THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the second paragraph of Article 177 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
Whereas:
(1)
The first paragraph of Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the Union is to develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion. The Cohesion Fund which is established by this Regulation should, therefore, provide a financial contribution to projects in the fields of environment and trans-European networks in the area of transport infrastructure.
(2)
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out provisions common to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. That Regulation constitutes a new framework for the European Structural and Investment Funds including the Cohesion Fund. It is necessary, therefore, to specify the tasks of the Cohesion Fund in relation to that framework and in relation to the purpose assigned to the Cohesion Fund in the TFEU.
(3)
Specific provisions concerning the type of activities which can be supported by the Cohesion Fund, in order to contribute to the investment priorities within the thematic objectives set out in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, should be laid down.
(4)
The Union should be able to contribute, through the Cohesion Fund, to actions in pursuit of its environmental objectives, in accordance with Articles 11 and 191 TFEU, namely energy efficiency and renewable energy and, in the transport sector outside the trans-European networks, rail, river and sea transport, intermodal transport systems and their interoperability, management of road, sea and air traffic, clean urban transport and public transport.
(5)
It should be recalled that where measures based on Article 192(1) TFEU involve costs deemed disproportionate for the public authorities of a Member State and financial support from the Cohesion Fund is provided in accordance with Article 192(5) TFEU, the polluter pays principle is nevertheless to apply.
(6)
Trans-European transport network (TEN-T) projects supported by the Cohesion Fund are to comply with the guidelines established in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In order to concentrate efforts in that regard, priority should be given to projects of common interest as defined in that Regulation.
(7)
Investment to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council should not be eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund as it already benefits financially from the application of that Directive. That exclusion should not restrict the possibility of using the Cohesion Fund to support activities that are not listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC even if those activities are implemented by the same economic operators, and include activities such as energy efficiency investment in the co-generation of heat and power and in district heating networks, smart energy distribution, storage and transmission systems and measures aimed at reducing air pollution, even if one of the indirect effects of such activities is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, or if they are listed in the national plan referred to in Directive 2003/87/EC.
(8)
It is not possible for investment in housing, other than that related to the promotion of energy efficiency or renewable energy use, to be eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund as it falls outside the scope of support from the Cohesion Fund as defined in the TFEU.
(9)
In order to accelerate the development of transport infrastructure across the Union, the Cohesion Fund should support transport infrastructure projects of European added value provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council for a total amount of EUR 10 000 000 000. The allocation of support from the Cohesion Fund to those projects should comply with the rules established under Article 92(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013, support should be available only to Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund, with the co-financing rates applicable to that Fund.
(10)
It is important to ensure that, in promoting risk management investment, specific risks at regional, cross-border and transnational level are taken into account.
(11)
Complementarity and synergies between interventions supported by the Cohesion Fund, the ERDF, the European territorial cooperation goal and the Connecting Europe Facility should be ensured, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and to guarantee the optimal linkage of different types of infrastructure at local, regional and national level, and throughout the Union.
(12)
In order to address the specific needs of the Cohesion Fund, and in line with the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, it is necessary to set out within each thematic objective laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the Cohesion Fund-specific actions as 'investment priorities'. Those investment priorities should set out detailed objectives, which are not mutually exclusive, to which the Cohesion Fund is to contribute. Such investment priorities should form the basis for the definition of specific objectives within operational programmes that take into account the needs and characteristics of the programme area. In order to increase flexibility and reduce the administrative burden through joint implementation, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund investment priorities under the corresponding thematic objectives should be aligned.
(13)
A common set of output indicators to assess the aggregated progress at Union level of the implementation of operational programmes should be set out in an Annex to this Regulation. Those indicators should correspond to the investment priority and type of action supported in accordance with this Regulation and the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The common output indicators should be complemented by programme-specific result indicators and, where relevant, by programme-specific output indicators.
(14)
In order to amend this Regulation with regard to certain non-essential elements, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the amendment of the list of common output indicators set out in Annex I to this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and the Council.
(15)
Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union in the interests of promoting sustainable development, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the extent of the disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions and the limit on the financial resources of the Member States and regions, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(16)
Since this Regulation replaces Council Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006, that Regulation should be repealed. However, this Regulation should not affect either the continuation or modification of assistance approved by the Commission on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 or any other legislation applying to that assistance on 31 December 2013. That Regulation or such other applicable legislation should consequently continue to apply after 31 December 2013 to that assistance or the operations concerned until their closure. Applications to receive assistance made or approved under Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 should remain valid.
(17)
In order to allow for the prompt application of the measures provided for in this Regulation, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,
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