Regulation (EU) 2022/2039 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) 2021/1060 as regards additional flexibility to address the consequences of the military aggression of the Russian Federation FAST (Flexible Assistance for Territories) – CARE

‘6 By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, for programmes supported by the ERDF, the ESF or the Cohesion Fund, the Member State may transfer financial allocations between different thematic objectives within the same priority of the same Fund and category of region of the same programme. Such transfers shall be considered to be not substantial and shall not require a decision of the Commission amending the programme. Nevertheless, these transfers shall comply with all regulatory requirements and shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance. The Member State shall notify the revised financial tables to the Commission.

7 By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the application of a co-financing rate of up to 100 % pursuant to Article 120(9) to a priority axis promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals that has been established within a programme, including those dedicated to operations addressing migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation shall not require a decision of the Commission amending the programme. The amendment shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance. The Member State shall notify the revised financial tables to the Commission.’;

‘10a Paragraph 6 shall not apply to operations addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation. Paragraph 6 shall also not apply to operations supported by the EMFF addressing the consequences of that aggression on the fisheries and aquaculture sector. By way of derogation from Article 125(3), point (b), such operations may be selected for support by the ERDF, the ESF, the Cohesion Fund or the EMFF prior to the approval of the amended programme.’;

‘4 Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to operations supported by the ESF, with the exception of the fourth subparagraph of paragraph 2.’;

‘10 Without prejudice to Article 30(5), (6) and (7), the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, approving all the elements, including any of its future amendments, of the operational programme falling under this Article, except those falling under points (b)(vi), (c)(v) and (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, paragraphs 4 and 5, points (a) and (c) of paragraph 6, and paragraph 7, which remain under the responsibility of the Member States.’;

‘9 A separate priority axis promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals with a co-financing rate of up to 100 % may be established within an operational programme. Such a priority axis may be entirely dedicated to operations addressing migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation, including the dedicated priority axis referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 98(4).’;

‘5 The amount paid as pre-financing for the years 2021 and 2022, with the exception of the additional pre-financing referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be cleared from the Commission accounts each year. All other amounts paid as pre-financing shall be cleared from the Commission accounts no later than with the final accounting year in accordance with Article 100.’;

‘7 Where a separate priority is established within a programme to support operations promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals, a co-financing rate of up to 100 % shall be applied to expenditure declared in payment applications until the end of the accounting year ending on 30 June 2024. After that date, the co-financing rate set out in the programme in accordance with the maximum co-financing rates listed under paragraphs 3 and 4 shall apply. The total amount programmed under such priorities in a Member State shall not exceed 5 % of the initial national allocation from the ERDF and the ESF+ combined. The Commission shall review the co-financing rate by 30 June 2024. At least 30 % of the financial allocation of such a separate priority shall be attributed to operations which have beneficiaries that are local authorities or civil society organisations operating in local communities. Member States shall report on the fulfilment of that condition in the final performance report required under Article 43. Where that condition is not fulfilled, reimbursement by the Commission under the priority concerned shall be reduced proportionately to ensure that that condition is respected when calculating the final balance to be paid to the programme.’;

1 Notwithstanding Article 118, where an operation with a total cost exceeding EUR 1000000 was selected for support and started before 29 June 2022 under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Fund-specific Regulations (EU) No 1301/2013 , (EU) No 1304/2013 , (EU) No 1300/2013 , (EU) No 1299/2013 and (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, that operation shall be deemed eligible for support under this Regulation and the corresponding Fund-specific Regulations in the 2021–2027 programming period. By way of derogation from Article 73(1) and (2), the managing authority may decide to grant support to such an operation under this Regulation directly, provided that the following conditions are met: (a) the operation has two phases that are identifiable from a financial point of view with separate audit trails; (b) the operation falls within actions programmed under a relevant specific objective and is attributed to a type of intervention in accordance with Annex I; (c) expenditure included in a payment application in relation to the first phase is not included under any payment applications in relation to the second phase; (d) the Member State commits to complete during the programming period and render operational the second and final phase in the final implementation report, or in the context of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in the last annual implementation report, submitted in accordance with Article 141 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

2 This Article shall not apply to operations addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation that are supported by making use of the possibility provided under the first and second subparagraphs of Article 98(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.