Commission Decision of 24 November 2015 on the coordination of the actions of the Union and of the Member States through a coordination mechanism — the Refugee Facility for Turkey

This Decision establishes a coordination mechanism — the Refugee Facility for Turkey (‘the Facility’) — to assist Turkey in addressing the immediate humanitarian and development needs of the refugees and their host communities, national and local authorities in managing and addressing the consequences of the inflow of refugees.

1 The Facility aims at coordinating and streamlining actions financed from the Union’s budget and bilateral contributions from Member States.

2 Its specific objective is to enhance the efficiency and complementarity of support provided to refugees and host communities in Turkey.

3 The Commission shall ensure that all actions undertaken under the Union’s external financing instruments as well as individual measures by Member States are complementary to those coordinated under the Facility.

1 The Commission shall coordinate the Union and Member States’ actions by setting priorities and by coordinating the allocation of resources. It will do so in accordance with the mechanism set out in Article 5 of the present Decision.

2 Through the Facility the provision of humanitarian, development and other assistance to refugees and host communities, national and local authorities in managing and addressing the consequences of the inflows of refugees will be coordinated.

3 The assistance may take the form of grants, except if the nature of the project to be financed requires another form of support, in line with Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014.

4 The Commission shall ensure that equality between men and women and the integration of the gender perspective are taken into account and promoted during the various stages of the implementation of the Facility. The Commission shall take appropriate steps to prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in obtaining access to the projects supported by the Facility.

1 The Facility shall coordinate an amount of EUR 3000000000.

2 EUR 500000000 out of the overall amount shall be financed from the EU budget, subject to subsequent individual financing decisions in accordance with Article 84(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and in accordance with its financial rules and the requirements of the respective basic act.

3 On the basis of their pledged financial contributions, Member States shall provide an amount of EUR 2500000000, in accordance with the breakdown set out in the Annex to the present Decision.

1 The steering committee of the Facility shall provide strategic guidance on the coordination of the assistance to be delivered. It shall also permanently monitor the implementation of the Facility. The steering committee shall be composed of two representatives of the Commission and one representative of each Member State. Turkey shall be member of the steering committee in an advisory capacity, so as to ensure full coordination of the actions on the ground, except for actions providing immediate humanitarian assistance. The Commission shall chair the steering committee. It shall be ensured that Member States and the Commission representatives in the Committee are not in a situation of conflict of interests, as defined by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

2 The Commission shall retain the responsibility for the final decision on the setting of priorities, on the identification of actions and on the allocation of funds, while seeking to reach a consensus whenever possible.

3 Upon proposal by the Commission, the steering committee shall draw up and adopt its rules of procedure within two months of the date of adoption of this Decision.

4 The secretariat of the facility shall be provided by the Commission.

1 The Commission shall select and coordinate the implementation of the relevant actions, in particular through ex-ante screening of proposed actions.

2 Priority will be given to actions providing immediate humanitarian, development and other assistance to refugees and host communities, national and local authorities in managing and addressing the consequences of the inflows of refugees. The Turkish authorities shall be consulted in respect to all actions other than those providing immediate humanitarian assistance. The Commission shall have regular meetings with the Member States competent authorities and the appropriate authorities in Turkey.

3 Actions and measures to be financed by the Union’s budget will be implemented in accordance with its financial rules and the requirements of the respective basic act.

4 Member States’ contributions aimed at financing actions and measures selected and coordinated in accordance with the present Decision shall be included into the Union’s budget as external assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(2)(b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. These financial contributions shall either be implemented directly by the Commission pursuant to point (a) of Article 58(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 or indirectly by entrusting budget implementation tasks to entities pursuant to Article 58(1)(c) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, including bodies governed by the private law of a Member State.

5 Actions providing immediate humanitarian assistance which are coordinated under the Facility will be selected and implemented in accordance with the principles laid down in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.

The Commission shall provide information on and promote the actions supported by the Facility so as to ensure its visibility.

1 The Commission shall keep the European Parliament and the Council regularly informed about the implementation of the Facility.

2 The Commission shall report annually to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of the Facility.

3 The Commission shall carry out an evaluation of the Facility in full coordination with the Member States by 31 December 2019.

1 This Facility is established as from 1 January 2016 for financial contributions under the budgetary years 2016 and 2017. By 21 December 2015, Member States shall communicate the timing of their contributions, including their envisaged payment schedule for 2016-17 to the Commission.

2 The Commission shall review the financial capacity, duration and nature of the funding by 31 December 2016.