which was considered
acceptable by the Commission constitutes the date from
which expenditure under the plan is eligible. Under
Article 30 of the Regulation, it is necessary to lay down
the final date for the eligibility of expenditure.

The rural development measures to be financed by the
EAGGF are governed,
in particular as regards their
compatibility and consistency with common agricultural
policy measures, by Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development
from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
Fund (EAGGF) (2).

The single programming document has been drawn up
in agreement with the Member State concerned and
within the partnership.

The Commission has satisfied itself
programming document
principle of additionality.

the single
that
is in accordance with the

Under Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999, the
Commission and the Member State are required to
ensure, in a manner consistent with the principle of
partnership, coordination between assistance from the
Funds and from the EIB and other existing financial
instruments.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 156/11

(10) The EIB has been involved in drawing up the single
programming document in accordance with the pro-
visions of Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/
1999 and has declared itself prepared to contribute to
its implementation in conformity with its statutory
provisions.

(11) The financial contribution from the Community avail-
able over the entire period and its year-by-year break-
down are expressed in euro. The annual breakdown
should be consistent with the relevant financial perspec-
tive. Under Article 7(7) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/
1999, the Community contribution has already been
indexed at a rate of 2 % per year. Under Article 7(7)
and Article 44(2) of the Regulation, the Community
contribution may be reviewed at mid-term, and not later
than 31 March 2004, to take account of the effective
level of inflation and the allocation of the performance
reserve.

(12)

Provision should be made for adapting the financial
allocations of the priorities of this single programming
document within certain limits to actual requirements
implementation on the
reflected by the pattern of
ground, in agreement with the Member State concerned,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The single programming document for Community structural
assistance providing transitional support under Objective 1 in
the region of Corsica in France for the period 1 January 2000
to 31 December 2006 is hereby approved.

Article 2

1.
In accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EC)
No 1260/1999, the single programming document includes
the following elements:

(a)

the strategy and priorities for the joint action of the
Structural Funds and the Member State; their specific
quantified targets; the ex-ante evaluation of the expected
impact, including on the environmental situation, and
the consistency of the priorities with the economic, social
and regional policies and the employment strategy of
France.

The priorities are as follows:

1.

consolidating the bases for development;

2. working for the future with those engaged in

development;

3.

developing agricultural products;

4.

developing fisheries products;

5.

promoting social cohesion and women and men;

6.

promoting the area and local approaches to develop-
ment;

7.

technical assistance;

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

a summary description of
the measures planned to
including the information
the priorities,
implement
needed to check compliance with the State aid rules
under Article 87 of the Treaty;

the indicative financing plan specifying for each priority
and each year the financial allocation envisaged for the
contribution from each Fund and indicating separately
the funding planned for the regions receiving transitional
support and the total amounts of eligible public or
equivalent expenditure and estimated private funding in
the Member State. The total contribution from the Funds
planned for each year for the single programming
document is consistent with the relevant financial per-
spective;

the provisions for implementing the single programming
document including designation of the managing auth-
ority, a description of the arrangements for managing the
single programming document and the use to be made
of global grants, a description of the systems for monitor-
ing and evaluation, including the role of the Monitoring
Committee and the arrangements for the participation of
the partners in that Committee;

the ex-ante verification of compliance with additionality
and information on the transparency of financial flows;

information on the resources required for preparing,
monitoring and evaluating the assistance.

2.
The indicative financing plan puts the total cost of the
priorities selected for the joint action by the Community and
the Member State at EUR 365 624 649 for the whole period
and the financial contribution from the Structural Funds at
EUR 181 000 000.

resulting

requirement

123 797 484

resources of
The
EUR
and
sector
from the
EUR 60 827 165 from the private sector can be partly met by
Community loans from the European Investment Bank and
other lending instruments.

for national
public

L 156/12

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14.6.2002

Article 3

The total assistance from the Structural Funds granted
to

single programming document amounts

1.
under
the
EUR 181 000 000.

The procedure for granting the financial assistance, including
the financial contribution from the Funds for the various
priorities included in the single programming document, is set
out in the financing plan annexed to this Decision.

The indicative initial estimated breakdown among the
2.
Structural Funds of the total Community assistance available
is as follows:

ERDF

ESF

EAGGF Guidance Section

FIFG

EUR 122 007 050

EUR 22 608 189

EUR 34 098 026

EUR 2 286 735

3.
During implementation of the financing plan, the total
cost or Community financing of a given priority may be
adjusted in agreement with the Member State by up to
25 % of the total Community contribution to the single
programming document throughout the programme period,
up to a maximum of EUR 60 million, without altering the
total Community contribution referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 4

This Decision is without prejudice to the Commission’s
position on aid schemes falling within Article 87(1) of the
Treaty that are included in this assistance and which it has not
yet approved. Submission of the application for assistance, the
programme complement or a request for payment by the
Member State does not replace the notification required by
Article 88(3) of the Treaty.

Community financing of State aid falling within Article 87(1)
of the Treaty, granted under aid schemes or in individual cases,

requires prior approval by the Commission under Article 88
of the Treaty, except where the aid falls under the de minimis
rule or is exempted under an exemption regulation adopted
by the Commission under Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98
of 7 May 1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 (now
87 and 88) to certain categories of horizontal State aid (3). In
the absence of such exemption or approval, aid is illegal and
subject to the consequences set out in the procedural regulation
for State aid, and its part-financing would be treated as an
irregularity within the meaning of Articles 38 and 39 of
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.

Consequently, the Commission will not accept requests for
interim and final payments under Article 32 of the Regulation
for measures being part-financed with new or altered aid, as
defined in the procedural regulation for State aid, granted
under aid schemes or in individual cases, until such aid has
been notified to and formally approved by the Commission.

Notwithstanding the above subparagraphs, assistance for rural
development part-financed by the EAGGF will be governed by
Articles 51 and 52 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999.

Article 5

The date from which expenditure shall be eligible is 31 Decem-
ber 1999. The closing date for the eligibility of expenditure
shall be 31 December 2008. This date is extended to 30 April
2009 for expenditure incurred by bodies granting assistance
under Article 9(l) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.

Done at Brussels, 17 November 2000.

For the Commission

Michel BARNIER

Member of the Commission

(3) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.