11-12-2006

"This is the last piece of the regulatory jigsaw for the new programming period and is fundamental to Member States in their organisation and preparations for the next period. It responds to three of my key aims in legislating in this area, namely simplification, increased decentralisation and proportionality. I am also delighted that use of the Funds will now be considerably more transparent, as lists will now be published on who receives assistance from the Funds and for what", said Danuta Hübner in the presentation of the new regulation.

The regulation introduces the rules for the implementation of the more general rules set by the regulations on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund. It gives Member States clear guidelines to help them prepare well for the next programming period starting on 1 January 2007.

Referring to the execution of the 2006 budget Danuta Hübner pointed out that the Commission services have registered a good level of execution and payment claims can still be sent by Member States until 31 December 2006.

As far as N+2 rule is concerned almost all EU10 have overcome the risk of de-commitments related to 2004 budget. For EU15, intensified efforts as usual at this period of the year should mitigate this risk.

As for the future programming period, Commissioner Hübner asked Member States to send the documents where they will be setting out how they are going to use EU funding to modernise the economy of their regions (National Strategic Reference Programmes).

Member States have already shown that they intend to increase the emphasis on the promotion of the innovation, research and the knowledge economy in line with their National Reform Plans and the Lisbon Agenda.

The implementation regulation
The new implementing regulation is replacing the 9 Commission regulations currently in force regarding the management of the Funds in the current period, thus simplifying the regulatory framework: one set of detailed rules will now apply to the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. Increased decentralisation will help Member States in project management. To this end, eligibility rules are no longer fixed at Community level for most operational programmes: national eligibility rules (set at national level only) will now apply, rather than two sets (one for Community co-financed projects and one for nationally-funded projects) as in the past.

The regulation also reflects the Commission's aim to have increased proportionality in the area of auditing, with audit verifications for certain operational programmes (where total eligible public expenditure is less than € 750 million and Community co-financing is under 40% of total public expenditure) being carried out by national bodies according to national rules. In line with the Commission's transparency initiative, and with a view to making the contribution of the Funds more transparent to the general public, the Regulation requires publication at national level of information on the beneficiaries and operations being co-financed by the Funds.

Budgetary execution - programming period 2000-2006
Regarding the European Regional Development Fund commitment execution has reached 100 %, while payment execution is at the level of 83 %. Further payment claims are being received and all payment credits are expected to be executed by the end of the year. As for the Cohesion Fund, commitment execution has reached 82 % (100 % expected by the end of the year), while payment execution is at the level of 84 %. At the end of November 2006 the execution of payment credits reached € 2.5 billion in contrast to € 1.8 billion last year. Finally in the case of ISPA (Structural Pre-Accession Instrument), commitment execution has reached 96 % (100 % expected by the end of the year), while payment execution is at the level of 75 %.

Cohesion policy 2007-2013, the next steps
The Commission has officially received the NSRFs from 5 Member States, i.e. Austria, Latvia, Malta, Hungary and Denmark. It has also received 12 Operational Programmes from 3 Member States : Latvia, Denmark and Austria. The majority of a total of 330 operational programmes (related to ERDF and Cohesion Fund) is expected to be decided by mid-2007.