Recital 23

(23) In order to help accelerate investments and provide immediate liquidity for investments supporting the STEP objectives under the ERDF, the ESF+ and the JTF, an additional amount of exceptional pre-financing should be provided in the form of a one-off payment with respect to the priorities dedicated to investments supporting the STEP objectives. The additional pre-financing should apply to the whole of the JTF allocation given the need to accelerate its implementation and the strong links of the JTF to support Member States towards the STEP objectives. The rules applicable to those amounts of exceptional pre-financing should be consistent with the rules applicable to pre-financing provided for in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. Moreover, to further incentivise the uptake of those investments and ensure their faster implementation, the possibility for an increased maximum Union co-financing rate of 100% should be available for the STEP priorities. When implementing the STEP objectives, managing authorities should be encouraged to apply certain social criteria and promote social positive outcomes, such as creating apprenticeships and quality jobs for young disadvantaged persons, in particular young persons not in employment, education or training, applying the social award criteria set out in the Directives 2014/23/EU (20), 2014/24/EU (21) and 2014/25/EU (22) of the European Parliament and of the Council, where a project is implemented by a body subject to those Directives, and paying the applicable wages as agreed through collective bargaining.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-13 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.