CHAPTER III

Each operational programme under the European territorial cooperation objective shall contain the following information: an analysis of the situation of the cooperation area in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the strategy chosen in response; a list of the eligible areas within the programme area including, as regards programmes for cross-border cooperation, the flexibility areas as referred to in Article 21(1); a justification of the priorities chosen having regard to the Community strategic guidelines on cohesion, the national strategic reference framework where the Member State has chosen to include actions financed under the European territorial cooperation objective within it, and the results of the ex ante evaluation referred to in Article 48(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; information on the priority axes and their specific targets. Those targets shall be quantified using a limited number of indicators for output and results, taking into account the principle of proportionality. The indicators shall make it possible to measure the progress in relation to the baseline situation and the achievement of the targets of the priority axis; for information purposes only, an indicative breakdown by category of the programmed use of the contribution from the ERDF to the operational programme in accordance with the implementing rules adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 103(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; a single financing plan, with no breakdown by Member State, comprising two tables: a table breaking down for each year, in accordance with Articles 52, 53 and 54 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, the amount of the total financial appropriation envisaged for the contribution from the ERDF. The total ERDF contribution provided for annually shall be compatible with the applicable financial framework; a table specifying, for the whole programming period, for the operational programme and for each priority axis, the amount of the total financial appropriation of the Community contribution and the national counterparts, and the rate of the ERDF contribution. Where, in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, the national counterpart is made up of public and private expenditure, the table shall give the indicative breakdown between the public and the private component. Where, in accordance with that Article, the national counterpart is made up of public expenditure, the table shall indicate the amount of the national public contribution; information on complementarity with measures financed by the EAFRD and those financed by the EFF, where relevant; the implementing provisions for the operational programme, including: designation by the Member States of all the authorities referred to in Article 14; a description of the monitoring and evaluation systems; information about the competent body for receiving the payments made by the Commission and the body or bodies responsible for making payments to the beneficiaries; a definition of the procedures for the mobilisation and circulation of financial flows in order to ensure their transparency; the elements aimed at ensuring the publicity and the information of the operational programme as referred to in Article 69 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; a description of the procedures agreed between the Commission and Member States for the exchange of computerised data to meet the payment, monitoring and evaluation requirements laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006; an indicative list of major projects within the meaning of Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 expected to be submitted during the programming period for Commission approval. The relevant national rules agreed by the participating Member States in an operational programme under the European territorial cooperation objective shall apply to determine the eligibility of expenditure except where Community rules are laid down. The Commission shall lay down, in accordance with Article 56(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and without prejudice to Article 7 of this Regulation, common rules on the eligibility of expenditure in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 103(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. Where Article 7 provides for different rules of eligibility of expenditure in different Member States participating in an operational programme under the European territorial cooperation objective, the most extensive eligibility rules shall apply throughout the programme area. Member States participating in an operational programme shall appoint a single managing authority, a single certifying authority and a single audit authority, the latter being situated in the Member State of the managing authority. The certifying authority shall receive the payments made by the Commission and, as a general rule, shall make the payments to the lead beneficiary. The managing authority, after consultation with the Member States represented in the programme area, shall set up a joint technical secretariat. The latter shall assist the managing authority and the monitoring committee, and, where appropriate, the audit authority, in carrying out their respective duties. The audit authority for the operational programme shall be assisted by a group of auditors comprising a representative of each Member State participating in the operational programme and carrying out the duties provided for in Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. The group of auditors shall be set up at the latest within three months of the decision approving the operational programme. It shall draw up its own rules of procedure. It shall be chaired by the audit authority for the operational programme. The participating Member States may decide by unanimity that the audit authority is authorised to carry out directly the duties provided for in Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 in the whole of the territory covered by the programme without the need for a group of auditors as defined in the first subparagraph. The auditors shall be independent of the control system referred to in Article 16(1). Each Member State participating in the operational programme shall appoint representatives to sit on the monitoring committee referred to in Article 63 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. The managing authority shall perform the duties provided for in Article 60 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, with the exception of those concerning the regularity of operations and expenditure in relation to national and Community rules, as set out under point (b) of that Article. In this connection, it shall satisfy itself that the expenditure of each beneficiary participating in an operation has been validated by the controller referred to in Article 16(1) of this Regulation. The managing authority shall lay down the implementing arrangements for each operation, where appropriate in agreement with the lead beneficiary. In order to validate the expenditure, each Member State shall set up a control system making it possible to verify the delivery of the products and services co-financed, the soundness of the expenditure declared for operations or parts of operations implemented on its territory, and the compliance of such expenditure and of related operations, or parts of those operations, with Community rules and its national rules. For this purpose each Member State shall designate the controllers responsible for verifying the legality and regularity of the expenditure declared by each beneficiary participating in the operation. Member States may decide to designate a single controller for the whole programme area. Where the delivery of the products and services co-financed can be verified only in respect of the entire operation, the verification shall be performed by the controller of the Member State where the lead beneficiary is located or by the managing authority. Each Member State shall ensure that the expenditure can be validated by the controllers within a period of three months. The ERDF contribution shall be paid into a single account with no national sub-accounts. Without prejudice to the Member States' responsibility for detecting and correcting irregularities and for recovering amounts unduly paid, the certifying authority shall ensure that any amount paid as a result of an irregularity is recovered from the lead beneficiary. The beneficiaries shall repay the lead beneficiary any amounts unduly paid in accordance with the agreement existing between them. If the lead beneficiary does not succeed in securing repayment from a beneficiary, the Member State on whose territory the beneficiary concerned is located shall reimburse the certifying authority for the amount unduly paid to that beneficiary. Member States participating in an operational programme under the European territorial cooperation objective may make use of the European grouping of territorial cooperation under Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) See page 19 of this Official Journal. with a view to making that grouping responsible for managing the operational programme by conferring on it the responsibilities of the managing authority and of the joint technical secretariat. In this context, each Member State shall continue to assume financial responsibility. Operations selected for operational programmes aimed at developing cross-border activities as referred to in Article 6(1) and at establishing and developing transnational cooperation as referred to in Article 6(2) shall include beneficiaries from at least two countries, of which at least one shall be a Member State, which shall cooperate in at least two of the following ways for each operation: joint development, joint implementation, joint staffing and joint financing. The selected operations fulfilling the abovementioned conditions may be implemented in a single country provided that they have been presented by entities belonging to at least two countries. The abovementioned conditions shall not apply to those actions under the PEACE Programme referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 6(1). Operations selected for operational programmes involving interregional cooperation, as referred to in Article 6(3)(a), shall include beneficiaries, at regional or local level, from at least: three Member States, or three countries, of which at least two must be Member States, where a beneficiary from a third country is involved. Operations selected for operational programmes as referred to in Article 6(3)(b) shall, whenever possible according to the type of the operation, apply the conditions set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph. The beneficiaries shall cooperate in the following ways for each operation: joint development, joint implementation, joint staffing and joint financing. In addition to the tasks referred to in Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, the monitoring committee or a steering committee reporting to it shall be responsible for selecting operations. For each operation, a lead beneficiary shall be appointed by the beneficiaries among themselves. The lead beneficiary shall assume the following responsibilities: it shall lay down the arrangements for its relations with the beneficiaries participating in the operation in an agreement comprising, inter alia, provisions guaranteeing the sound financial management of the funds allocated to the operation, including the arrangements for recovering amounts unduly paid; it shall be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the entire operation; it shall ensure that the expenditure presented by the beneficiaries participating in the operation has been incurred for the purpose of implementing the operation and corresponds to the activities agreed between those beneficiaries; it shall verify that the expenditure presented by the beneficiaries participating in the operation has been validated by the controllers; it shall be responsible for transferring the ERDF contribution to the beneficiaries participating in the operation. Each beneficiary participating in the operation shall: assume responsibility in the event of any irregularity in the expenditure which it has declared; inform the Member State in which it is located about its participation in an operation in the case that this Member State as such is not participating in the operational programme concerned. In the context of cross-border cooperation and in duly justified cases, the ERDF may finance expenditure incurred in implementing operations or parts of operations up to a limit of 20 % of the amount of its contribution to the operational programme concerned in NUTS level 3 areas adjacent to the eligible areas for the programme referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 or surrounded by such adjacent areas. In exceptional cases as agreed between the Commission and Member States, this flexibility may be extended to the NUTS level 2 areas in which the areas referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 are located. At project level, expenditure incurred by partners located outside the programme area as defined in the first subparagraph may be eligible, if the project would have difficulty in achieving its objectives without that partner's participation. In the context of transnational cooperation and in duly justified cases, the ERDF may finance expenditure incurred by partners located outside the area participating in operations up to a limit of 20 % of the amount of its contribution to the operational programme concerned, where such expenditure is for the benefit of the regions in the cooperation objective area. In the context of cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation, the ERDF may finance expenditure incurred in implementing operations or parts of operations on the territory of countries outside the European Community up to a limit of 10 % of the amount of its contribution to the operational programme concerned, where they are for the benefit of the regions of the Community. Member States shall ensure the legality and regularity of these expenditures. The managing authority shall confirm the selection of operations outside the eligible areas as referred to under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3.

← art_11__para_4__point_c__text_1 · All articles · SECTION 1 →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.