SECTION 4

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_18__text_1 · All articles · Article 19 →

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