Article 1 Establishment and purpose of the Cohesion Fund
1. A Cohesion Fund (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Fund’) is hereby established for the purpose of strengthening the economic and social cohesion of the Community in the interests of promoting sustainable development. 2. The Fund shall be governed by Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and by this Regulation.
Article 2 Scope of assistance
1. Assistance from the Fund shall be given to actions in the following areas, ensuring an appropriate balance, and according to the investment and infrastructure needs specific to each Member State receiving assistance: (a) trans-European transport networks, in particular priority projects of common interest as identified by Decision No 1692/96/EC; (b) the environment within the priorities assigned to the Community environmental protection policy under the policy and action programme on the environment. In this context, the Fund may also intervene in areas related to sustainable development which clearly present environmental benefits, namely energy efficiency and renewable energy and, in the transport sector outside the trans-European networks, rail, river and sea transport, intermodal transport systems and their interoperability, management of road, sea and air traffic, clean urban transport and public transport. 2. The appropriate balance of assistance shall be agreed in partnership between Member States and the Commission.
Article 3 Eligibility of expenditure
The following expenditure shall not be eligible for a contribution from the Fund: (a) interest on debt; (b) the purchase of land for an amount exceeding 10 % of the total eligible expenditure for the operation concerned; (c) housing; (d) decommissioning of nuclear power stations; and (e) recoverable value added tax.
Article 4 Conditions applying to access to Fund assistance
1. Assistance from the Fund shall be conditional on the following rules: (a) if the Council has decided in accordance with Article 104(6) of the Treaty that excessive government deficit exists in a beneficiary Member State, and (b) has established in accordance with Article 104(8) of the Treaty that the Member State concerned has not taken effective action in response to a Council recommendation made under Article 104(7) of the Treaty, it may decide to suspend either the totality or part of the commitments from the Fund for the Member State concerned with effect from 1 January of the year following the decision to suspend. 2. If the Council establishes that the Member State concerned has taken the necessary corrective action, it shall decide, without delay, to lift the suspension of the commitments concerned. At the same time, the Council shall decide, on a proposal from the Commission, to re-budget the suspended commitment in accordance with the procedure set out in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management ( 8 ) . 3. The Council shall take the decisions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.
Article 5 Transitional provisions
1. This Regulation shall not affect either the continuation or the modification, including the total or partial cancellation, of project or other forms of assistance approved by the Commission on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94, which shall consequently apply thereafter to that assistance or the projects concerned until their closure. 2. Applications for major projects within the meaning of Articles 39, 40 and 41 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 made to the Commission under Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 shall remain valid provided that such applications are supplemented, where necessary, so as to comply with the requirements of this Regulation and the abovementioned Articles of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 within not more than two months as of 1 January 2007.
Article 6 Repeal
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 105(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and Article 5 of this Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 is hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 2007. 2. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation.
Article 7 Review
The Council shall review this Regulation by 31 December 2013 at the latest in accordance with Article 161 of the Treaty.
Article 8 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .