Regulation 2021/1058 - European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 231/60

Article 176 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is intended to help to redress the main regional imbalances in the Union. Pursuant to that Article and the second and third paragraphs of Article 174 TFEU, the ERDF is to contribute to reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured regions, among which particular attention is to be paid to regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, including in particular handicaps resulting from demographic decline, such as the northernmost regions with very low population density, islands, and cross-border and mountain regions.

The Cohesion Fund was set up in order to contribute to the overall objective of strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union by providing financial contributions in the fields of environment and trans-European networks in the area of transport infrastructure (TEN-T), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) sets out common rules applicable to the ERDF, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the instrument for financial support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVI), which operate under a common framework.

In order to simplify the rules that were applicable to both the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund during the 2014-2020 programming period, a single Regulation should set out the applicable rules covering both funds.

Horizontal principles as set out in Article 3 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and in Article 10 TFEU, including the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 TEU, should be respected in the implementation of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, taking into account the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Member States should also respect the obligations set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), as well as the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in 2017, and ensure accessibility in line with Article 9 of the UNCRPD, and in accordance with the Union law harmonising accessibility requirements for products and services. In that context, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, in synergy with the ESF+, should be implemented in a way that promotes the transition from institutional to family-based and community-based care and should pursue their objectives with a view to contributing to the creation of quality jobs, eradication of poverty and promoting social inclusion. Member States and the Commission should aim at eliminating inequalities and at promoting equality between men and women and integrating the gender perspective, as well as at combating discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Neither fund should support actions that contribute to any form of segregation or exclusion, and, when financing infrastructure, both should ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The objectives of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should be pursued in the framework of sustainable development and the Union’s promotion of the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment as set out in Article 11 and Article 191(1) TFEU, taking into account the polluter pays principle. Reflecting the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union’s commitments to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change following the 21st Conference of the Parties adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (‘UN Sustainable Development Goals’), both funds will contribute to mainstream climate actions and to the achievement of an overall target of 30 % of the Union budget expenditure supporting climate objectives. To that end, operations under the ERDF are expected to contribute 30 % of the overall financial envelope of the ERDF to climate objectives. Operations under the Cohesion Fund are expected to contribute 37 % of the overall financial envelope of the Cohesion Fund to climate objectives. Furthermore, the actions under this Regulation should contribute to the ambition of providing 7,5 % of annual spending under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to biodiversity objectives in the year 2024 and 10 % of annual spending under the MFF to biodiversity objectives in 2026 and 2027, while considering the existing overlaps between climate and biodiversity goals.

Both funds should support activities that respect the climate and environmental standards and priorities of the Union and do no significant harm to the environmental objectives within the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) and that ensure the transition towards a low-carbon economy in the pathway to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. ERDF and Cohesion Fund programmes should take account of content of integrated national energy and climate plans adopted in the framework of the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action as established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).

In order to protect the integrity of the internal market, ERDF and Cohesion Fund operations benefiting undertakings are to comply with Union State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 TFEU.

The principle of partnership is a key feature in the implementation of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, building on the multi-level governance approach and ensuring the involvement of regional, local, urban and other public authorities, civil society, economic and social partners and, where appropriate, research organisations and universities. Implementation of both funds should ensure coordination and complementarity with the ESF+, the Just Transition Fund, the EMFAF and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

It is necessary to establish provisions regarding the support of the ERDF under the Investment for jobs and growth goal and the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg).

In order to identify the types of activities which can be supported by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, specific policy objectives for providing support from both funds should be laid down to ensure that they contribute to one or more of the common policy objectives set out in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060

With small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being the backbone of the European economy, the ERDF should continue to support the development of SMEs by enhancing their sustainable growth and competitiveness. Additionally, taking into account the potentially profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other potential crisis situation arising in the future having an impact on businesses and employment, the ERDF should support the recovery from such crisis situations through supporting job creation in SMEs, including by way of productive investments.

Investments under the ERDF should contribute to the development of a comprehensive high-speed digital infrastructure network, and to promoting pollution-free and sustainable multimodal mobility with a focus on public transport, shared mobility, walking and cycling, as a part of the transition to the net-zero carbon economy.

In order to grasp the opportunities from the digital age, the ERDF should contribute to the development of an inclusive digital society where citizens, research organisations, businesses and public administrations take full advantage of the opportunities that digitalisation offers. Effective e-government at national, regional and local level involves developing tools as well as rethinking organisation and processes, in order to deliver public services more effectively, easily, quickly and at a lower cost. In particular, digital and telecommunication technologies should be used to enhance traditional networks and services for the benefit of local communities through developing projects such as smart cities and villages.

Support from the ERDF under policy objective 1 (PO 1) should be based on building capacities for smart specialisation strategies, which set priorities at national or regional level, or both, to increase their competitive advantage by developing and matching research and innovation strengths with business needs and necessary skills through an entrepreneurial discovery process. The process should allow entrepreneurial actors, including industry, education and research organisations, public administrations and civil society, to identify the most promising areas for sustainable economic development based on a region’s distinctive structures and knowledge base. As the governance process of smart specialisation is crucial for the quality of the strategy, the ERDF should provide support to developing and enhancing the capacities necessary for an efficient entrepreneurial discovery process and the preparation or updating of smart specialisation strategies.

In order to promote the achievement of a climate-neutral Union by 2050, taking due account of social and economic consequences that it entails, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to tackling energy poverty. In that context, investments in energy efficiency, including energy savings schemes, in sustainable renewable energy in accordance with the sustainability criteria set out in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8), in smart energy systems, as well as investments aiming at disaster prevention, promoting biodiversity and green infrastructure, including preservation, valorisation and the highlighting of protected natural areas, and other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as the preservation and restoration of natural areas with high potential for carbon absorption and storage, including by rewetting of moorlands, the capture of landfill gas or emission reduction in industrial processes or products, would be particularly important. Furthermore, investments aiming at reducing every form of pollution, such as air, water, soil, noise and light pollution, should be supported.

Integrated national energy and climate plans, which outline the policies and measures and which address energy poverty and greenhouse gas emissions, need to be taken into account while preparing programmes co-financed by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund. With a view to contributing to achieving national objectives to reduce energy poverty set out in integrated national energy and climate plans, the ERDF should support in particular energy efficiency improvements in housing and buildings in line with the amended Directive (EU) 2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) to contribute to the achievement of a decarbonised building stock by 2050, thus reducing energy consumption and creating savings for households affected by energy poverty.

To improve transport connectivity, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should promote the development of a trans-European transport network, as referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, through investment in infrastructure for railway transport, inland waterway transport, road transport, maritime transport and multimodal transport, including noise reduction measures. The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should also support national, regional and local, cross-border and urban mobility. In doing so, both funds should pay attention to improving safety in particular of existing bridges and tunnels.

In an increasingly interconnected world and in view of the demographic and migration dynamics, it is clear that Union migration policy requires a common approach that relies on the synergies and complementarities of the different funding instruments. Therefore, the ERDF should pay attention to demographic challenges when preparing and implementing programmes. In order to ensure coherent, strong and consistent support for solidarity and responsibility-sharing efforts between Member States in managing migration, the ERDF should provide support, at the most appropriate territorial level, to facilitate the long-term, inclusive integration of third-country nationals, including migrants, for the benefit of social and economic development, by adopting an approach aimed at protecting their dignity and rights.

In order to promote social innovation and inclusive access to high quality employment, the ERDF should support ‘social economy’ entities such as cooperatives, mutual societies, non-profit associations and social enterprises.

In order to promote social inclusion and combat poverty, particularly among marginalised communities, it is necessary to improve access, including through infrastructure, to social, educational, cultural and recreational services, including sports, taking into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities, children and the elderly.

The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should promote the socioeconomic inclusion of marginalised communities, with particular attention paid to the National Roma inclusion strategic policy framework as referred to in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 which set out integration measures, low-income households, including households at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and disadvantaged groups, including people with special needs. In particular, in line with principle 19 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should be able to support the provision of social housing. Taking into account challenges facing marginalised Roma communities in terms of access to basic services, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should contribute to improving their living conditions and development prospects.

In order to strengthen the preparedness for distance and online education and training in a socially inclusive manner, the ERDF should, in its task of improving equal access to inclusive and quality services in education, training and lifelong learning, in particular contribute to fostering resilience for distance and online learning. The efforts to ensure the continuity of education and training during the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed important shortcomings in the access to the necessary information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and connectivity by learners from a disadvantaged background and in remote regions. In that context, the ERDF should support making available the necessary ICT equipment and connectivity, thus fostering the resilience of the education and training systems for distance and online learning.

In order to strengthen the capability of public health systems to prevent, quickly respond to, and recover from health emergencies, the ERDF should also contribute to the resilience of health systems. Additionally, as the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of immediate availability of critical supplies to provide an effective response to an emergency situation, the scope of support from the ERDF should be broadened to allow for the purchase of supplies necessary for strengthening disaster resilience and the resilience of health systems including primary care, and promoting the transition from institutional to family-based and community-based care. When purchasing supplies to strengthen the resilience of health systems, these should be consistent with and not go beyond the national health strategy and ensure complementarities with the EU4Health Programme established by Regulation (EU) 2021/522 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), as well as the rescEU capacities under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism established by Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).

The ERDF should support and promote transition from institutional to family-based or community-based care through supporting facilities that would seek to prevent segregation from the community, would facilitate the integration of people to the society and would seek to ensure independent living conditions.

A dedicated specific objective should be provided for supporting the regional economies strongly dependent on the tourism and cultural sectors. This would allow to exploit the full potential of culture and sustainable tourism for an economic recovery, social inclusion and social innovation, without prejudice to the possibilities to provide support from the ERDF to those sectors under other specific objectives.

Investments supporting the creative and cultural industries, cultural services and cultural heritage sites could be financed under any policy objective provided that they contribute to the specific objectives and that they fall within the scope of support from the ERDF.

Sustainable tourism requires a balance between economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability. The approach to supporting sustainable tourism should be in accordance with the Commission communication of 19 October 2007 entitled ‘Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism’. In particular, it should take into account the welfare of tourists, respect the natural and cultural environment and ensure the socio-economic development and competitiveness of destinations and businesses through an integrated and holistic policy approach.

In order to support the efforts of Member States and regions in facing new challenges and ensuring a high level of security for their citizens as well as the prevention of marginalisation and radicalisation, while relying on the synergies and complementarities with other Union policies, investments under the ERDF should contribute to security in areas where there is a need to ensure safe and secure public spaces and critical infrastructure, such as transport and energy, thus contributing to building more inclusive and safer societies.

The ERDF should provide support under policy objective 5 (PO 5) in an integrated manner to the economic, social and environmental development based on cross-sectoral territorial strategies using integrated territorial development tools to ensure the harmonious development of both urban and non-urban areas. Furthermore, when developing urban areas, special attention should be paid to supporting functional urban areas due to their importance in triggering cooperation between local authorities and partners across administrative borders as well strengthening urban-rural linkages.

The ERDF should support sustainable tourism in an integrated manner, in particular through strengthening cooperation within functional territories. In order to boost the impact of sustainable tourism on the economy, enterprises and public authorities should systematically cooperate to deliver quality services more efficiently in areas with a high potential for tourism, taking due care to create a stable legal and administrative environment conducive for sustainable growth of such areas. Supported actions in the area of sustainable tourism could take into account best practices in this area, such as the ‘tourist district’ approach.

As a result of the overall aim of the Cohesion Fund provided for in the TFEU, it is necessary to set out and limit the policy objectives to which the Cohesion Fund is to provide support.

In order to improve overall administrative capacity of institutions and governance in Member States implementing programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal, it is necessary to enable supporting measures for programme authorities and sectoral or territorial actors responsible for carrying out activities relevant to the implementation of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund under all of the specific objectives pursued taking into account the horizontal principles referred to in the Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 , including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In order to encourage and boost cooperation measures within programmes implemented under the Investment for jobs and growth goal, it is necessary to enhance cooperation measures with partners including those at local and regional level within a given Member State or between different Member States in relation to support provided under all of the specific objectives. Such enhanced cooperation is additional to the cooperation under Interreg and should in particular support cooperation among structured partnerships with a view to implementing regional strategies as referred to in the Commission communication of 18 July 2017 entitled ‘Strengthening Innovation in Europe’s Regions: Strategies for resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth’. Partners could therefore come from any region in the Union, but could also include cross-border regions and regions which are covered by a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation under Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), a macro-regional or sea-basin strategy or a combination of these two types of strategies.

The ERDF should help to redress the main regional imbalances in the Union and to reduce disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions, including those facing challenges due to decarbonisation commitments and through that foster regional resilience. ERDF support under the Investment for jobs and growth goal should therefore be concentrated on key Union priorities in line with policy objectives laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. Therefore support from the ERDF should be concentrated on the policy objectives of a more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity and a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management and sustainable urban mobility. The resources dedicated to sustainable urban mobility and broadband investment could be partly taken into account when calculating compliance with the thematic concentration requirements. Member States should decide in their Partnership Agreements whether to comply with the thematic concentration requirements at the level of category of region or at national level for the entire programming period. Thematic concentration at national level should be established by three groups of Member States formed according to respective gross national income and should allow for flexibility at the level of individual programmes. As the support from the Cohesion Fund could also contribute to the thematic concentration, the conditions for such a contribution should be set out. In addition, the methodology to classify Member States should be set out in detail, taking into account the specific situation of the outermost and northern sparsely populated regions.

In order to concentrate the support on key Union priorities, it is also appropriate that thematic concentration requirements should be respected throughout the programming period, including in the case of transfer between priorities within a programme or between programmes.

In order to enable the ERDF to provide support under Interreg in terms of investments in infrastructure and associated investments related thereto, as well as training and integration activities, it is necessary to provide that the ERDF should also be able to provide support for activities under the specific objectives of the ESF+, set up under Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13).

In order to concentrate the use of limited resources in the most efficient way, the support by the ERDF given to productive investments under the relevant specific objective should be limited to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (14), except for specific investments set out in this Regulation.

In the context of the ERDF support for productive investments, it is opportune to clarify that productive investment should be understood as investment in fixed capital or immaterial assets of enterprises, with a view to producing goods and services and thereby contributing to gross capital formation and employment. It should also be provided that, under certain conditions, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund might support investments in enterprises other than SMEs. Furthermore, based on the experience of previous programming periods, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should also support investments in enterprises other than SMEs, including in particular utilities, when they concern investment in infrastructure that ensures access to services available to the public in the field of energy, environment and biodiversity, transport and digital connectivity.

This Regulation should set out the different types of activities the costs of which should be able to be supported by means of investments from the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, under their respective objectives as set out in the TFEU, including crowdfunding. The Cohesion Fund should be able to support investments in TEN-T and the environment, including investments related to sustainable development and energy presenting environmental benefits. In that context, the Cohesion Fund should also be able to support combined energy and seismic retrofitting. With regard to the ERDF, the list of activities should take into account specific national and regional development needs as well as endogenous potential and be simplified. The ERDF should be able to support investments in infrastructure, including for research and innovation business infrastructure for SMEs, housing for marginalised communities and disadvantaged groups, low-income households and migrants, culture and heritage, sustainable tourism and services to enterprises, investments in relation to access to services with a particular focus on disadvantaged, marginalised and segregated communities, productive investments in SMEs, equipment, software and intangible assets, as well as measures with regard to information, communication, studies, networking, cooperation, exchange of experiences between partners and activities involving clusters. In order to support the programme implementation, both funds should also be able to support technical assistance activities. Finally, in order to provide support for a broader range of interventions for Interreg programmes, the scope should be enlarged to also include the sharing of a broad range of facilities and human resources and costs linked to measures within the scope of the ESF+.

Trans-European transport networks projects under Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15) are to continue to be financed from the Cohesion Fund via both shared management and the direct implementation mode under the Connecting Europe Facility established by a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (the ‘CEF Regulation for 2021-2027’).

At the same time, it is important to clarify those activities which fall outside the scope of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, including investments to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (16), in order to avoid duplication of available financing, which already exists as part of that Directive, and investments in undertakings in difficulty as defined in Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (17) unless authorised under de minimis aid or temporary State aid rules established to address exceptional circumstances. The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should also not support certain investment in airports, facilities for landfilling and residual waste treatment or fossil fuels. Therefore, the ERDF should be able to support targeted environmental mitigation, security and safety measures in regional airports as long as the primary objective of the investments would be clearly identified in terms of environmental, security or safety standards of the Union and would be in line with the State aid rules.

For investments increasing the capacity of facilities for the treatment of residual waste, residual waste should be understood as primarily non-separately collected municipal waste and rejects from waste treatment. Modernisation of district heating networks could be supported with a view to improving the energy efficiency of efficient district heating systems, as defined in Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (18), pursuant to objectives laid down in integrated national energy and climate plans. With a view to promoting renewable energy, support could be provided for district heating boilers supplied by a combination of gas and renewable energy sources. In such cases, support from both funds should correspond pro-rata to the share of renewable energy input to such boilers. In addition, it should be explicitly set out that the overseas countries and territories listed in Annex II to the TFEU are not eligible for support from the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund.

Member States should regularly transmit to the Commission information on the progress made using the common output and result indicators set out in Annex I. Common output and result indicators could be complemented, where relevant by programme-specific output and result indicators. The information provided by Member States should be the basis on which the Commission should report on the progress towards the achievement of specific objectives over the whole programming period using for this purpose a core set of indicators set out in Annex II.

Pursuant to paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (19), the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should be evaluated on the basis of information collected in accordance with specific monitoring requirements, while avoiding an administrative burden, in particular on Member States, and overregulation. Those requirements, where appropriate, should include measurable indicators as a basis for evaluating the effects of both funds on the ground.

Within the framework of the relevant rules under the Stability and Growth Pact as clarified in the Code of Conduct, Member States should be able to make a duly justified request for further flexibility for the public or equivalent structural expenditure supported by the public administration by way of co-financing of investments activated as part of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund. The Commission should evaluate such a request in accordance with the Stability and Growth Pact and the Code of Conduct.

The ERDF should address the problems of disadvantaged areas, in particular rural areas and areas which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, including demographic decline, in accessing basic services, including digital services, enhancing attractiveness for investment, including through business investments and connectivity to large markets. In doing so, the ERDF should pay attention to specific development challenges encountered by certain island, border or mountain regions. Furthermore, the ERDF should pay particular attention to the specific difficulties of areas at NUTS level 3 and local administrative unit level, as referred to in Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (20), that are sparsely populated, in accordance with the criteria set out in point 161 of the Guidelines on Regional State Aid 2014-2020, namely those that have a population density of less than 12,5 inhabitants per square kilometre, or areas that have suffered from an average annual population decrease of at least 1 % of inhabitants over the 2007-2017 period. Member States should consider developing specific voluntary action plans at local level for such areas to counter these population challenges.

In order to maximise the contribution to addressing more effectively economic, demographic, environmental and social challenges in particular in areas with natural and demographic handicaps, as envisaged in Article 174 TFEU, actions in the field of territorial development should be based on integrated territorial strategies including in urban and rural areas and paying attention to urban-rural linkages. Therefore, the ERDF support should be delivered through the forms set out in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 ensuring appropriate involvement of local, regional and urban authorities, economic and social partners and representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations. Territorial strategies should also be able to benefit from a multi-fund and integrated approach involving the ERDF, the ESF+, the EMFAF and the EAFRD.

To improve the resilience of communities in rural areas and their economic, social and environmental conditions, support from the ERDF should be used to develop projects such as smart villages, as referred to in the European Parliament resolution of 3 October 2018 on addressing the specific needs of rural, mountainous and remote areas, in particular by developing new opportunities, such as decentralised services and energy solutions, digital technologies and innovations.

Within the framework of sustainable urban development, it is considered necessary to support integrated territorial development in order to more effectively tackle the economic, environmental, climate, demographic and social challenges affecting urban areas, including functional urban areas, while taking into account the need to promote urban-rural linkages. Support targeting urban areas might take a form of a separate programme or a separate priority and should be able to benefit from a multi-fund approach. The principles for selecting the urban areas where integrated actions for sustainable urban development are to be implemented, and the indicative amounts for those actions, should be set out in the programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal with a minimum target of 8 % of the ERDF resources allocated at national level for that purpose. It should also be established that this percentage should be respected throughout the programming period in the case of transfer between priorities within a programme or between programmes, including at the mid-term review.

In order to identify or provide solutions which address issues relating to sustainable urban development at Union level, the Urban Innovative Actions in the area of sustainable urban development should be replaced by a European Urban Initiative, to be implemented under direct or indirect management. That initiative should cover all urban areas, including functional urban areas and support the Urban Agenda for the European Union. To stimulate participation of local authorities in the thematic partnerships under the Urban Agenda, the ERDF should provide support for organisational costs related to such participation. The initiative could include inter-governmental cooperation on urban matters, in particular cooperation aimed at capacity building at local level to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals. Member States, regional and local authorities should be actively involved in managing and implementing the European Urban Initiative. Actions agreed within such a management model could include exchange for regional and local representatives. Actions undertaken within the European Urban Initiative should promote urban-rural linkages within functional urban areas. Cooperation with European Network for Rural Development is of particular importance in this respect.

The commercialisation and upscaling of interregional innovation projects should be promoted over the whole territory of the Union through the new interregional innovation investments which are to be managed by the Commission. By supporting innovation projects in smart specialisation areas, including pilot projects and capacity building measures, they will, in particular, benefit less developed regions, boosting their innovation eco-systems and their capacity to integrate in larger Union value chains. They should also contribute to the implementation of the Commission communication of 18 July 2017 entitled ‘Strengthening Innovation in Europe’s Regions: Strategies for resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth’, in particular to support thematic smart specialisation platforms on critical fields.

Specific attention should be paid to outermost regions, namely by adopting measures under Article 349 TFEU providing for an additional allocation for the outermost regions to offset the additional costs incurred in these regions as a result of one or several of the permanent restraints referred to in Article 349 TFEU, namely remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development. That allocation should be able to cover investments, operating costs and public service obligations aimed at offsetting additional costs caused by such restraints. Operating aid should be able to cover expenditure on freight transport services and start-up aid for transport services as well as expenditure on operations linked to storage constraints, the excessive size and maintenance of production tools, and the lack of human capital in the local market. That allocation should not be subject to the thematic concentration requirements. In order to protect the integrity of the internal market, and as is the case for all operations co-financed by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, any ERDF support to the financing of operating and investment aid in the outermost regions should comply with State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 TFEU.

In order to allow for a rapid response to exceptional and unusual circumstances as referred to in the Stability and Growth Pact that could arise during the programming period, implementing powers should be conferred to the Commission to adopt temporary measures to facilitate the use of the support from the ERDF in response to such circumstances. The Commission should adopt the measures that are most appropriate in light of the exceptional or unusual circumstances that a Member State is facing while preserving the objectives of the fund. Furthermore, the implementing decisions in relation to a temporary measure for the use of the ERDF in response to exceptional or unusual circumstances should be adopted without committee procedures given that the scope of application is determined by the Stability and Growth Pact and limited to the measure set out in this Regulation. The Commission should also monitor the implementation and assess the appropriateness of the measures.

In order to amend certain non-essential elements of this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of making adjustments, where justified, to Annex II which sets out a list of indicators used as a basis to provide information to the European Parliament and to the Council on performance of programmes. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to reinforce economic, social and territorial cohesion by redressing the main regional imbalances in the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the extent of the disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions and the limit on the financial resources of Member States and regions, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

In view of the adoption of this Regulation after the start of the programming period, and taking into account the need to implement both the ERDF and Cohesion Fund in a coordinated and harmonised manner, and in order to allow for its prompt implementation, it should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

COMMON PROVISIONS

71

Subject matter

71

Tasks of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund

71

Specific objectives for the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund

71

Thematic concentration of ERDF support

73

Scope of support from the ERDF

75

Scope of support from the Cohesion Fund

76

Exclusion from the scope of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund

76

Indicators

78

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON TREATMENT OF PARTICULAR TERRITORIAL FEATURES AND INTERREGIONAL INNOVATION INVESTMENTS

78

Integrated territorial development

78

Support for disadvantaged areas

78

Sustainable urban development

79

European Urban Initiative

79

Interregional Innovation Investments

80

Outermost regions

80

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

81

Transitional provisions

81

Exercise of the delegation

81

Review

82

Entry into force

82

COMMON OUTPUT AND RESULT INDICATORS FOR ERDF AND THE COHESION FUND – ARTICLE 8(1)

83

CORE SET OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR ERDF AND COHESION FUND REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 8(3) , To Be Used BY THE COMMISSION IN COMPLIANCE WITH ITS REPORTING REQUIREMENT PURSUANT TO POINT (H)(iii) Of ARTICLE 41(3) OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION

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a more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity (PO 1) by:

a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility (PO 2) by:

a more connected Europe by enhancing mobility (PO 3) by:

a more social and inclusive Europe implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights (PO 4) by:

a Europe closer to citizens by fostering the sustainable and integrated development of all types of territories and local initiatives (PO 5) by:

Support under PO5 shall be provided through territorial and local development strategies, through the forms set out in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

improve the capacity of programme authorities;

improve the capacity of sectoral or territorial actors responsible for carrying out activities relevant to the implementation of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, provided that it contributes to the objectives of the programme; or

enhance cooperation with partners both within and outside a given Member State.

those with a gross national income ratio equal to or above 100 % of the EU average (‘group 1’);

those with a gross national income ratio equal to or above 75 % and below 100 % of the EU average (‘group 2’);

those with a gross national income ratio below 75 % of the EU average (‘group 3’).

more developed regions;

transition regions;

less developed regions.

Member States of group 1 or more developed regions shall allocate at least 85 % of their ERDF resources referred to in paragraph 1 to PO 1 and PO 2, and at least 30 % to PO 2;

Member States of group 2 or transition regions shall allocate at least 40 % of their ERDF resources referred to in paragraph 1 to PO 1, and at least 30 % to PO 2;

Member States of group 3 or less developed regions shall allocate at least 25 % of their ERDF resources referred to in paragraph 1 to PO 1, and at least 30 % to PO 2.

investments in infrastructure;

activities for applied research and innovation, including industrial research, experimental development and feasibility studies;

investments in access to services;

productive investments in SMEs and investments aiming at safeguarding existing jobs and creating new jobs;

equipment, software and intangible assets;

networking, cooperation, exchange of experience and activities involving innovation clusters including between businesses, research organisations and public authorities;

information, communication and studies; and

technical assistance.

when they involve cooperation with SMEs in research and innovation activities supported under point (a)(i) of the first subparagraph of Article 3(1);

when primarily supporting energy efficiency measures and renewable energy under points (b)(i) and (b)(ii) of the first subparagraph of Article 3(1);

when they are made in small mid-cap and mid-cap companies as defined in points (6) and (7) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and the Council (21) through financial instruments; or

when they are made in small mid-cap companies in research and innovation activities supported under point (a)(i) of the first subparagraph of Article 3(1).

sharing of facilities and of human resources; and

accompanying soft investments and other activities linked to PO 4 under the European Social Fund Plus as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1057.

investments in the environment, including investments related to sustainable development and energy presenting environmental benefits, with a particular focus on renewable energy;

investments in TEN-T;

technical assistance;

information, communication, and studies.

the decommissioning or the construction of nuclear power stations;

investment to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC;

the manufacturing, processing and marketing of tobacco and tobacco products;

an undertaking in difficulty, as defined in point (18) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, unless authorised under de minimis aid or temporary State aid rules established to address exceptional circumstances;

investment in airport infrastructure, except for outermost regions or in existing regional airports as defined in point (153) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, in any of the following cases:

investment in disposal of waste in landfill, except:

investment increasing the capacity of facilities for the treatment of residual waste, except for:

investment related to production, processing, transport, distribution, storage or combustion of fossil fuels, with the exception of:

for Member States whose gross national income (GNI) per capita is below 60 % of the EU average GNI per capita, or for Member States whose GNI per capita is below 90 % of the EU average GNI per capita and which have a share of solid fossil fuels in gross inland energy consumption equal to or above 25 %, the limit shall be 1,55 %;

for Member States other than those in point (a) whose GNI per capita is below 90 % of the EU average GNI per capita, the limit shall be 1 %;

for Member States whose GNI per capita is equal to or above 90 % of the EU average GNI per capita, the limit shall be 0,2 %.

support of innovative actions;

support of capacity and knowledge building, territorial impact assessments, policy development and communication.

financial and advisory support for investments in interregional innovation projects in shared smart specialisation areas;

financial and advisory support, and capacity building for the development of value chains in less developed regions.

the activities within the scope as set out in Article 5 of this Regulation;

by way of derogation from Article 5 of this Regulation, measures covering operating costs with a view to offsetting the additional costs incurred in the outermost regions as a result of one or several of the permanent restraints to their development referred to in Article 349 TFEU.

operations involving products listed in Annex I to the TFEU;

aid for the transport of persons authorised under point (a) of Article 107(2) TFEU;

tax exemptions and exemption of social charges;

public services obligations not discharged by undertakings and where the State acts by exercising public power.