Overwegingen bij COM(2025)552 - European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund as part of the Fund set out in Regulation (EU) […] [NRP] and establishing conditions for the implementation of the Union support to regional development from 2028 to 2034 - Hoofdinhoud
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| dossier | COM(2025)552 - European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund as ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2025)552  |
| datum | 16 juli 2025 |
(2) The Cohesion Fund was set up in order to contribute to the overall objective of strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union by providing financial contributions in the fields of environment and trans-European networks in the area of transport infrastructure (TEN-T), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 11 .
(3) This Union support under the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund is to be provided under the National and Regional Partnership Fund, in accordance with the rules governing that Fund and set out in Regulation (EU) [NRP Regulation] of the European Parliament and of the Council 12 .
(4) Regulation (EU) XX [NRP Regulation] sets out common rules applicable to various funds including the ERDF, the European Social Fund (‘ESF’), the Cohesion Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (‘EMFF’), the Asylum and Migration Fund (‘AMIF’), the Internal Security Fund (‘ISF’) and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (‘BMVI’) which operate under a common framework (‘the Funds’).
(5) Horizontal principles as set out in Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union (‘TEU’) and in Article 10 of the TFEU, including principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the TEU, should be respected in the implementation of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, taking into account the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Member States should also respect the obligations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ensure accessibility in line with its Article 9 and in accordance with the Union law harmonising accessibility requirements for products and services. Member States and the Commission should aim at eliminating inequalities and at promoting equality between men and women and integrating the gender perspective, as well as at combating discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The Funds should not support actions that contribute to any form of segregation. The objectives of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should be pursued in the framework of sustainable development and the Union’s promotion of the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment as set out in Articles 11 and 191(1) of the TFEU, taking into account the polluter pays principle. In order to protect the integrity of the internal market, operations benefitting undertakings shall comply with State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU.
(6) The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should contribute to the specific policy objectives set out in Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EU) [NRP Regulation], within their respective scopes set out in the Treaties. It is necessary to further specify the possibilities for support from the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund for disadvantaged areas, urban areas and the outermost regions. Furthermore, it is necessary to lay down provisions for the implementation of European territorial cooperation (Interreg).
(7) In line with the principle of intergenerational fairness and the Union’s commitment to the rights of the child and the Youth Strategy, the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund should support measures that contribute to sustainable development for future generations, promote access to opportunities for young people across all territories, and address the specific needs of youth in disadvantaged areas, particularly in disadvantaged and depopulating regions, including infrastructure for skills, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainable livelihoods and culture or sports. Such support may be implemented via integrated urban or local strategies.
(8) Member States and particularly those with significant Roma population challenges shall pay specific attention to Roma equality and inclusion. Support should not be provided for actions that contribute to any form of segregation or exclusion of persons with disabilities and rationalised communities such as Roma.
(9) In view of promoting sustainable urban development, it is considered necessary to support integrated territorial development in order to more effectively tackle the economic, environmental, climate, demographic and social challenges affecting urban areas, including functional urban areas, while taking into account the need to promote urban-rural linkages. Measures reflecting these approaches should be established in appropriate chapters of the National and Regional Partnership Plans.
(10) Specific attention should be paid to outermost regions, namely by adopting measures under Article 349 of the TFEU providing for measures for the outermost regions to offset the additional costs incurred in these regions as a result of one or several of the permanent restraints referred to in Article 349 of the TFEU, namely remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development. In order to protect the integrity of the internal market, and as is the case for all operations co-financed by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, any ERDF support to the financing of operating and investment aid in the outermost regions should comply with State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 of the TFEU.
(11) In order to support the harmonious development of the Union’s territory at different levels, the ERDF under Interreg should support cross-border cooperation, transnational cooperation, interregional cooperation, and outermost regions’ cooperation.
(12) Interreg should be implemented outside the National and Regional Partnership Plans, in the form of an Interreg Plan in view of providing for the specific context of the cooperation objective and the necessary implementation modalities for multi-country projects including specificities of the four strands.
(13) The ERDF under Interreg may contribute to all specific objectives. In addition, it should contribute to additional specific objectives to address specific issues for “better cooperation governance”, “a safer and more secure Europe” and “more resilient regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine”. In order to enable the ERDF to provide support under Interreg in terms of both investments in infrastructure and the associated investments, training and integration activities, it is necessary to provide that the ERDF may also provide support for activities under the specific objectives set out in Article [3(1)(c) - Specific objectives on social] of Regulation (EU) [NRP Regulation].
(14) Implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt and amend the lists of Interreg chapters and the list of the global amount from Union support for each Interreg chapter. These implementing powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers. Although these acts are of a general nature, the advisory procedure should be used given that they only implement the provisions in a technical way. The decision approving the relevant Interreg Plan chapter should constitute a financing decision within the meaning of Article 110(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council 13 .
(15) In addition, Member States should also prepare chapters in view of setting out essential programming elements for the implementation of support. These chapters should be subject to approval by the Commission at regular intervals.
(16) For the most efficient use of the support from the ERDF and the external financing instruments of the Union, a mechanism should be set up to organise the return of such support in cases where external cooperation programmes cannot be adopted or have to be discontinued, including with third countries which do not receive support from any financing instrument of the Union. That mechanism should seek to achieve optimal functioning of the programmes and the maximum possible coordination between those instruments.
(17) In order to encourage and boost cooperation measures, cooperation activities between partners within a given Member State or between different Member States in relation to support provided should remain possible under all of the specific objectives. Such enhanced cooperation is additional to the cooperation under Interreg and may involve partners from any region in the Union, but may also include cross-border regions and regions which are all covered by a macro-regional or sea-basin strategy or a combination of the two.
(18) Within the context of the unique and specific circumstances on the island of Ireland, and with a view to supporting North-South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement, a new ‘PEACE PLUS’ cross-border chapter should continue and build on the work of previous programmes between the border counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Taking into account its practical importance, it is necessary to ensure that, in supporting actions for peace and reconciliation, the ERDF should also contribute to promoting social, economic and regional stability in the regions concerned, in particular through actions to promote cohesion between communities. Given the specificities of the programme it should be managed in an integrated manner with the United Kingdom contribution being integrated into the programme as external assigned revenue.
(19) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to reinforce economic, social and territorial cohesion by redressing the main regional imbalances in the Union, 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 TEU. 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.