Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 concerning general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund as regards simplification of certain requirements and as regards certain provisions relating to financial management
Date: 2009-07-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cohesion Fund, European Social Fund, economic recession, employment policy, financial management, reflation, regional development, simplification of legislation

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.7.2009 
COM(2009) 384 final 

2009/0107 (AVC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 concerning general provisions on the 
European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion 
Fund as regards simplification of certain requirements and as regards certain provisions 
relating to financial management 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSAL 

•  Reasons and objectives for the proposal 

The  current  financial  and  economic  crisis  has  created  major  challenges  for  the 
European  Union.  Therefore  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  of  11  and  12 
December  2008  agreed  on  a  European  Economic  Recovery  Plan  (EERP),  which 
envisages  the  initiation  of  priority  action  to  enable  European  economies  to  adjust 
more rapidly to current challenges.  

Whereas  a  number  of  important  measures  to  counterbalance  the  negative  effects  of 
the  crisis  have  already  been  taken  both  at  the  Community  and  national  level, 
including amendments of the Community legislative framework governing Cohesion 
policy, the actual impact of the financial crisis on the real economy and on the labour 
market  starts  only  now  to  make  itself  widely  felt.  On  3  June  the  Commission 
presented the Communication on 'A Shared Commitment for Employment' in which 
additional  measures  were  proposed  in  order  to  boost  job  creation  and  counter  the 
effects of the crisis on jobs. 

The pressure on national financial resources increases and necessitates taking further 
steps  to  alleviate  this  pressure  through  a  better  use  of  Community  funding,  and 
mobilisation and acceleration of all available Funds to tackle the crisis, in particular 
using  the  ESF  for  rapid  recovery  packages  as  outlined  in  the  above-mentioned 
Communication. 

In  the  context  of  the  current  crisis,  ensuring  a  smooth  implementation  of  Cohesion 
programmes  is  of  particular  relevance  as  they  represent  the  most  powerful  and 
relevant  lever  for  assisting  the  real  economy.  With  total  financial  resources  of 
347 billion € for the 2007-2013 period, Cohesion policy provides a powerful support 
for  both  budgetary  stability  and  public  investment  in  the  Member  States  and  the 
regions of the European Union. 

Experience  shows  that  more  effort  is  needed  to  facilitate  the  management  of  the 
Community funding in order to speed up the flow of the funding to the beneficiaries 
that are most affected by the economic downturn. The December European Council 
supported  proposals  for  'simplification  of  procedures  and  faster  implementation  of 
programmes financed by the Cohesion Fund, Structural Funds'. The current proposal 
therefore  includes  further  elements  of  simplification,  with  the  overall  objective  to 
accelerate co-financed investments in Member States and regions and to increase the 
impact of the funding on the economy as a whole. 

•  General context 

The  current  crisis  is  substantially  affecting  the  real  economy  due  to  the  difficulties 
encountered  by  the  banks  and  due  to  the  tightening  of  credit  policy  which  could 
reduce household consumption as well as business investment, support to innovation, 
technological  and  industrial  development  with  negative  effects  on  GDP  and 
employment. 

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The crisis is also having a negative impact on the budgets of Member States and the 
increase in unemployment outlined below is a significant factor in this. On the one 
hand,  an  increase  in  the  number  of  persons  entitled  to  receive  benefits  can 
automatically lead to a strain on budgetary resources. At the same time the need to 
implement active labour market measures in order to maintain people in employment 
or  to  get  them  back  to  work  becomes  more  acute.  Given  the  general  budgetary 
constraints, severe cash-flow difficulties can arise for the sources of public finance in 
Member  States  for  the  implementation  of  active  labour  market  measures.  As  a 
consequence,  such  measures  may  be  delayed  at  a  time  when  they  are  increasingly 
necessary, to the detriment of the citizens.  

The  Commission's  most  recent  economic  forecasts  predict  a  marked  reduction  of 
growth  in  the  European  Union  -  which  would  fall  to  1,4 %  in  2008  (half  of  that 
achieved in 2007), 0,2 % in 2009 and 1,1 % in 2010. These poor economic prospects 
will  probably  weigh  heavily  on  public  finances.  Assuming  unchanged  policies, 
budget deficits could increase from 1 % of GDP in 2007 to 2,6 % in 2010. Reliable 
forecasting  on  public  finances  -  and  particularly  in  the  area  of  debt  -  is  difficult, 
however,  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  surrounding  the  budgetary  impacts  of 
emergency measures already taken by governments. 

It is in this context that the Commission has endeavoured to contribute to the debate 
currently  taking  place  within  the  Union  and  with  its  international  partners  on  how 
best to react to the current financial crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In 
particular  in  the  framework  of  its  recovery  package,  the  Commission  proposed  in 
December 2008 a number of regulatory changes to simplify the implementation rules 
for Cohesion Policy and to increase the pre-financing (advance payments) to ERDF 
and ESF programmes. The additional advance payments have provided an immediate 
cash  injection  of  EUR  6.25  billion  in  2009  to  pre-finance  investment,  within  the 
financial  envelope  agreed  for  each  Member  State  for  the  2007-2013  period.  This 
amendment brings the total of advance payments in 2009 to EUR 11.25 billion. The 
Commission  proposal  was  adopted  by  the  Council  in  May  2009  and  all  advance 
payments  now  have  been  paid  to  Member  States.  The  Commission  has  repeatedly 
encouraged Member States to transfer the additional advance payments to the bodies 
involved  in  project  management  to  frontload  expenditure  to  Cohesion  Policy 
Projects.  

•  Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal  

The  current  serious  economic  repercussions  in  the  European  economy  lead  to  the 
reduction of growth perspectives over the medium term and the marked slow-down 
in real growth in 2009 and 2010. According to the latest available forecasts, several 
national  economies  are  in  recession.  These  poor  economic  prospects  have 
considerable  negative  impacts  on  the  public  finances  of  the  Member  States. 
Moreover  the  basic  conditions  for  implementing  cohesion  policy  –  which  requires 
public  match-funding  in  order  to  mobilise  Structural  Funds  –  risk  being  seriously 
disrupted. 

In  addition,  the  latest  data  covering  the  first  months  of  2009  show  that  EU  labour 
markets are now reacting even more strongly than expected to the current economic 
downturn,  with  companies  announcing  substantial  job  reductions  in  several  sectors 

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and  business  and  consumer  confidence  continuing  to  drop.  More  than  20  million 
Europeans are unemployed, which is 4 million more than one year ago, and the trend 
is still upwards. 

In  order  to  further  accelerate  programmes  implementation  and  provide  help  to 
overcome  the  difficulties  mentioned  earlier,  an  additional  measure  is  proposed  to 
alleviate  the  current  pressures  and  allow  the  highest  possible  use  of  Community 
funding  targeting  particularly  the  actions  necessary  to  fight  the  crisis  where  the 
added  value  for  the  citizens,  especially  the  unemployed  or  those  at  risk  to  become 
unemployed,  will  be  highest.  This  measure  will  require  amendment  of  Council 
Regulation  n° 1083/2006  on  general  provisions  governing  Cohesion  policy, 
including,  as  proposed  in  the  Communication 
'A  Shared  Commitment  for 
Employment'  a  temporary  change  to  the  ways  in  which  interim  payments  to 
programmes co-financed by the European Social Fund are calculated. This involves 
introducing  a  temporary  option  for  Member  States,  where  severe  cash-flow 
difficulties exist for the financing of labour market measures necessary to combat the 
crisis, and which are eligible under the ESF, to request reimbursements made by the 
Commission  at  100%  during  2009  and  2010,  thus  obviating  the  need  to  provide 
national co-financing during this period. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of 
the  important  role  assigned  to  the  ESF  in  the  above-mentioned  communication  in 
implementing active labour market measures, such as training in the context of short-
time  working  arrangements,  the  anticipation  and  managing  of  restructuring,  the 
upgrading  of  skills  as  well  as  the  providing  of  high-quality  apprenticeships  for  the 
young  by  the  end  of  2010.  This  proposal  is  presented  together  with  a  number  of 
simplification measures that also imply amendments to the Council Regulation. 

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•  Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union 

Not applicable. 

2. 

CONSULTATION OF INTEREST PARTIES AND IMPACT ANALYSIS 

•  Consultation of interested parties 

The proposed measures, in particular those linked to the simplification, derive from 
the discussions in the framework of a specific working group involving stakeholders 
from  the  Member  States  launched  in  2008.  Furthermore,  the  European  Parliament 
and the European Court of Auditors have repeatedly expressed their wish to simplify 
the regulations governing the Funds. 

•  Procurement and use of expertise 

Use of external expertise has not been necessary. 

•  Impact analysis 

The  present  proposal  completes  a  series  of  regulatory  and  non-regulatory 
adjustments which all seek to stimulate the implementation of cohesion programmes 
on the ground.  

The  proposal  to  provide  Member  States  in  the  case  of  operational  programmes  co-
financed  by  the  ESF  an  option  to  reimburse  interim  payment  claims  at  100%  for  a 
limited period (up to the end of 2010), instead of applying the reimbursement rates 
established in the Operational Programmes will ensure that all certified expenditure 
of 2009 and 2010 can be paid back without creating a gap in national budgets, but in 
full  respect  of  national  co-funding  obligations  over  the  full  lifetime  of  the 
programmes.  Indeed,  the  100%  reimbursement  will  be  based  on  the  real 
implementation  on  the  ground  in  2009  and  2010.  The  temporary  increase  of  the 
reimbursement  will  not  alter  the  financial  framework  negotiated  at  the  Council  in 
December 2005.  

Further  simplification  and  clarification  of  rules  governing  cohesion  policy  will 
undeniably  have  a  positive  impact  on  the  pace  of  programme  implementation, 
particularly  by  providing  national,  regional  and  local  authorities  clearer  and  less 
bureaucratic rules that will allow more flexibility to adapt the programmes to the new 
challenges.  

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Summary of the proposed measures 

The proposed modifications can be divided into two groups:  

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(1)  Modification linked to the financial management rules with a view to further 
accelerate  the  implementation  of  ESF  co-financed  programmes  on  the 
ground. It concerns the following: 

•  The  proposed  modification  of  Article  77  concerning  the  calculation  of  interim 
payments for Operational Programmes co-financed by ESF seeks to facilitate and 
accelerate the implementation of anti crisis measures on the ground and to speed 
up  the  support  towards  the  citizens,  especially  those  who  need  it  most,  the 
unemployed or those at risk to become unemployed. It entails that up to the end of 
2010,  that  is,  in  the  period  where  because  of  the  downturn  national  resources 
could be particularly scarce, interim payment claims be reimbursed at 100% of the 
public  contribution  to  a  priority  axis,  if  a  Member  State  expresses  the  wish  to 
apply this option. The additional amount thus paid out to each programme will be 
taken  into  account  in  the  calculation  of  the  95%  threshold  and  at  closure  of  the 
programme.  In  this  way,  the  derogation  does  not  alter  the  national  co-funding 
obligations which apply to operational programmes over the programming period 
as  a  whole,  nor  does  it  change  the  financial  framework  for  the  funding  period. 
Given  the  necessity  to  find  a  balance  between  the  Community  budgetary 
constrains  and  the  importance  to  channel  the  Funds  towards  the  citizens  most 
affected by the crisis, it is proposed that this provision applies only to operational 
programmes co-financed by the ESF especially those including measures to fight 
the crisis. In fact the ESF is the main European tool for investing in citizens and 
for  fighting  the  effects  of  the  crisis  on  employment:  approximately  9  million 
people  benefit  directly  from  ESF  support  every  year.  This  support  is  nearly 
entirely  devoted  to  the  implementation  of  the  Lisbon  strategy  and  the  European 
Employment strategy 

(2)  Modifications linked to programme implementation with a view to facilitate, 
simplify  and  clarify  the  rules  governing  Cohesion  policy.  They  concern  the 
following provisions: 

•  The  proposed  modifications  to  Articles 39-41  are  twofold.  Because  of  the  Fund-
specific regulations, the ERDF and CF and, within the ERDF, the Convergence and 
Regional  Competitiveness  and  Employment  objectives 
include  different 
definitions  of  what  constitute  "environmental"  and  "other"  projects1.  By 
consequence, the double threshold of Article 39 leads to arbitrariness: depending 
on the Fund and the objective the same project is subject to different thresholds. 
Therefore  it  is  proposed  to  include  in  Article 39  a  uniform  threshold  of 
50 million € applicable to all major projects. Nevertheless, given the Community 
importance of the investments in environment as such, the Commission will ask 
Member  States  1)  to  ensure  an  appropriate  monitoring  of  all  the  investments, 
including those below the threshold provided in the Regulation and 2) to inform 
the  Commission  about  the  implementation  progress  in  the  annual  reports  on 
operational programmes.  

•  The second modification, in Article 39, 40 and Article 41(1) and (2), consists of 
creating the possibility that a single major project is co-financed by more than one 

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Articles 4-5 of Regulation n° 1080/2006 for the ERDF, and Article 2 of Regulation n° 1084/2006 for 
the CF. 

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programme.  This  is  of  particular  relevance  for  projects  of  nation-wide  scope  or 
Community importance, which straddle several regions, and which in the absence 
of this possibility would have to be artificially separated in multiple projects. 

•  The  proposed  modification  of  Article 44  reflects  the  emphasis  of  the  European 
Economic Recovery Plan on stimulating spending on energy efficiency and the use 
of  renewable  energy  in  the  European  Union.  It  creates  the  possibility  to  set-up 
dedicated financial engineering instruments in support of such actions, in addition to 
the already existing financial engineering instruments for other domains. 

•  The proposed amendment to Article 48 clarifies what type of document is required 
and what is the minimum information to be presented in the context of a revision of 
an operational programme, in order to avoid the necessity of an evaluation in case of 
circumstances of a nature which obviates the need of an evaluation. 

•  The  proposed  modifications  to  Article 55  on  revenue-generating  projects  intend  to 
simplify  the  monitoring  of  revenues  and  to  align  this  with  the  overall  life-cycle  of 
programmes. Therefore, the duration of the provisions on monitoring revenue is now 
limited to the date of submission of the closure documents of a programme. On the 
one hand, this avoids situations in which such revenues would have to be monitored 
for  years  after  the  closure  of  a  programme,  thereby  significantly  reducing  the 
administrative burden on authorities in the Member States and the Commission. On 
the other hand, it ensures that monies reimbursed to a programme because of higher 
than  anticipated  revenues,  are  not  definitively  lost  but  can  be  re-used  within  the 
programme. Furthermore in line with the principle of sound financial  management 
and  the  applicable  national  rules,  it  is  also  recalled  that  in  all  the  cases  revenues 
generated by operations are to be taken into account when calculating the public 
contribution. 

•  The proposed amendment to Article 56, paragraph 3 aims at clarifying that it is only 
where a new category of expenditure is added at the moment of the revision of an 
operational  programme  that  a  new  eligibility  date  applies  to  this  new  category  of 
expenditure,  whereas  new  expenditure  within  an  already  eligible  category  can  be 
added at any moment without an immediate programme modification. 

•  The  proposed  modification  of  Article 57  intends  to  clarify  the  scope  of  the 
application  of  this  article  on  the  durability  of  operations.  The  current  version  of 
article 57(1) only states at the end (clause (b)) that it applies to infrastructures and 
productive activities. This latter scope specification is now proposed for inclusion in 
the very first part of the paragraph. Secondly, for the ESF it is proposed to limit the 
provisions  to  operations  that  fall  under  the  state  aid  rules  with  an  obligation  to 
maintain  investment  or  jobs  created  for  the  time  period  foreseen  in  the  applicable 
state aid rule. Furthermore, it is suggested to exclude the application of this provision 
to cases of non-fraudulent bankruptcy. Thereby, operations for which the managing 
authority  or  beneficiary  cannot  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  able  to  guarantee  the 
durability of operations, are excluded from the scope of the article. 

•  Article  67  is  to  be  modified  to  clarify  and  simplify  the  information  required  for 
yearly  reporting  on  financial  implementation  of  an  operational  programme.  The 
proposal suggests aligning the financial information required in the annual report on 
implementation  of  an  operational  programme  with  information  to  be  provided  in 

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payment  requests,  and  to  make  the  financial  information  comparable  to  the 
information on the physical progress of the programme. This reduces the reporting 
burden  on  managing  authorities,  intermediary  bodies  and  final  beneficiaries,  and 
provides  the  Commission  with  overall  better  comparable  data  on  programme 
implementation. 

•  The proposed modification of article 78(2)(a) intends to clarify that in the context of 
advance payments on State aids admissible guarantees include guarantees by banks 
or other financial institutions, but also a facility provided for this purpose by public 
institutions  and  the  Member  States  themselves.  This  takes  better  into  account  the 
various guarantee instruments that are used and the different institutional set-ups in 
the Member States.  

•  The  proposed  modification  of  Article 78,  paragraphs  (6)  and  (7),  follows  directly 
from the above modification of Article 44 on the inclusion of financial engineering 
instruments  related  to  energy  efficiency  and  renewable  energy.  In  addition,  in 
paragraph  6(d)  the  modification  will  allow  treating  management  fees  as  eligible 
expenditure.  This  reflects  better  a  reality  on  the  ground  as  in  the  financial 
engineering  instruments  management  fees  are  normally  part  of  the  eligible 
expenditure of the contract.  

•  Article  88  concerns  the  partial  closure  of  programmes,  which  is  in  itself  an 
instrument with the potential of significantly reducing the administrative burden on 
Managing  authorities,  intermediate  bodies  and  final  beneficiaries  by  limiting  the 
period  for  document  retention.  However  Member  States  currently  have  little 
incentive  to  use  partial  closure:  for  the  time  being  any  financial  corrections 
concerning operations subject to partial closure shall be net corrections, meaning 
that the amount is lost for the programme. This is perfectly logical in the case a 
correction is triggered by an audit from Commission, OLAF or Court of auditors, 
given  that  operations  included  in  a  partial  closure  have  to  be  fully  legal  and 
regular. However in the case of irregularities detected by Member States it would 
be more consistent (as well as providing an incentive to use the system) to allow 
Member States to re-use the amounts they corrected on an operation included in a 
partial closure. The proposed amendment would allow Member States to re-use the 
amounts for irregularities they detected and corrected themselves on operations that 
were  included  in  partial  closure.  In  the  case  of  an  irregularity  detected  by  an  EU 
institution, the current situation would remain unchanged.  

•  The proposed modification of Article 94 intends to provide more flexibility for the 
calculation  of  the  decommitment  rule  in  case  of  major  projects.  Instead  of 
calculating  the  period  relevant  for  the  decommitment  from  the  date  of  the 
Commission  decision  on  such  a  major  project,  the  proposal  suggests  to  apply  the 
automatic decommitment rule for major projects from the date of the submission to 
the Commission of the major project application that fulfils all the requirements of 
the Regulation.  

•  Legal base 

Council  Regulation  (CE)  No  1083/2006  of  11  July  2006  laying  down  general 
provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund 

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and  the  Cohesion  Fund  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No  1260/1999  defines  the 
common  rules  applicable  to  the  three  Funds.  Based  on  the  principle  of  shared 
management  between  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States,  this  regulation 
includes provisions for a new programming process as well as new arrangements for 
programme  (including  financial)  management,  monitoring,  financial  control  and 
evaluation of projects. 

•  Subsidiarity principle 

The proposal complies within the subsidiarity principle to the extent that it seeks to 
provide support to the Member States to diminish the negative effects of the current 
crisis  through  changes  strengthening  their  role  within  the  framework  of  shared 
management of the Funds. 

•  Proportionality principle 

The proposal conforms to the proportionality principle for the following reasons: 

The proposed amendment to the financial management rules is targeted in nature as it 
aims  to  stimulate  the  contribution  of  the  ESF  to  measures  to  combat  the  crisis  and 
thus  underpin  the  European  economic  recovery  without  changing  the  principles 
governing  the  financial  management  of  cohesion  policy.  The  reimbursement  of 
interim payments at 100% should be limited in time under the presumption that the 
peak of the crisis will cease by the end of 2010. 

In  order  to  allow  Member  States  benefit  from  the  simplified  measures  during  the 
whole programming period  it  is necessary to apply certain provisions  retroactively. 
Given  that  the  modified  Regulation  No  1080/20062  provides  for  the  eligibility  of 
expenditure on energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in existing housing 
in all Member States, it is necessary to apply the amendments relating to Article 44 
and  78(6)  from  the  date  of  the  entry  into  force  of  that  Regulation.  Other  measures 
should  apply  from  the  day  following  the  day  of  publication  in  the  Official  Journal 
given their crucial role in helping Member States counterbalance the negative effects 
of the crisis.  

•  Choice of instruments 

Proposed instrument: regulation. 

Other instruments would not be appropriate for the following reasons: 

The  Commission  has  explored  the  scope  for  manoeuvre  provided  by  the  legal 
framework to accelerate projects for the benefit of the Member State economies and 
the citizens together with the possibilities to decrease an administrative burden to the 
beneficiaries. Alongside the recent amendments to the General Regulation and Fund-

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REGULATION (EC) No 397/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
of 6 May 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on the European Regional Development Fund 
as regards the eligibility of energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in housing, OJ L 126/3 
of 21.5.2009. 

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specific Regulations and together with the non-regulatory modifications presented in 
the  Communications  of  26  November  2008  and  3  June  2009,  the  Commission 
considers  necessary,  in  the  light  of  the  experience  up  to  now,  to  propose  further 
modifications to the General Regulation. The objective of these revisions is to further 
facilitate  the  mobilisation  of  Community  resources  for  the  start-up  of  projects 
thereby  accelerating  both  their  implementation  and  the  impact  of  such  investments 
on the real economy. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPACT  

There is no impact on commitment appropriations since no modification is proposed 
to  the  maximum  amounts  of  ESF  financing  provided  for  in  the  Operational 
Programmes for the programming period 2007-2013. 

Where  Member  States  decide  to  make  use  of  the  option  to  request  100% 
reimbursements  during  2009  and  2010  there  will  be  an  impact  on  payment 
appropriations. 

the  Member  States'  payment  forecasts  and 

The  analysis  of 
the  payment 
appropriations available in the budget for 2009 and the Draft Budget for 2010 show 
that  the  maximum  additional  payment  appropriations  to  be  paid  under  the  100% 
reimbursement  option  in  2009  and  2010  for  the  ESF  programmes  would  represent 
approximately  EUR  6.6  billion.  This  will  be  compensated  by  a  reduced  need  for 
payment appropriations later in the programming period. 

The Commission will set up a monitoring tool to supervise closely the consumption 
of  the  additional  credits  for  the  European  Social  Fund.  For  the  payment  claims 
submitted  as  of  1  January  2011,  the  regular  co-financing  rate  agreed  in  the 
programme decision will apply.  

The Commission believes that the proposed measures to simplify the implementation 
may  significantly  increase  the  pace  of  expenditure  on  the  ground  and  consequently 
accelerate the submission of interim payments to the Commission. 

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2009/0107 (AVC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

of 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 concerning general provisions on the 
European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion 
Fund as regards simplification of certain requirements and as regards certain provisions 
relating to financial management 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
161 thereof,  

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,  

Having regard to the assent of the European Parliament,  

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,  

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,  

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

The  current  financial  and  economic  crisis  has  created  major  challenges  for  the 
Community.  Whilst  important  actions  to  counterbalance  the  negative  effects  of  the 
crisis have already been taken, including amendments of the legislative framework, the 
actual impact of the financial crisis on the real economy, on the labour market and the 
citizens is only now widely felt. The pressure on national financial resources increases 
and  necessitates  taking  further  steps  to  alleviate  this  pressure  through  the  maximum 
and optimal use of the Community funding. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  management  of  Community  funding,  to  help  accelerate  the 
investments  in  the  Member  States  and  regions  and  to  increase  the  impact  of  the 
funding  on  the  economy  it  is  necessary  to  further  simplify  the  rules  governing 
cohesion policy. 

Given  the  differences  between  the  Funds  and  the  objectives  with  regard  to  the 
definition  of  environment,  it  is  appropriate,  for  the  reasons  of  coherence  and 
consistency, to apply only one threshold for the purpose of definition of major project. 
Given the importance of the investments in the environment, including those under the 
threshold  provided  in  this  Regulation,  the  Member  States  should  ensure  appropriate 
monitoring  of  all  the  these  investments  and  inform  the  Commission  in  the  annual 
implementation reports on operational programmes.  

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

It is also necessary to allow a possibility for a major project to cover more than one 
operational  programme  in  order  to  enable  implementation  of  such  a  major  project 
covering  different  regions  and  objectives.  This  is  of  particular  relevance  in  case  of 
investments with a nation-wide or Community importance.  

It is necessary to make available financial engineering instruments in the measures for 
energy  efficiency  and  renewable  energy  taking  into  account  the  importance  of  those 
measures in the Community and national priorities.  

In  order  to  facilitate  the  adaptation  of  operational  programmes  to  respond  to  the 
current  financial  and  economic  crisis,  the  Member  States  should  provide  an  analysis 
justifying the revision of an operational programme instead of an evaluation. 

In  line  with  the  principle  of  sound  financial  management  and  the  applicable  national 
rules, revenues generated by operations are to be taken into account when calculating 
the public contribution. It is necessary to simplify the monitoring of revenues in order to 
align it with the overall programming cycle.  

For  the  reason  of  legal  certainty  it  is  necessary  to  clarify  that  expenditure  becomes 
eligible from the date of the submission to the Commission of a request for revision of 
an  operational  programme  only  where  it  falls  under  a  new  category  of  expenditure 
added at the moment of the revision of that operational programme.  

The  scope  of  the  provision  on  the  durability  of  operation  should  be  clarified.  It  is 
appropriate, in particular, to limit the provisions to those operations co-financed by the 
ESF that fall under the state aid rules with an obligation to maintain investment or jobs 
created.  Furthermore,  it  is  necessary  to  exclude  the  application  of  that  provision  to 
those operations where, after their completion, they undergo a substantial modification 
through a cessation of productive activity due to a non fraudulent bankruptcy.  

(10) 

It is necessary to clarify and simplify the information required for yearly reporting on 
financial implementation of an operational programme. Therefore it is appropriate to 
align the financial information required in the annual report on implementation of an 
operational programme with information provided in the statement of expenditure and 
to clarify the definition of financial indicators. 

(11)  As  outlined  in  the  Communication  of  the  Commission  of  June  3  June  2009  on  "A 
Shared  Commitment  for  Employment",  in  order  to  counteract  cash  flow  problems 
occurring in Member States as a result of financial constraints  during the peak of the 
crisis  and  in  order  to  speed  up  the  implementation  of  active  labour  market  measures 
aiming at supporting citizens and more specifically the unemployed or those at risk of 
unemployment,  it  is  necessary  to  modify  for  a  limited  period  of  time  the  provisions 
concerning  the  calculation  of  interim  payments.  For  this  reason  it  is  appropriate, 
without  altering  the  national  co-funding  obligations  which  apply  to  operational 
programmes  over  the  whole  programming  period,  for  the  Commission  to  reimburse, 
where  Member  States  so  request,  interim  payment  claims  at  100%  of  the  public 
contribution to each priority axis in operational programmes co-financed by the ESF.  

(12) 

In order to simplify the payment of advances to beneficiaries of State aid and to limit 
the  financial  risks  associated  with  such  a  payment,  the  scope  of  the  admissible 
guarantees should be redefined.  

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
(13)  The  requirements  for  statements  of  expenditure  concerning  financial  engineering 
instruments should be simplified. In particular, management fees, besides management 
costs, should be considered as eligible expenditure.  

(14)  For  reasons  of  consistency,  it  is  appropriate  that  Member  States  re-use  the  amounts 
corrected on an operation included in a partial closure in case of irregularities detected 
by the Member States themselves.  

(15)  On the basis of experience it is appropriate to apply the reduction of amounts subject 
to  the  automatic  decommitment  rule  by  the  amounts  concerned  for  a  major  project 
from the date of the submission to the  Commission of the  application  for that major 
project that fulfils all the requirements of the Regulation. 

(16) 

In order to allow Member States to benefit from the simplification measures during the 
whole programming period and to ensure equal treatment, it is necessary to apply the 
amendments  relating  to  Article  48(3),  56(2)  and  (3),  57,  78(2)  and  78(6)(d) 
retroactively.  

(17)  Regulation  (EC)  No  1080/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  5 
July  2006  on  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  and  repealing  Regulation 
(EC)  No  1783/19993  was  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  397/20094  which 
introduced  the  eligibility  rules  for  expenditure  on  energy  efficiency  and  the  use  of 
renewable energy in existing housing in all Member States. Therefore it is appropriate 
to apply the amendments related to energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy 
from the date of the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 397/2009. 

(18)  Once  an  application  for  a  major  project  that  fulfils  all  the  requirements  of  the 
Regulation  has  been  submitted,  the  amounts  covered  by  the  application  should  be 
protected  from  automatic  decommitment.  This  protection  should  apply  to  all  major 
project  applications  submitted  from  the  beginning  of  the  programming  period  and 
should apply retroactively, especially in view of the current financial crisis. 

(19)  As  the  unprecedented  crisis  affecting  international  financial  markets  necessitates  a 
rapid response in order to counter effects on the economy as whole, other amendments 
should enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of 
the European Union.  

(20)  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1083/2006  of  11  July  2006  laying  down  general 
provisions  on  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund,  the  European  Social  Fund 
and  the  Cohesion  Fund  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No  1260/19995  should 
therefore be amended accordingly.  

3 
4 
5 

OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 126, 21.5.2009, p. 3. 
OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p.25. 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
                                                 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

(1) 

Article 39 is replaced by the following: 

"Article 39 

Content 

As part of an operational programme or operational programmes, the ERDF and the 
Cohesion  Fund  may  finance  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 (hereinafter "major projects")." 

(2) 

Article 40 is amended as follows: 

(a) the introductory phrase is replaced by the following: 

"The Member State or the managing authorities shall provide the Commission with 
the following information on major projects:" 

(b) point (d) is replaced by the following: 

"(d) a timetable for implementing the major project and, where the implementation 
period is expected to be  longer  than  the  programming period, the phases for  which 
Community co-financing is requested during the 2007 to 2013 programming period;" 

(3) 

Article 41(1) and (2) is replaced by the following:  

"1. The Commission shall appraise the major project, if necessary consulting outside 
experts,  including  the  EIB,  in  the  light  of  the  factors  referred  to  in  Article  40,  its 
consistency  with  the  priorities  of  the  operational  programme  or  programmes 
concerned,  its  contribution  to  achieving  the  goals  of  those  priorities  and  its 
consistency with other Community policies. 

2. The Commission shall adopt a decision as soon as possible but no later than three 
months  after  the  submission  by  the  Member  State  or  the  managing  authority  of  a 
major  project,  provided  that  the  submission  is  in  accordance  with  Article  40.  That 
decision shall define the physical object, the amount to which the co-financing rate 
for the priority axis of the operational programme or programmes concerned applies, 
and  the  annual  plan  or  plans  of  financial  contribution  from  the  ERDF  or  the 
Cohesion Fund." 

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
(4) 

Article 44 is amended as follows: 

(a) the first paragraph is replaced by the following:  

"As part of an operational programme, the Structural Funds may finance expenditure 
in respect of an operation comprising contributions to support: 

financial engineering instruments for enterprises, primarily small and medium 

a) 
sized ones, such as venture capital funds, guarantee funds and loan funds; 

b) 
urban development funds, that is, funds investing in public private partnerships 
and other projects included in an integrated plan for sustainable urban development; 
and  

c) 
funds  or  other  incentive  schemes  providing  loans,  guarantees  for  repayable 
investments,  or  equivalent  instruments  for  energy  efficiency  and  use  of  renewable 
energy in buildings, including existing housing. " 

(b) in the second paragraph, the introductory sentence is replaced by the following:  

"When such operations are organised through holding funds, that is, funds set up to 
invest  in  several  venture  capital  funds,  guarantee  funds,  loan  funds,  urban 
development funds, funds or other incentive schemes providing loans, guarantees for 
repayable  investments,  or  equivalent  instruments  for  energy  efficiency  and  use  of 
renewable energy in buildings, including existing housing, the Member State or the 
managing  authority  shall  implement  them  through  one  or  more  of  the  following 
forms:" 

(5) 

Article 48(3) is replaced by the following: 

"3. During the programming period, Member States shall carry out evaluations linked 
to  the  monitoring  of  operational  programmes  in  particular  where  that  monitoring 
reveals a significant departure from the goals initially set. Where proposals are made 
for the revision of operational programmes, as referred to in Article 33, analysis shall 
be  provided  on  the  reasons  for  the  revision,  including  any  implementation 
difficulties, and the expected impact of the revision, including that on the strategy of 
the operational programme. The results of evaluations or analyses shall be sent to the 
monitoring committee for the operational programme and to the Commission. " 

(6) 

Article 55(3) and (4) is replaced by the following: 

"3.  Where  it  is  objectively  not  possible  to estimate  the  revenue  in  advance,  the  net 
revenue  generated  within  five  years  of  the  completion  of  an  operation  shall  be 
deducted from the expenditure declared to the Commission.  

4.  Where  it  is  established  that  an  operation  has  generated  net  revenue  that  has  not 
been taken into account under paragraphs 2 and 3, such net revenue shall be deducted 
by  the  certifying  authority  at  the  latest  at  the  time  of  submission  of  the  documents 
under point (a) of Article 89(1) for the operational programme. The application for 
payment of the final balance shall be corrected accordingly." 

EN 

15 

   EN 

 
(7) 

In Article 56 (3), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: 

"Where  a  category  of  expenditure  is  added  at  the  moment  of  the  revision  of  an 
operational programme referred to in Article 33, any expenditure falling under such 
category shall be eligible from the date of the submission to the Commission of the 
request for revision of the operational programme." 

(8) 

Article 57 is amended as follows:  

(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:  

"1.  The  Member  State  or  managing  authority  shall  ensure  that  an  operation 
comprising  investment  in  infrastructure  or  productive  investment  retains  the 
contribution from the Funds only if it does not, within five years from its completion, 
undergo  a  substantial  modification  which  is  caused  by  a  change  in  the  nature  of 
ownership  of  an  item  of  infrastructure  or  the  cessation  of  a  productive activity and 
which affects the nature or the implementation conditions of the operation or gives to 
a firm or a public body an undue advantage. 

Operations  receiving  contribution  from  the  ESF  shall  be  considered  as  not  having 
retained  the  contribution  only  where  they  are  subject  to  an  obligation  for 
maintenance of investment under the rules on state aid within the meaning of Article 
87  of  the  Treaty  and  where  they  undergo  a  substantial  modification  caused  by  the 
cessation of productive activity within the period laid down in those rules. 

Member States may reduce the time limits set out in the first subparagraph to three 
years in case of the maintenance of an investment or jobs created by SMEs." 

(b) the following paragraph 5 is added:  

"5. Paragraph 1 to 4 shall not apply to any operation which undergoes a substantial 
modification  as  a  result  of  the  cessation  of  the  productive  activity  due  to  a  non 
fraudulent bankruptcy." 

(9) 

In Article 67(2), point (b) is replaced by the following:  

"(b) quantification of the financial indicators referred to in Article 66(2) expressing 
the cumulative financial implementation of the operational programme, detailing for 
each priority axis the following: 

(i)  the  total  amount  of  certified  eligible  expenditure  paid  by  beneficiaries  and  the 
corresponding public contribution; 

(ii)  the  rate  of  the  total  amount  of  certified  eligible  expenditure  paid  by  the 
beneficiaries and the total funding of the programme including Community funding 
and national counterpart;  

Where  appropriate,  financial  implementation  in  areas  receiving  transitional  support 
shall be presented separately within each operational programme;" 

EN 

16 

   EN 

 
(10) 

Article 77 is replaced by the following: 

"Article 77 

Common rules for calculating interim payments and 
payments of the final balance 

1.  Interim  payments  and  payments  of  the  final  balance  shall  be  calculated  by 
applying  the  co-financing  rate  laid  down  in  the  decision  on  the  operational 
programme  concerned  for  each  priority  axis  to  the  eligible  expenditure  mentioned 
under  that  priority  axis  in  each  statement  of  expenditure  certified  by  the  certifying 
authority. 

However the Community contribution through the interim payments and payments of 
the final balance shall not be higher than the public contribution and the maximum 
amount  of  assistance  from  the  Funds  for  each  priority  axis  as  laid  down  in  the 
decision of the Commission approving the operational programme. 

2.  By  way  of  derogation  from  the  first  subparagraph  of paragraph 1,  in the case of 
operational  programmes  co-financed  by  the  ESF,  interim  payments  by  the 
Commission  for  statements  of  expenditure  sent  by  the  Member  States  by  31 
December  2010  may,  if  a  Member  State  so  requests  in  order  to  facilitate 
implementation  of  anti-crisis  measures,  be  made  by  paying  100%  of  the  public 
contribution  for  each  priority  axis  as  mentioned  under  that  priority  axis  in  the 
statement  of  expenditure  certified  by  the  certifying  authority.  Where  the  Member 
State  chooses  this  option,  the  Commission  shall  apply  this  system  to  all  interim 
payments requests sent by 31 December 2010 for the given operational programme.  

The difference between the total amount paid under the first sub-paragraph and the 
amount calculated under the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall not be taken into 
account  to  calculate  interim  payments  for  statements  of  expenditure  sent  after  31 
December 2010. However, this difference shall be taken into account for the purpose 
of  the  provision  under  Article  79(1)  and  for  the  calculation  of  the  payment  of  the 
final balance." 

(11) 

Article 78 is amended as follows:  

(a) paragraph 2, is amended as follows: 

(i) point (a) is replaced by the following: 

"(a)  they  shall  be  subject  to  a  guarantee  provided  by  a  bank  or  other  financial 
institution established in one of the Member States;" 

(ii) the following subparagraph is added:  

"Facility  provided  as  a  guarantee  by  a  public  entity  or  by  the  Member  State  itself 
shall be considered equivalent to a guarantee referred to in the first subparagraph of 
point (a)." 

(b) paragraph 6 is amended as follows: 

EN 

17 

   EN 

 
(i) point (d) is replaced by the following: 

"(d) eligible management costs or fees; and" 

(ii) the following point (e) is added: 

"(e) any loans or guarantees for repayable investments from funds or other incentive 
schemes  providing  loans,  guarantees  for  repayable  investments,  or  equivalent 
instruments  for  energy  efficiency  and  use  of  renewable  energy  in  buildings, 
including existing housing." 

(c) paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:  

"7. Interest generated by payments from operational programmes to funds as defined 
in  Article  44,  shall  be  used  to  finance  urban  development  projects  in  the  case  of 
urban development funds, financial engineering instruments for small and medium-
sized enterprises or for energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in buildings, 
including existing housing, in the case of funds or other incentive schemes providing 
loans, guarantees for repayable investments, or equivalent instruments. 

Resources returned to the operation from investments undertaken by funds as defined 
in Article 44 or left over after all guarantees have been honoured shall be reused by 
the  competent  authorities  of  the  Member  States  concerned  for  the  benefit  of  urban 
development projects, of small and medium-sized enterprises or for energy efficiency 
and use of renewable energy in buildings, including existing housing." 

(12) 

In Article 88 (3), the following subparagraph is added:  

"However, in cases where the irregularities in operations which have been subject to 
a  declaration  of  partial  closure  are  detected  by  controls  carried  out  by  the  Member 
State, Article 98(2) and (3) shall apply. The statement of expenditure referred to in 
point (a) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall be adjusted accordingly." 

(13) 

Article 94 (1) is amended as follows: 

"When  the  Member  State  submits  a  major  project  application  which  meets  all  the 
requirements  laid  down  in  Article  40,  the  amounts  potentially  concerned  by 
automatic decommitment shall be reduced by the annual amounts concerned by such 
major projects.  

When  the  Commission  takes  a  decision  to  authorise  an  aid  scheme,  the  amounts 
potentially  concerned  by  automatic  decommitment  shall  be  reduced  by  the  annual 
amounts concerned by such aid scheme." 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  its  publication  in  the  Official 
Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

EN 

18 

   EN 

 
However, points (5) and (7) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 August 2006, points (8), (11)(a), 
(11)(b)(i) and (13) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 January 2007 and points (4), (11)(b)(ii) and 
(11)(c) of Article 1 shall apply with effect from 10 June 2009. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

19 

   EN 

 
 
 
LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL : 

Proposal  COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EC)  No  …/2009  amending  Regulation 
(EC)  No  1083/2006  concerning  general  provisions  on  the  European  Regional 
Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund as regards 
simplification of certain requirements and as regards certain provisions relating 
to financial management 

2. 

ABM / ABB FRAMEWORK 

Policy Area(s) concerned and associated Activity/Activities: 

Regional Policy; ABB activity 13.03  

Employment and social Affairs; ABB activity 04.02 

3. 

BUDGET LINES 

3.1. 

Budget  lines  (operational  lines  and  related  technical  and  administrative 
assistance lines (ex- B.A lines)): 

The proposed new action will be implemented on the following budget lines in 2009, and 
2010:  

•  04.0217 Convergence (ESF) 

•  04.0219 Regional competitiveness & employment (ESF) 

3.2. 

Duration of the action and of the financial impact: 

In  order  to  stimulate  the  implementation  of  cohesion  programmes,  it  is  proposed  to 
undertake  further  simplifications  of  procedures  allowing  the  highest  possible  use  of 
Community funding while respecting the principle of sound financial management.  

Out  of  the  series  of  proposed  measures,  reimbursement  of  interim  payments  claims  at 
100%  for  a  limited  period  (up  to  the  end  of  2010)  for  the  ESF  programmes,  instead  of 
applying  the  (lower)  reimbursement  rates  established  in  the  Operational  Programmes, 
will have direct implication on the budgetary resources. 

This  measure  would  have  financial  consequences  for  2009  and  2010  budgets  as  it 
requires an injection of additional payment appropriations. The increase of cash flow by 
raising the reimbursement rates would help to frontload expenditure on projects aiming to 

EN 

20 

   EN 

 
fight  the  crisis  and  to  support  the  citizens  most  affected  by  the  crisis  across  the  entire 
European Union.  

The analysis of the payment appropriations available in the budget for 2009 and the Draft 
Budget  for  2010  show  that  the  additional  payment  credits  to  be  paid  under  the  100% 
reimbursement  option  in  2009  and  2010  for  the  ESF  programmes  would  represent 
approximately EUR 6.6 billion overall. 

3.3. 

Budgetary characteristics: 

Budget 
line 

04.0217 

04.0219 

Type of expenditure 

New 

EFTA 
contribution 

Contributions 
from applicant 
countries 

Heading in 
financial 
perspective 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Diff 

NO 

NO 

Diff 

NO 

NO 

NO 

NO 

No 1b 

No 1b 

4. 

SUMMARY OF RESOURCES 

4.1. 

Financial Resources 

4.1.1. 

Summary of commitment appropriations (CA) and payment appropriations (PA)  

The  following  tables  show  the  estimated  impact  of  the  proposed  measures  in  2009  and 
2010.  

EN 

21 

   EN 

 
Secti
on 
no. 

Expenditure type 

Operational expenditure6  

Commitment 
Appropriations (CA) 

8.1 

Payment  Appropriations 
(PA) 

a 

b 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Year 
n 

n + 1 

n + 2 

n + 3 

n + 4 

n + 5 
and 
later 

Total 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

2,500  4,100 

n.a 

 n.a. 

n.a. 

-6,600

0,000 

Administrative expenditure within reference amount7 

Technical 
& 
administrative  assistance 
(NDA) 

8.2.4 

c 

TTOOTTAALL  RREEFFEERREENNCCEE  AAMMOOUUNNTT  

Commitment 
Appropriations 

Payment 
Appropriations 

a+c 

b+c 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

2,500  4,100 

n.a 

n.a. 

n.a. 

-6,600

0,000

Administrative expenditure not included in reference amount8 

Human 
associated 
(NDA) 

resources 

and 
expenditure 

Administrative  costs,  other 
than  human  resources  and 
not 
associated 
included in reference amount 
(NDA) 

costs, 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

8.2.5 

d 

8.2.6 

e 

Total indicative financial cost of intervention  

TOTAL  CA 
cost 
Resources 

of 

TOTAL  PA 
cost 
Resources 

of 

including 
Human 

including 
Human 

a+c
+d
+e 

b+c
+d
+e 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

n.a 

n.a. 

n.a 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a

6 
7 
8 

Expenditure that does not fall under Chapter xx 01 of the Title xx concerned 
Expenditure within article xx 01 04 of Title xx. 
Expenditure within chapter xx 01 other than articles xx 01 04 or xx 01 05. 

EN 

22 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Co-financing details 

Co-financing body 

…………………… 

TOTAL CA including co-
financing 

f 

a+c
+d+
e+f 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

n + 1 

n + 2 

n + 3 

n + 4 

Year 
n 

n  +  5 
and 
later 

Total 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

n.a.

4.1.2.  Compatibility with Financial Programming 

⌧  Proposal is compatible with existing financial programming. 

Proposal will entail reprogramming of the relevant heading in the financial 

(cid:133) 
perspective. 

Proposal may require application of the provisions of the Interinstitutional 

(cid:133) 
Agreement9 (i.e. flexibility instrument or revision of the financial perspective). 

4.1.3.  Financial impact on Revenue 

⌧  Proposal has no financial implications on revenue 

(cid:133) 

Proposal has financial impact – the effect on revenue is as follows: 

NB:  All  details  and  observations  relating  to  the  method  of  calculating  the 
effect on revenue should be shown in a separate annex. 

9 

See points 19 and 24 of the Interinstitutional agreement. 

EN 

23 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Budget line 

Revenue 

EUR million (to one decimal place) 

Situation following action 

[Yea
r n] 

[n+1] [n+2] [n+3

] 

[n+4]  [n+5]

10

Prior to
action 
[Year 
n-1] 

a) Revenue in absolute terms 

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

b) Change in revenue 

 ∆ 

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a.

(Please  specify  each  revenue  budget  line  involved,  adding  the  appropriate 
number of rows to the table if there is an effect on more than one budget line.) 

4.2. 

Human Resources FTE (including officials, temporary and external staff) – 
see detail under point 8.2.1. 

Annual requirements 

Year n 

n + 1 

n + 2 

n + 3 

n + 4 

n + 5 
and 
later 

Total  number  of  human 
resources 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

5. 

CHARACTERISTICS AND OBJECTIVES 

5.1. 

Need to be met in the short or long term 

Given that it is linked to real expenditure incurred by beneficiaries, the temporary 100% 
reimbursement  rate  for  ESF  Operational  Programmes  would  increase  the  cash  flow  to 
national, regional and local authorities and to beneficiaries, while stimulating measures to 
fight  the  crisis  and  to  support  the  citizens  most  affected  by  the  crisis.  The  difference 
between  the  total  amount  paid  under  the  100%  co-financing  rule  and  the  amount 
calculated by applying the co-financing rate laid down in the decision on the operational 
programme  will  not  be  taken  into  account  when  the  Commission  will  revert  to  the 
calculation  based  on  the  co-financing  rate  established  for  the  programme  in  2011. 
However, this difference shall be taken into account for the calculation of the payment of 
final  balance  and  for  the  provisions  under  Article  79  (1)  of  the  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1083/2006.  

10 

Additional columns should be added if necessary i.e. if the duration of the action exceeds 6 years 

EN 

24 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
5.2. 

Value-added  of  Community  involvement  and  coherence  of  the  proposal 
with other financial instruments and possible synergy 

By introducing more flexibility and increasing cash availabilities, the implementation of 
the  operational  programmes  will  be  better  placed  to  resist  the  negative  impacts  of  the 
current economic downturn and to build a rhythm of implementation allowing achieving 
the objective of boosting growth and employment.  

The  proposal  to  increase  reimbursement  rates  in  2009  and  2010  will  contribute  to  the 
objectives  of  the  European  Economic  Recovery  Package  to  stimulate  the  economic 
growth in the EU regions by supporting creation of jobs and skills for the future.  

5.3. 

Objectives,  expected  results  and  related  indicators  of  the  proposal  in  the 
context of the ABM framework 

Further simplification of rules governing cohesion policy will have positive effects on the 
implementation  of  programmes  on  the  ground.  More  flexibility  provides  an  adequate 
reply to the current needs of the Member States for a larger margin of manoeuvre.  

5.4.  Method of Implementation (indicative) 

Show below the method(s) chosen for the implementation of the action. 

ٱ Centralised Management 

ٱ 

ٱ 

ٱ 

Directly by the Commission 

Indirectly by delegation to: 

Executive Agencies 

Bodies  set  up  by  the  Communities  as  referred  to  in  art.  185  of  the  Financial 

ٱ 
Regulation 

ٱ 

National public-sector bodies/bodies with public-service mission 

ٱ Shared or decentralised management 

ٱ 

ٱ 

With Member states 

With Third countries 

ٱ Joint management with international organisations (please specify) 

EN 

25 

   EN 

 
6. 

MONITORING AND EVALUATION 

6.1.  Monitoring system 

The  Commission  will  set  up  a monitoring  tool  to  supervise  closely  the  consumption  of 
the additional credits for the European Social fund. For the payment claims submitted as 
of 1 January 2011, the regular co-financing rate agreed in the programme decision will 
apply.  

6.2. 

Evaluation 

6.2.1.  Ex-ante evaluation 

Given the emergency situation requiring a very quick reaction, no ex-ante evaluation has 
been undertaken.  

6.2.2.  Measures  taken  following  an  intermediate/ex-post  evaluation  (lessons  learned 

from similar experiences in the past) 

N/A 

6.2.3.  Terms and frequency of future evaluation 

N/A 

7. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES  

N.A. 

EN 

26 

   EN 

 
8. 

DETAILS OF RESOURCES 

8.1. 

Objectives of the proposal in terms of their financial cost 

(Headings 
of  Objectives, 
actions  and  outputs  should  be 
provided) 

Type of 
output 

Av. 
cost 

Year n 

Year n+1 

Year n+2 

Year n+3 

Year n+4 

Year n+5 and 
later 

TOTAL 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

OPERATIONAL  OBJECTIVE 
No.1 Sustain the implementation 
of the operational programmes 

Action  1  –  100%  co-financing 
rate 

TOTAL COST 

0,000 

0,000 

0,000 

0,000 

0,000 

0,000 

EN 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.2. 

Administrative Expenditure 

8.2.1.  Number and type of human resources 

Types of 
post 

Staff to be assigned to management of the action using existing and/or additional 
resources (number of posts/FTEs) 

Year n 

Year n+1 

Year n+2 

Year n+3 

Year n+4 

Year n+5 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Officials 
or 
temporary 
staff (XX 
01 01) 

A*/AD 

B*, 
C*/AST 

Staff financed by art. 
XX 01 02 

Other  staff  financed 
by art. XX 01 04/05 

TOTAL 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

8.2.2.  Description of tasks deriving from the action 

N/A 

8.2.3. 

Sources of human resources (statutory) 

(When  more  than  one  source  is  stated,  please  indicate  the  number  of  posts  originating 
from each of the sources) 

Posts  currently  allocated  to  the  management  of  the  programme  to  be 

(cid:133) 
replaced or extended 

(cid:133) 

(cid:133) 

Posts pre-allocated within the APS/PDB exercise for year n 

Posts to be requested in the next APS/PDB procedure 

Posts  to  be  redeployed  using  existing  resources  within  the  managing 

(cid:133) 
service (internal redeployment) 

Posts required for year n although not foreseen in the APS/PDB exercise 

(cid:133) 
of the year in question 

EN 

28 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
8.2.4.  Other Administrative expenditure included in reference amount (XX 01 04/05 – 

Expenditure on administrative management) 

Budget line 

(number and heading) 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Year 
n 

Year 
n+1 

Year 
n+2 

Year 
n+3 

Year 
n+4 

Year 
n+5  

and 
later 

TOTAL 

Technical 

1 
and 
assistance (including related staff costs) 

administrative 

Executive agencies 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Other 

technical 

and 

administrative 

assistance 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

- intra muros  

- extra muros 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Total  Technical  and  administrative 
assistance 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

8.2.5.  Financial  cost  of  human  resources  and  associated  costs  not  included  in  the 

reference amount 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Type of human resources 

Year n 

Year n+1  Year n+2  Year n+3  Year n+4 

Year n+5 

and later 

Officials  and  temporary  staff 
(XX 01 01) 

Staff financed by Art XX 01 02 
(auxiliary,  END,  contract  staff, 
etc.) 

(specify budget line) 

Total cost of Human 
Resources and associated 
costs (NOT in reference 
amount) 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

EN 

29 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Calculation– Officials and Temporary agents 

Reference should be made to Point 8.2.1, if applicable 

n.a. 

Calculation– Staff financed under art. XX 01 02 

Reference should be made to Point 8.2.1, if applicable 

n.a. 

8.2.6.  Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amount 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Year 
n+1 

Year 
n+2 

Year 
n+3 

Year 
n+4 

Year 
n 

Year 
n+5 

and 
later 

TOTAL 

XX 01 02 11 01 – Missions 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

XX 01 02 11 02 – Meetings & Conferences 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

XX 01 02 11 03 – Committees  

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

XX 01 02 11 04 – Studies & consultations 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

XX 01 02 11 05 - Information systems 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

 2 

Total 

Other  Management 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Expenditure (XX 01 02 11) 

3 

Other 

expenditure 

administrative 
including reference to budget line) 

nature 

of 

an 
(specify 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Total Administrative expenditure, other 
than human resources and associated 
costs (NOT included in reference 
amount) 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Calculation - Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amount 

n.a. 

EN 

30 

   EN