Specific provisions for the 2014-2020 cooperation programmes supported by the European Neighbourhood Instrument and under the European territorial cooperation goal, following programme implementation disruption
The European Parliament adopted by 541 votes to 22, with 13 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific provisions for the 2014‑2020 cooperation programmes supported by the European Neighbourhood Instrument and under the European territorial cooperation goal, following programme implementation disruption.
The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading by taking over the Commission's proposal.
The proposed regulation lays down specific provisions for thirteen cross-border cooperation programmes governed by Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and two transnational cooperation programmes governed by Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013, laying down specific provisions on the contribution of the European Regional Development Fund to the European territorial cooperation objective, with regard to programme implementation disruption following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and the involvement of Belarus in that aggression.
As a result of Russia's military aggression as well as Belarus' involvement in this aggression, the implementation of thirteen cross-border cooperation programmes and two transnational cooperation programmes between nine Member States and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on the one hand, and Russia and Belarus on the other hand, is significantly disrupted for various reasons.
The Regulation aims to:
- facilitate the use of ENI and cohesion policy resources by Member States and regions to support measures to address migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by Russia;
- allow for a derogation from the normal co-financing rules currently applicable in order to allow for the necessary flexibility to mobilise existing investment resources to address the direct and indirect effects stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented public health crisis in the context of the COVID19 pandemic.
The exceptional targeted changes to the 2014-2020 legal framework for cooperation programmes under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) include:
- apply 100% co-financing to ENI-CBC programmes for the accounting years starting on 1 July 2021, 1 July 2022 and 1 July 2023 respectively, so that national co-financing is no longer required;
- establish retroactive eligibility to the start of the Russian invasion (24 February 2022) for projects addressing migratory challenges under ENI-CBC programmes;
- set out appropriate actions by programme managing authorities to accelerate the necessary changes to projects already approved and halfway through their implementation, including large infrastructure projects;
- provide for the possibility of carrying out administrative verifications only, as disruptions in the implementation of programmes may mean that it is no longer possible to carry out on-the-spot verifications of projects in Ukraine;
- derogate exceptionally from the obligation for all projects to have at least one beneficiary from a partner country and for all activities to have genuine cross-border or transnational impact and benefits;
- address the exceptional circumstances, it is necessary to allow projects addressing the migratory challenges to be selected without a prior call for proposals in exceptional and duly substantiated cases;
- allow for direct payment of the grants from the managing authority to the project beneficiaries in Member States and in partner countries whose financing agreements are not suspended;
- provide for some derogations from certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 in order to allow for the application of the provisions established for the cooperation programmes supported by the ENI also to the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme and the Danube Transnational Programme.