4.11.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 421/23
In the case of cumulative funding, are the national funding body or the beneficiaries still required to contribute a part of the funding?
That depends on the funding rates set at project level for both funding sources.
In the case of the ERDF, State aid rules apply and determine the maximum permissible funding rate at operational level.
In order to verify compliance with the maximum permissible funding rate, all public funding at project level must be taken into account, including support received from, for example, the ERDF and HE and in any form whatsoever.
4.
European Partnerships
The use of the ERDF as a national contribution to Co-funded and Institutionalised European Partnerships ‘European Partnership’ means an initiative in which the EU and private and/or public partners (such as industry, public bodies or foundations) commit to jointly supporting the development and implementation of a programme of R&I activities.
A Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda – that all partners share and commit to – underpins every European Partnership.
This long-term vision is translated into concrete activities through annual work programmes.
European Partnerships must state their concrete objectives and targets, together with a set of corresponding key performance indicators.
In accordance with Article 73(4) CPR, MAs may decide to directly provide support from the ERDF to operations selected under a programme co-funded by HE (such as a Co-funded or Institutionalised European Partnership).
Article 15(3) of the HE Regulation states that financial contributions from ERDF programmes (15) may be considered a contribution from the participating Member State to a Co-funded or Institutionalised European Partnership, provided this complies with the CPR rules.
Bodies implementing programmes co-funded by HE must be identified as intermediate bodies of the relevant ERDF programme (Article 71(5) CPR).
This makes it easier to coordinate and synchronise HE, the relevant ERDF programme and national support.
ERDF programmes may cover (part of) the national contribution for participation in such European Partnerships.
A decision to contribute to a partnership must result from a selection process that has complied with cohesion policy rules.
Furthermore and similarly to the Seal of Excellence, MAs may provide such a contribution directly (without the need for a competitive call and a separate selection procedure) to operations that have been selected under a programme co-funded by HE in line with Article 73(4) CPR.
However, as is also the case for the Seal of Excellence, MAs should still conduct a simplified assessment, checking that these projects comply with points (a), (b) and (g) of Article 73(2) CPR.
Such operations have to (i) be consistent with the programme, including with the relevant strategies underlying the programme, and provide an effective contribution to the achievement of the specific objectives of the programme, (ii) fall within the scope of an enabling condition and be consistent with the corresponding strategies and planning documents established for the fulfilment of that enabling condition, and (iii) fall within the scope of the relevant fund and be attributed to a type of intervention.
MAs may similarly apply the categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs established under HE to these operations.
Compliance with State aid rules can be ensured by respecting compatibility conditions of Article 25c GBER which offers possibilities to apply Horizon Europe eligible costs and funding rates to the research and development projects selected under a programme co-funded by Horizon fulfilling conditions set out in this Article.
ERDF programme contributions to European Partnerships must comply with the rules on the prohibition of the doubledeclaration of expenditure laid down in Article 63(9) CPR.
The same costs must not be declared twice to the Commission.
Two types of European Partnerships are relevant to the implementation of Article 15(3) of the HE Regulation.
(15) This guidance document focuses on the synergies between HE and ERDF programmes, but a similar logic applies to the other programmes listed in Article 15(3).