Article 1 -
Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 is amended as follows:
(1)
in Article 3(1), the following subparagraph is added:
"In addition, the ERDF may support the financing of working capital in SMEs where necessary as a temporary measure to provide an effective response to a public health crisis.";
(2)
in Article 5, point (1)(b) is replaced by the following:
"(b)
promoting business investment in R&I, developing links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the higher education sector, in particular promoting investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, eco-innovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation, and supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies as well as fostering investment necessary for strengthening the crisis response capacities in health services;".
Article 2 -
Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is amended as follows:
(1)
in Article 30, the following paragraph is added:
"5. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, for the programmes supported by the ERDF, Cohesion Fund and ESF, the Member State may transfer during the programming period an amount of up to 8 % of the allocation as of 1 February 2020 of a priority and no more than 4 % of the programme budget to another priority of the same Fund of the same programme.
Such transfers shall not affect previous years. They shall be considered to be not substantial and shall not require a decision of the Commission amending the programme. They shall however comply with all regulatory requirements and shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance. The Member State shall notify the revised financial tables to the Commission.";
(2)
in Article 37(4), the following subparagraph is added:
"Financial instruments may also provide support in the form of working capital to SMEs, if necessary as a temporary measure, to provide an effective response to a public health crisis.";
(3)
in Article 65 (10), the following subparagraph is added:
"By way of derogation from paragraph 9, expenditure for operations for fostering crisis response capacities in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak shall be eligible as of 1 February 2020.";
(4)
in Article 96, paragraph 10 is replaced by the following:
"10. Without prejudice to Article 30(5), the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of implementing acts, approving all the elements, including any of its future amendments, of the operational programme falling under this Article, except those falling under points (b)(vi), (c)(v) and (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, paragraphs 4 and 5, points (a) and (c) of paragraph 6 and paragraph 7, which remain under the responsibility of the Member States.";
(5)
in Article 139 (7), the following subparagraphs are added:
"By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the Commission shall not issue a recovery order for amounts recoverable from the Member State for the accounts submitted in 2020. Amounts not recovered shall be used to accelerate investments related to the COVID-19 outbreak and eligible under this Regulation and Fund-specific rules.
The amounts not recovered shall be cleared or recovered at closure.".
Article 3 -
Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 is amended as follows:
(1)
Article 35 is amended as follows:
(a)
the title is replaced by the following:
"Mutual funds for public health crises, adverse climatic events and environmental incidents";
(b)
paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
"1. The EMFF may contribute to mutual funds which pay financial compensation to fishermen for economic losses caused by public health crises, adverse climatic events or by environmental incidents or for the rescue costs for fishermen or fishing vessels in the case of accidents at sea during their fishing activities.";
(c)
paragraphs 5 and 6 are replaced by the following:
"5. Member States shall define the rules for the establishment and management of the mutual funds, in particular for the granting of compensation payments and the eligibility of fishermen for such compensation in the event of public health crises, adverse climatic events, environmental incidents or accidents at sea as referred to in paragraph 1, as well as for the administration and monitoring of compliance with those rules. Member States shall ensure that the fund arrangements provide for penalties in the case of negligence on the part of the fisherman.
6. Public health crises, adverse climatic events, environmental incidents or accidents at sea as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be those that are formally recognised by the competent authority of the Member State concerned as having occurred.";
(d)
paragraph 8 is replaced by the following:
"8. The contributions referred to in paragraph 1 shall only be granted to cover losses caused by public health crises, adverse climatic events, environmental incidents or accidents at sea which amount to more than 30 % of the annual turnover of the business concerned, calculated on the basis of the average turnover of that business over the preceding three calendar years.";
(2)
in Article 57(1), the following point is added:
"(e)
public health crises.".
Article 4
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
