Regulation (EU) No 1298/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 as regards the financial allocation for certain Member States from the European Social Fund

20.12.2013 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 347/256
REGULATION (EU) No 1298/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 11 December 2013
amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 as regards the financial allocation for certain Member States from the European Social Fund
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 177 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,
After consulting the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1),
Whereas:
(1) In the context of the negotiations of the Multiannual Financial Framework for the years 2014-2020, certain issues stemming from the final outcome of the negotiations should be addressed.
(2) At its meeting of 27 and 28 June 2013, the European Council considered that a budgetary solution should be found to address those issues for the Member States most affected, namely France, Italy and Spain.
(3) Having regard to the current economic crisis, in order to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union, and as a contribution to the special effort needed to address the specific problems of unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, and of poverty and social exclusion in France, Italy and Spain, the European Social Fund (ESF) allocations to those Member States for the year 2013 should be increased.
(4) In order to establish the amounts to be allocated to the Member States concerned pursuant to Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (2), the provisions that set the overall resources of the Funds for the three objectives to which they contribute, and Annex II to that Regulation establishing the criteria and methodology that are used for the indicative annual breakdowns of commitment appropriations by Member States, should be adjusted.
(5) To ensure the effectiveness of the increase of commitment appropriations for the year 2013 and to facilitate the implementation of operational programmes, the absorption capacity of the Member States concerned in respect of the Convergence and the Regional competitiveness and employment objectives of the Funds should be taken into account.
(6) In order to provide for sufficient time for the operational programmes to benefit from additional ESF allocations, it is also necessary to extend the deadline for the budget commitments in respect of the operational programmes that are to benefit from the new amounts provided for in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.
(7) Given that those commitment appropriations relate to the year 2013, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.
(8) Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,