4.11.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 421/31
Important to know
How much of the national contributions can the ERDF programme cover?
The contribution from an ERDF programme can cover the national contributions in line with the rules on co-financing and with the maximum amount of support from the funds for each priority set in Article 112 CPR and Article 190 FR, provided that the requirements of Article 63(9) of the CPR are met.
Article 25c of the GBER provides State aid compatibility conditions to apply HE-eligible costs and funding rates to research and development projects supported through a European Partnership.
Can an ERDF programme cover all of the national contributions to the project – given that we programme national co-financing according to priority rather than project? Yes.
The contribution comes from the relevant programme, which is itself subject to co-financing rules.
However, since the co-financing is set at priority level and not at operational level, the EU’s budget can cover all of the national contributions to a specific operation.
Is it possible to use ERDF programmes not for financing projects but rather for an ‘in-kind’ contribution?
ERDF programmes can be used to cover the national contributions of Member States participating in European Partnerships.
It does not matter whether such contributions are financial or in kind.
There are no in-kind contributions from the participating Member States for Institutionalised European Partnerships.
How can the MA for an ERDF programme ensure that a co-funded operation contributes to the indicators set out in the programme?
Projects selected by European Partnerships can be supported if they meet the requirements set out in points (a), (b) and (g) of paragraph 2 of Article 73 CPR.
They must therefore contribute to the achievement of programme indicators.
Is it possible to use the funds for other purposes if they are not spent on the financing of partnership projects?
These contributions would go to identified projects after they have been evaluated and selected by the governing board of the European Partnership.
It would therefore not be possible to return them.
What about EU State aid rules?
State aid rules apply if the beneficiary of public funding granted from Member State resources, including the ERDF, is an undertaking (and if all other cumulative conditions for the presence of State aid, spelled of Article 107 (1) TFEU are met).
Under the conditions specified in Articles 25c of the GBER, co-funded research and development projects may benefit from HE eligible costs and funding rates.
This also applies to calls launched by Partnerships based on Article 185 or Article 187 TFEU or in calls launched under programme co-fund actions.
Projects must be transnational projects (implemented by at least three Member States, or alternatively two Member States and at least one associated country), and must result from centrally organized calls for proposals to which HE funding rules apply (Art 25c (3) GBER on the categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs).
If all applicable conditions set out in the GBER are met, the authority granting the aid does not have to carry out a separate State aid assessment nor does it have to notify the aid to the Commission.
Where funding is subject to State aid rules and is not in line with all conditions set forth in Article 25c of the GBER, simplified treatment of these projects under State aid rules does not apply.
What is the veto right in Institutionalised European Partnerships?
In line with Article 10(1)(c) of the HE Regulation, contributions from one participating Member State must be used to finance the participation of entities established in that participating Member State.
The participating Member States therefore remain in control of their national contributions because they can veto the allocation of national funds to a specific beneficiary (on exceptional grounds and for duly justified reasons) without any impact on the proposal’s eligibility for EU funding.