TITLE IV

The co-financing rate at the level of the operational programme amounts up to 85 % of the eligible public expenditure. It may be increased in the cases described in Article 21(1). Member States shall be free to support the Fund's initiatives with additional national resources. The Commission decision adopting an operational programme shall fix the co-financing rate applicable to the operational programme and the maximum amount of support from the Fund. The technical assistance measures implemented at the initiative of, or on behalf of, the Commission may be financed at the rate of 100 %. At the request of a Member State, interim payments and payments of the final balance may be increased by 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable to the operational programme. The increased rate, which can not exceed 100 %, shall apply to requests for payment relating to the accounting period in which the Member State has submitted its request and subsequent accounting periods during which the Member State meets one of the following conditions: where the Member State concerned has adopted the euro, it receives macro-financial assistance from the Union in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism (OJ L 118, 12.5.2010, p. 1). ; where the Member State concerned has not adopted the euro, it receives medium-term financial assistance in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments (OJ L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 1). ; financial assistance is made available to it in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, Union support through interim payments and payments of the final balance shall not be higher than the public support and the maximum amount of support from the Fund, as laid down in the Commission decision approving the operational programme. This Article shall be without prejudice to the rules on eligibility of technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission as set out in Article 27. Expenditure shall be eligible for a support from an operational programme if it is incurred by a beneficiary and paid between 1 December 2013 and 31 December 2023. Operations shall not be selected for support by an operational programme where they have been physically completed or fully implemented before the application for funding under the operational programme has been submitted by the beneficiary to the managing authority, irrespective of whether all related payments have been made by the beneficiary. In the case of amendment of an operational programme, expenditure that becomes eligible because of the amendment to the operational programme shall only be eligible from the date of submission of the request for amendment by the Member State to the Commission. Operations supported by an operational programme shall be located in the Member State covered by the operational programme. Operations may receive support from an operational programme provided that they have been selected in accordance with a fair and transparent procedure and on the basis of either of the criteria laid down in the operational programme or approved by the monitoring committee as appropriate. The selection criteria and lists of operations selected for support from an OP II shall be communicated upon adoption to the monitoring committees of the operational programmes co-financed by the ESF. The food and/or basic material assistance for the most deprived persons may be purchased by the partner organisations themselves. The food and/or basic material assistance for the most deprived persons may also be purchased by a public body and made available free of charge to the partner organisations. In that case, the food may be obtained from the use, processing or sale of the products disposed of in accordance with Article 16(2)of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, provided that this is economically the most favourable option and does not unduly delay the delivery of the food products to the partner organisations. Any amount derived from such a transaction shall be used for the benefit of the most deprived persons, and shall not be applied so as to diminish the obligation of the Member States, provided in Article 20 of this Regulation, to co-finance the programme. The Commission shall apply the procedures adopted pursuant to point (i) of Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by which the products referred to therein may be used, processed or sold for the purposes of this Regulation, in order to ensure their maximum efficiency. That food and/or basic material assistance shall be distributed free of charge to the most deprived persons. An operation supported by the Fund shall not receive support from more than one operational programme co-financed by the Fund or from another Union instrument in order to avoid double funding. The Fund shall be used by Member States to provide support in the forms of grants, procurement or a combination thereof. However, that support shall not take the form of aid falling under Article 107(1) TFEU. Grants may take the following forms: reimbursement of eligible costs actually incurred and paid; reimbursement on the basis of unit costs; lump sums not exceeding EUR 100000 of public support; flat-rate financing, determined by the application of a percentage to one or several defined categories of costs. The options referred to in paragraph 1 may be combined in respect of a single operation only where each option is applied to different categories of costs or where they are used for successive phases thereof. The amounts referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 1 shall be established on the basis of: a fair, equitable and verifiable calculation method based on one of the following: statistical data or other objective information; the verified historical data of individual beneficiaries or the application of their usual cost accounting practices; methods and corresponding unit costs, lump sums and flat-rate financing applied under schemes for grants funded entirely by the Member State concerned for a similar type of operation and beneficiary; rates established by this Regulation; a case-by-case basis by reference to a draft budget agreed ex ante by the managing authority, where public support does not exceed EUR 100000. The amounts calculated in the forms of grants referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 1 shall be regarded as eligible expenditure incurred and paid by the beneficiary for the purpose of applying Title VI. The document setting out the conditions for support for each operation shall set out the method to be applied for determining the costs of the operation and the conditions for payment of the grant. The eligibility of expenditure shall be determined on the basis of national rules, except where specific rules are laid down in or on the basis of this Regulation. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the costs eligible for a support from OP I shall be: the costs of purchasing food and/or basic material assistance; where a public body purchases the food or basic material assistance and provides them to partner organisations, the costs of transporting food or basic material assistance to the storage depots of the partner organisations and storage costs at a flat-rate of 1 % of the costs referred to in point (a) or, in duly justified cases, costs actually incurred and paid; the administrative, transport and storage costs borne by the partner organisations at a flat-rate of 5 % of the costs referred to in point (a); or 5 % of the value of the food products disposed of in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013; the cost of collection, transport, storage and distribution of food donations and directly related awareness raising activities, incurred and paid for by partner organisations; the costs of accompanying measures undertaken and declared by the partner organisations delivering directly or under cooperation agreements the food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived persons at a flat-rate of 5 % of the costs referred to in point (a). Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the costs eligible for support from an operational programme shall be the costs incurred pursuant to Article 27(4) or, for indirect costs incurred pursuant to Article 27(4), a flat-rate of up to 15 % of eligible direct staff costs. The following costs shall not be eligible for a support from the operational programme: interest on debt; provision of infrastructure; costs of second-hand goods; value added tax except where it is non-recoverable under national VAT legislation. At the initiative of, or on behalf of the Commission, and subject to a ceiling of 0,35 % of its annual allocation, the Fund may finance preparation, monitoring, administrative and technical assistance, audit, information, control and evaluation measures necessary for implementing this Regulation as well as for activities pursuant to Article 10. The Commission shall consult the Member States and the organisations which represent the partner organisations at Union level on the planned use of technical assistance. The Commission shall set out each year its plans on the type of actions related to the measures listed in paragraph 1, when a contribution from the Fund is envisaged, by means of implementing acts. At the initiative of the Member States, and subject to a ceiling of 5 % of the Fund allocation, the operational programme may finance preparation, management, monitoring, administrative and technical assistance, audit, information, control and evaluation measures necessary for implementing this Regulation. It may also finance technical assistance and capacity building of partner organisations.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.