Regulation (EU) 2025/1914 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2025 amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1058 and (EU) 2021/1056 as regards specific measures to address strategic challenges in the context of the mid-term review

‘1c The resources under the specific objectives referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (a)(vii), points (b)(v), (xi) and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv), shall be programmed under dedicated priorities corresponding to the relevant policy objective. Where a programme amendment is submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2025, the Commission shall pay 20 % of the allocation to such dedicated priorities as set out in the decision approving the programme amendment as exceptional one-off pre-financing in addition to the yearly pre-financing for the programme provided for in Article 90(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and in Article 51(2), (3) and (4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1059. The exceptional one-off pre-financing shall be paid within 60 days of the adoption of the Commission decision approving the programme amendment. The amount paid as exceptional one-off pre-financing shall, pursuant to Article 90(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, be cleared from the Commission accounts no later than with the final accounting year. Any interest generated by such exceptional one-off pre-financing shall, pursuant to Article 90(6) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, be used for the programme concerned in the same way as the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund and be included in the accounts for the final accounting year. Pursuant to Article 97(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, such exceptional one-off pre-financing shall not be suspended. The pre-financing to be taken into account for the purpose of calculating amounts to be decommitted shall, pursuant to Article 105(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, include any exceptional one-off pre-financing paid. By way of derogation from Article 112(3) and (4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the maximum co-financing rate for dedicated priorities established to support the specific objectives referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (a)(vii), points (b)(v), (xi) and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv), of this Article shall be increased by 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable, not exceeding 100 %.’

‘3 The Cohesion Fund shall support PO 2 and 3, including the specific objectives set out in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, points (b)(x), (xi) and (xii) and point (c)(iii), of this Article, insofar as such support is in line with the scope of support as set out in Articles 6 and 7.’

‘5 By way of derogation from Article 49(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, for operations supported under the specific objectives referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, points (a)(vii) and (c)(iii), of this Article, the Member State concerned shall not be required to make the data relating to those operations publicly available where such disclosure is not permitted for reasons of security or public order pursuant to Article 69(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. To that end, Member States shall inform the Commission before selecting the operation concerned for support. This subparagraph is without prejudice to the rights of the Commission and of the European Court of Auditors to access the information necessary to perform their functions in relation to verifications and audits and the European Parliament’s duty to exercise political control pursuant to Article 14 TEU and monitor the implementation of the Union budget pursuant to Article 319 TFEU. Beneficiaries shall not be subject to the requirements set out in Article 50(1), points (c), (d) and (e), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 for operations linked to the specific objectives referred to in paragraph 1, points (a)(vii) and (c)(iii), of this Article where the public display of information on the support or the organisation of a communication event or activity is not required for reasons of security or public order pursuant to Article 69(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament at least once a year of the number of operations that are the subject of the derogation provided for in the second subparagraph, as well as their total cost, in an aggregated manner, with due regard to confidentiality requirements.’

‘10 The thematic concentration requirements set out in paragraph 6 of this Article shall be complied with throughout the entire programming period, including when ERDF allocations are transferred between priorities of a programme or between programmes and at the mid-term review in accordance with Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. Where a Member State submits a request for an amendment of a programme in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, amounts programmed for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, points (a)(vi) and (b)(ix) of this Regulation, as well as for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, point (a)(vii), points (b)(v), (xi), and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv), of this Regulation, may be counted towards either the amounts required for PO 1 or PO 2 or divided between the two. Where a Member State complies with the thematic concentration requirements at the level of category of regions, amounts programmed for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, points (a)(vi) and (b)(ix), as well as for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, point (a)(vii), points (b)(v), (xi), and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv), which exceed the thresholds for thematic concentration for a category of region, may be counted towards the thematic concentration thresholds in other categories of regions within the same policy objective. This paragraph shall apply solely when transferring allocations for the specific objectives referred herein from more developed regions or transition regions to less developed regions and from more developed regions to transition regions.’

‘10 In addition to the possibilities set out in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, Member States may, with the agreement of the managing authorities concerned, allocate resources from the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund to the Member State compartment of the InvestEU Fund to deploy them through the financial instrument provided for in the InvestEU Programme. Such contributions shall either be subject to the procedures set out in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and count towards the ceilings set out in that Article, or be counted cumulatively, provided that total transfers do not exceed EUR 50 million. Resources generated by or attributable to the amounts contributed to the InvestEU financial instrument in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 shall be made available to the Member State in accordance with the contribution agreement and shall be used for support under the same objective or objectives in the form of financial instruments or budgetary guarantees.

11 In addition to the possibilities set out in Article 73(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, for projects directly participating in an important project of common European interest which the Commission has found to be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3), point (b), TFEU having taken into account the Commission communication of 25 November 2021 entitled “Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest”, the managing authority may decide to grant support from the ERDF directly, provided that such operations meet the requirements set out in Article 73(2), points (a), (b) and (g), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.’

1 In 2026, the Commission shall pay 1,5 % of the total support from the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the Just Transition Fund (JTF) established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council , pursuant to the decision approving the programme amendment, as additional one-off pre-financing. That additional one-off pre-financing percentage shall be increased to 9,5 % for programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal covering one or more NUTS level 2 regions bordering Russia, Belarus or Ukraine, provided that the programme does not cover the entire territory of the Member State concerned. However, where NUTS level 2 regions bordering Russia, Belarus or Ukraine are included only in programmes covering the entire territory of the Member State concerned, the increased percentage shall also apply to such programmes.

2 The additional one off pre-financing referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply only where reallocations of at least 10 % of the financial resources of the programme to one or more of the dedicated priorities established for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, points (a)(vi), and (vii), points (b)(v),(ix), (xi), and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv), have been approved in the context of the mid-term review, provided that the request for the programme amendment is submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2025 (the “10 % threshold”). The following reallocations within the same programme shall also count towards the 10 % threshold: (a) reallocations from the ESF+ to one or more of the dedicated priorities established pursuant to Articles 12a, 12c and 12d of Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 in the context of the mid-term review; (b) reallocations from the JTF to the dedicated priorities established to support investments contributing to STEP objectives or established for the promotion of access to affordable and sustainable housing pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 in the context of the mid-term review; (c) reallocations from the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund to the dedicated priorities for the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, points (a)(vi) and (b)(ix), of this Regulation or from the ESF+ to dedicated priorities established pursuant to Article 12a of Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 or from the JTF to the dedicated priorities established to support investments contributing to STEP objectives approved in programme amendments prior to the mid-term review; (d) reallocations from the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund to the priorities established for the specific objective referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, point (b)(v), approved in programme amendments since 1 January 2025.

3 The following resources shall not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the amount corresponding to the 10 % threshold: (a) resources from the European Union Recovery Instrument referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1056; (b) the additional funding for outermost regions referred to in Article 110(1), point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060; (c) the resources reallocated to one or more of the dedicated priorities established to support the response to natural disasters pursuant to Article 12b of Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 or under the specific objective referred to in Article 3(1), point (b)(x), of this Regulation.

4 The additional one-off pre-financing which is due to the Member State and which results from programme amendments pursuant to reallocation to the priorities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be counted as payments made in 2025 for the purpose of calculating the amounts to be decommitted pursuant to Article 105 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, provided that the request for the programme amendment is submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2025.

5 By way of derogation from Article 63(2) and Article 105(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the final date for the eligibility of expenditure and decommitment shall be 31 December 2030 where programme amendments reallocating at least 10 % of the financial resources of the programme to one or more of the dedicated priorities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article have been approved.

6 Where a Member State has only one programme covering its entire territory and that programme is financed from the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund, the ESF+ and the JTF, the derogation referred to in paragraph 5 shall apply where at least 7 % of the financial resources of the programme are reallocated to one or more of the dedicated priorities established for the specific objectives referred to in paragraph 2.

7 With regard to the programmes referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Article, where Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 or one of the fund-specific Regulations establishes the final date for the purposes of the application of the performance framework, financial management, reporting and evaluation requirements, that date shall be deemed to refer to the same date in the following year. In addition, by way of derogation from Article 2, point (29), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, for such programmes the final accounting year shall be deemed to refer to the period from 1 July 2030 to 30 June 2031.

8 Member States may, in requests for programme amendments submitted pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, request the reallocation of ERDF resources programmed under the Investment for jobs and growth goal to the European Urban Initiative and to the Interregional Innovation Investments Instruments referred to, respectively, in Articles 12 and 13 of this Regulation. Reallocated resources shall be implemented for the benefit of the Member State concerned. Such reallocations shall not constitute transfers within the meaning of Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

9 In accordance with Article 40(2), point (d), and Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, requests for programme amendments to reallocate resources under the mid-term review shall be submitted only after approval by the monitoring committee. Where such reallocation concerns resources programmed under Article 28 of that Regulation, it shall follow consultation with the responsible local and regional authorities, in accordance with the European code of conduct on partnership.

10 By way of derogation from Article 112(3) and (4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the maximum co-financing rate for priorities in programmes under the Investment for jobs and growth goal covering one or more NUTS level 2 regions bordering Russia, Belarus or Ukraine shall be increased by 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable, not exceeding 100 %. The higher co-financing rate shall not apply to programmes covering the entire territory of the Member State concerned, unless those NUTS level 2 regions are included only in programmes covering the entire territory of the Member State concerned. The derogation provided for in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall apply only where reallocations of at least 10 % of the financial resources of the programme to one or more of the dedicated priorities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, have been approved, provided that the request for the programme amendment is submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2025.

11 In addition to the assessment for each programme on the outcome of the mid-term review to be submitted pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, Member States may, by 31 December 2025, resubmit a complementary assessment as well as related requests for programme amendments to the Commission, taking into account the specific objectives referred to in Article 3(1), first subparagraph, points (a)(vi), and (vii), points (b)(v),(ix), (xi), and (xii), point (c)(iii), point (d)(vii) and points (e)(iii) and (iv). The deadlines set in Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 shall apply.

12 Where the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund referred to in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 would exceed the target of 37 % of its total allocation, the amount exceeding that target may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the ERDF for the purpose of reaching the target of 30 % of its total allocation. The amounts exceeding the ERDF climate contribution target of 30 % of its total allocation may be taken into account when calculating the climate contribution of the Cohesion Fund.

‘5 Where JTF resources are programmed as priorities within a programme also containing ERDF, ESF+ or Cohesion Fund resources, in addition to the assessment for each programme on the outcome of the mid-term review to be submitted pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, Member States may resubmit to the Commission a complementary assessment as well as related requests for programme amendments, taking into account the specific objectives and supported activities introduced by Regulation (EU) 2025/1914 of the European Parliament and of the Council by 31 December 2025. The deadlines set in Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 shall apply. Such a programme may benefit from the additional one-off pre-financing referred to in Article 7a(1), first subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2021/1058, where applicable. Where such a programme benefits from an extended deadline for the eligibility of expenditure as well as for decommitment in accordance with Article 7a of Regulation (EU) 2021/1058, such extension shall also apply to the JTF resources.

6 Where JTF resources are programmed in a dedicated programme, Member States may establish dedicated priorities to support investments contributing to STEP objectives or for the promotion of access to affordable housing, in accordance with Article 8(2), first subparagraph, point (p), of this Regulation. Where at least 10 % of the financial resources of the programme is reallocated to one or more dedicated priorities referred to in the first subparagraph, the Commission shall, in 2026, pay 1,5 % of the total support from the JTF to the programme as exceptional one-off pre-financing. In addition, reallocations to dedicated priorities established to support investments contributing to STEP objectives approved in programme amendments prior to the mid-term review shall also count towards the 10 % threshold. Resources from the European Union Recovery Instrument referred to in Article 4 shall not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the amount corresponding to the 10 % of the financial resources of the programme resources. The pre-financing due to the Member State which results from programme amendments pursuant to the reallocation to priorities referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be counted as payments made in 2025 for the purpose of calculating the amounts to be decommitted pursuant to Article 105 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, provided that the request for the programme amendment is submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2025. By way of derogation from Article 63(2) and Article 105(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the final date for the eligibility of expenditure and the decommitment shall be 31 December 2030. That derogation shall apply only where programme amendments reallocating at least 10 % of the financial resources of the programme to one or more dedicated priorities as set out in the second subparagraph of this paragraph have been approved. For such programmes, where Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 establishes the final date for the purposes of the application of the performance framework, financial management, reporting and evaluation requirements, this shall be read as referring to the same date in the following year. In addition, by way of derogation from Article 2, point (29), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, for such programmes the final accounting year shall be deemed to refer to the period from 1 July 2030 to 30 June 2031. In addition to the assessment for each programme on the outcome of the mid-term review to be submitted pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, Member States may resubmit to the Commission a complementary assessment as well as related requests for programme amendments, taking into account supported activities introduced by Regulation (EU) 2025/1914 by 31 December 2025. The deadlines set in Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 shall apply.

‘2 For output indicators, baselines shall be set at zero. The milestones set for 2024 and targets set for 2029 shall be cumulative.’

Amounts corresponding to commitments suspended by measures adopted in the context of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 and amounts exceeding the flexibility amount corresponding to the specific objectives subject to a negative assessment by the Commission on the basis of the application of horizontal enabling conditions pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 shall not be subject to a programme amendment or transfer pursuant to this Regulation.

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