Regulation 2022/562
OJ L 109 08.04.2022, p. 0001

00012/2022/LEX

Debate in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted by 562 votes to 2, with 3 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE).

Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure, taking over the Commission's proposal.

The proposal for a Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) will enable Member States and regions to provide emergency assistance to people fleeing Ukraine after its invasion by Russia . These needs include access to services such as temporary accommodation, food and water supplies or medical care. The CARE action can also strengthen the capacity of Member States by contributing, for example, to the provision of additional staff or infrastructure equipment needed to meet the needs of refugees.

This initiative will provide increased flexibility to fund a wide range of measures for people fleeing Ukraine under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).

For example, these cohesion funds can be used for investments in education, employment, housing, health and childcare and, in the case of the EDF, for basic material assistance such as food and clothing.

The 2022 envelope of EUR 10 billion of the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (‘REACT-EU') funds can also be used to address these new demands within the overall aim of post-pandemic recovery.

The changes to the cohesion policy rules and the FEAD regulation aim to make it as quick and easy as possible for Member States to provide assistance to people fleeing Ukraine, while continuing to support the recovery of the regions. They introduce the following changes:

- to ease national budgetary pressures, notably due to the extended impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibility of 100% EU co-financing for 2014-2020 Cohesion policy funding will be extended for the accounting year 2021-2022;

- Member States and regions will have the possibility to use resources from either the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF) or the European Social Fund (ESF) for any type of measures to support people fleeing Ukraine. Thanks to this flexibility either fund will also be able to support projects even if these would normally be funded by the other one;

- Member State spending on all actions helping people fleeing Ukraine will be eligible for EU support retroactively as of the start date of the Russian invasion (24 February 2022);

- the reporting and the programme modifications will be simplified.

T9-0083/2022

CES1409/2022

PURPOSE: facilitate the use of resources from the cohesion policy and the European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) to support measures to address migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by Russia.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: Russia’s recent military aggression against Ukraine and the ongoing armed conflict has fundamentally changed the security situation in Europe. As a result of the aggression, the European Union, and its eastern regions in particular, is facing a substantial inflow of persons.

Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted longer than could have been expected in 2020. The direct and indirect effects of the pandemic persist in all Member States, requiring prolonged public support for recovery in the most affected territories and economic sectors. This has put considerable pressure on Member States' budgets.

While the flexibility and additional resources provided for the period 2014-2020 have helped Member States in their crisis response and recovery efforts, the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus, notably the Omicron variant, as well as the general tightening of restrictions in the last quarter of 2021, have continued to have serious negative effects on Member States’ economies and societies and hampered a normal implementation of cohesion policy programmes and of programmes supported by the FEAD.

The recent military aggression by Russia and the resulting migration flows have exacerbated these effects and risk further undermining economic recovery.

Therefore, support from the Funds should be mobilised quickly to ease the burden on national budgets.

CONTENT: the proposal aims to:

- facilitate the use of cohesion policy and FEAD resources by Member States and regions to support measures to address migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by Russia; and

- allow for a derogation from the normal co-financing rules currently applicable in order to allow for the necessary flexibility to mobilise existing investment resources to address the direct and indirect effects stemming from the unprecedented public health crisis in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, it is proposed to amend Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 in order to:

- ensure that Member States and regions may continue to benefit from a 100% EU co-financing rate for the accounting year 2021-2022 and this by way of notification to the Commission;

- introduce arrangements for the budgetary execution of additional payments resulting from the application of the 100% co-financing rate to take account of annual ceilings for payments;

- introduce additional flexibility between ERDF and ESF specifically for operations addressing the migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by Russia and introduce simplified reporting arrangements on participants with a retroactive start date of eligibility of support set at 24 February 2022 (date of the start of the military aggression);

- introduce flexibility for Member States to amend programmes supported by the FEAD and this by way of notification to the Commission and also with a retroactive start date of eligibility of support set at 24 February 2022.

Budgetary implications

The proposed modification does not require changes in the Multiannual Financial Framework annual ceilings for commitments and payments and does not imply changes to the overall payment needs over the 2021-2027 period.

Based on the previous uptake of the 100% co-financing rate in the 2020-2021 accounting year, the level of payment applications submitted in the second half of 2021, and the latest Member State payment forecasts for 2022, the budgetary impact of the application of the 100% co-financing rate for the 2021-2022 accounting year is estimated to represent a frontloading of payment needs of EUR 9 billion to 2022 and EUR 1 billion to 2023, compensated by a corresponding reduction of EUR 10 billion in 2024.

However, in order to be able to comply with the payment ceilings in years 2022 and 2023, it is proposed to cap the total additional payments resulting from the application of the 100% co-financing rate at EUR 5 billion in 2022 and EUR 1 billion in 2023. The additional amounts will only be paid after all the payment applications are received for the accounting year 2021-2022.

EUR-Lex
COM(2022)0109