The Commission presented a report concerning the implementation of the Structural Funds 2000-2006 assistance during 2011.

The report shows that the 2011 budget was fully utilised .

In addition to the implementation of 2000-2006 Structural Funds programmes and projects and preparation for their closure, the Commission was also involved in the implementation of 434 programmes [317 under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and, 117 under the European Social Fund (ESF)] that relate to the 2007-2013 programming period.

Sharing of experience was promoted, notably through interregional and urban networks and the conference 'Regions for Economic Change: Fostering Smart and Sustainable Growth in Cities and Regions' on 23-24 June 2011.

Analysis of implementation:

- ERDF: in 2011, budgetary execution was focused on closing the 2000-2006 programmes. The overall absorption rate reached 100% or EUR 1 457 million (incl. technical assistance) reimbursed to programmes.

In respect of the entire 2000-2006 period, EUR 124 308 million had been paid to Member States as of 31 December 2011. This represents an average absorption rate for all Member States of 96 % of the overall allocation of EUR 129 584 million. The remaining payments concern payments of balances for the closure of programmes.

- ESF: for the 2000-2006 period, there are 239 ESF operational programmes to be closed. Closure documents for all 239 programmes were submitted in due time and are admissible. Up to now, 212 WUDs and 214 final reports have been accepted. 84 closures files have been completed, representing a total amount of EUR 445 million. The payment-credits' consumption during 2011 reached EUR 437 million .

For the whole period, EUR 64 492 million had been paid to Member States as at the end of 2011. This represents an absorption rate for all Member States of 94.09 % of the overall allocation of EUR 68 600 million.

- EAGGF: the total amount paid in 2011 for EAGGF Guidance programmes was EUR 499.68 million , of which EUR 8.8 million was paid from assigned revenue. Finally, 90.2 % of the 2011 available appropriations were used for payments. Implementation of the 2000-2006 programmes was accomplished before 2011. The EAGGF-Guidance outstanding commitments (RAL) at the end of 2011 amounted to EUR 632.3 million, equivalent to 2.9 % of the whole 2000-2006 allocation.

- FIFG: the overall absorption rate for payments was 29.03 %, with EUR 0.7 million being disbursed to Member States. The total RAL for the FIFG at the end of 2011 reached EUR 295.7 million (compared with EUR 296.44 million in 2010). This represents 7.4% of total commitments for the 2000-2006 period.

For the whole period, as at the end of 2011, EUR 3 640 million had been paid to Member States. This represents an absorption rate for all Member States of 92.5 % of the overall allocation of EUR 3 935 million.

Consistency with other EU policies: previous reports have described relevant developments in relation to ensuring consistency between the cohesion policy and other EU policy priorities such as competition policy, internal market, environment, transport and gender-equality objectives. There were no specific changes in requirements or expectations on managing authorities as the 2000-2006 programmes entered the closure phase.

Evaluations: in 2011, the Commission continued to carry out evaluations to support decision-making on Structural Funds' matters. However, most of the evaluations concerning the period 2000-2006 were finished in 2010.

As far as the ERDF is concerned, a study on evaluating innovation activities, to determine the state of the art of innovation evaluation in Member States, analyse the advantages and limitations of available methodologies for assessing different kinds of innovation activities, conduct a series of case studies on good-quality evaluations, and draft guidance for managing authorities to support their evaluation activities.

Controls: the report shows that assurance with regard to the 2000-2006 ERDF programmes has been built up gradually over the years. In 2011, OLAF undertook 29 missions in the Member States relating to measures cofinanced by the Structural Funds. During these missions on-the-spot checks were carried out on 57 economic operators and 18 other types of missions were carried out to gather information or to assist either national administrations or judicial authorities. As was the case in previous years, typical problems identified by OLAF in the course of 2011 included false declarations, false invoicing and failure to abide by public-procurement rules, as well as specified instances of conflict of interest in certain tendering procedures.

In 2011, Member States reported to the Commission some 3 816 notifications of irregularities involving EUR 1.177 billion concerning co-financed measures of the 1994-99, 2000-2006 and 2007-2013 programming periods.

COM(2012)0633
EUR-Lex

COM(2011)0693

The Commission presents its 22nd annual report on the implementation of the Structural Funds (2010) in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds. It covers the activities linked to Structural Funds Budget. 2010 was the eleventh year in which Structural Funds programmes and projects for the 2000-2006 programming period were implemented. Altogether 7181 operational programmes were managed in 2010.

In 2010, the closure process began for the majority of the 2000-2006 operational programmes.

The recovery package proposed by the Commission in response to the financial crisis allowed for an extension of six (or twelve) months to be granted on a programme-by-programme basis for those Member States, which opted for it. This flexibility allowed Member States and regions to maximise the absorption of the allocated funds by addressing unexpected programme implementation challenges and, consequently, achieve the objectives of the programmes.

In addition to the implementation of 2000-2006 Structural Funds programmes and projects and preparation for their closure, the Commission was also heavily involved in the implementation of 434 programmes (317 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 117 European Social Fund (ESF)) of the 2007-2013 period in 2010.

In order to be able to demonstrate the added value of European cohesion policy, the Commission carried out several ex post evaluations, which are described in the report.

The report looks at budget and programme implementation, and describes control and monitoring activity.

Budget Implementation

ERDF : in spite of the financial downturn, 2010 was an excellent year in terms of budgetary execution. The overall absorption rate reached 100.0% or EUR 1,693 million reimbursed to operational programmes.

For the entire 2000-2006 period, EUR 123,339 million have been paid to Member States as of 31 December 2010. This represents an average absorption rate for all Member States of 95.2% of the EUR 129,600 million overall allocation. Most of the remaining payments concern payments of the final balances for the closure of programmes.

At the end of 2010, commitments from previous years on which payments were still to be made (RAL) amounted to EUR 6,719 million for ERDF compared with EUR 8,400 million at end of 2009. This represents 5.2% of the total amount committed for ERDF. A further decrease of the RAL is foreseen with the payment of final balances upon closure of the programmes.

In 2010, as in the previous year, the ‘n+2’ rule did not apply. As a general rule, the last commitment tranche (i.e. 2006) will be used to execute final payments once the closure of the programme is agreed between the Member State and the Commission. Accordingly, the amount to be de-committed will only be calculated at the closure stage of the operational programmes.

ESF : for the 2000-2006 programming period, the payment credits consumption during 2010 reached EUR 319 million. This corresponds to 26.42 % of the annual payment credits allocation. This is due to the fact most of the programmes have reached the 95% threshold and the remaining balance will only be paid in the context of closure of the programmes which is currently on-going.

The total outstanding commitments (RAL) at the end of 2010 stood at EUR 3,004 million (compared to EUR 4,700 million in 2009). This represents 4.38% of total commitments for the period 2000-2006. The RAL has been consumed by interim payments, a few final payments and an automatic de-commitment of the unused RAL has been processed for an amount of EUR 1,460 million under the closure exercise.

In 2010, as in the previous year, the ‘n+2’ rule did not apply and the RAL has been decreased by de-commitments for the programming period 2000-2006 at the closure of the operational programmes. For the whole period, at the end of 2010 EUR 64,118 million have been paid to Member States. This represents an absorption rate for all Member States of 93.47% of the EUR 68,600 million overall allocations.

EAGGF : the total amount paid in 2010 was EUR 168.3 million or 30.7% of the budget available at the end of the year (an amount of EUR 13.9 million was transferred during the year to other budget lines outside the EAGGF). The execution rate as regards the initial budget for payment appropriations would be 29.9%. In absolute terms, the amount paid in 2010 is far below the amount paid in 2009 (by EUR 300 million). The report sets out the main reasons for this, noting, inter alia, that the low EAGGF-Guidance expenditure in 2010 was very largely compensated by EUR 11.12 billion of EAFRD expenditure under the rural development programming 2007-2013 (which is EUR 2.91 billion more than in the year 2009).

FIFG : the overall absorption rate for payments was 100%, with EUR 10 million being disbursed to Member States. Concerning the execution level of payment appropriations, EUR 10 million was paid under Objective 1. No payment was made outside Objective 1. The total RAL for the FIFG at the end of 2010 reached EUR 296.44 million (compared with EUR 306.41 million in 2009). This represents 7.5% of total commitments for the period 2000-2006.

For the whole period, as at the end of 2010, EUR 3,639 million have been paid to Member States. This represents an absorption rate for all Member States of 92.5% of the EUR 3,935 million overall allocations.

Programme Implementation

Objective 1 : programmes focused on basic infrastructure projects (40.2%), with almost half of all investment in this category spent on transport infrastructure (49.9%). More than a third (34.9%) of Objective 1 resources was invested in the productive environment where the focus continues to be on assisting SME and the craft sector (26.6%) where as human resources supported projects account for 22.5% of resources.

Objective 2 : the main focus of programmes in Objective 2 regions continues to be on the productive investments, with over half of all financial resources devoted to this category (55.4%) mostly targeting the SME and craft sector. The second most supported field is basic infrastructure, with 29.2% of all Objective 2 resources. In the category of human resources to which 10.5% or resources were devoted, workforce flexibility and entrepreneurial activity, innovation, information and communication technologies are the main fields of investment.

Objective 3 : ESF programme implementation in 2010 continued to be focused on the European Employment Strategy, particularly on the measures aimed at improving employability in the labour market (30.9% of certified expenditure), lifelong learning (activities developing educational and vocational training represented 31.2 % of certified expenditure), social inclusion (13.3 % of certified expenditure), equal opportunities (5.2 % of certified expenditure) and entrepreneurial activities, workforce flexibility, innovation, information and communication technologies (19.05%).

Fisheries outside Objective 1 : expenditure of the FIFG programmes outside Objective 1 focussed on processing, marketing and promoting of fisheries products (26.7%). The second most important measure was adjustment of the fishing effort (17.8%), followed by the renewal and modernisation of the fishing fleet (17.5%), fishing port facilities (16.9%) and actions by professionals (vocational training, small coastal fishing) (12.8%).

COM(2011)0693
EUR-Lex

In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999, the Commission presents this report setting out an overview of the implementation of the Structural Funds (2000-2006) in 2010.

It notes that 2010 was the eleventh year in which Structural Funds programmes and projects for the 2000-2006 programming period were implemented. Altogether 226 Objective 1 and Objective 2, 47 Objective 3, 12 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) (outside Objective 1), 81 INTERREG, 71 URBAN, 27 EQUAL, 73 LEADER+ and 181 Innovative Action programmes were managed in 2010.

Even though no further commitments could be made in 2010, sums were disbursed in respect of 2000-2006 Structural Funds assistance. Implementation of the 2010 budget was excellent. In terms of payment appropriations, 100.0% of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 97.0% of the European Social Fund (ESF), 30.7% of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)-Guidance budget available at the end of 2010 (after a reduction of EUR 13.9 million and 100.0% of FIFG resources were used (compared to 100.0% ERDF, 97.0% ESF, 97.9% EAGGF and 69.5% FIFG in 2009).

The recovery package proposed by the Commission in response to the financial crisis allowed for an extension of six (or twelve) months to be granted on a programme-by-programme basis for those Member States, which opted for it. This flexibility allowed Member States and regions to maximise the absorption of the allocated funds by addressing unexpected programme implementation challenges and, consequently, achieve the objectives of the programmes.

SEC(2011)1308
EUR-Lex

The European Commission has prepared a legal examination detailing and assessing the separation of responsibility between the Community and Member States for managing the Structural and Cohesion Fund's budget. The Report scrutinizes the procedures through which, in co-operation with the Member States, the Commission can discharge its general responsibility for the implementation of the budget.

The first part of the Communication examines in some detail the current rules governing the Structural and Cohesion Funds in order to clarify the shared management responsibilities of each party. The second part of the report sets out the general guidelines adopted in July 2004. These guidelines formed the basis for the legislative proposal, which the Commission later adopted. The purpose of the guidelines was to increase the coherence, complementarity and efficiency of implementing the budget. This includes, for example, clarifying the Member State's obligation to co-operate – and the consequences for them if they fail to do so.

In the Communication, the Commission takes on board a number of suggestions proposed by the Court of Auditors regarding its responsibility to discharge and implement the budget. The Court of Auditors, for example, considers that the Commission should have the role of supervising operations both by defining the minimum requirements for them and by co-coordinating the objectives to be achieved as well as their implementation at all levels – i.e. national and Community. Although the Commission points to a number of measures it has taken to improve the efficiency of co-operation with the Member States it, nevertheless, acknowledges that more could be done. In order to address some of the shortcomings identified, the Commission has adopted a set of proposals to cover the reference period 2007-2013. In its proposal, the Commission suggests that the extent of its involvement in the checks should be proportionate to the assessed level of risk of irregularities. On a similar vein, the Commission proposes that the degree of Community intervention in the management and control procedures should also depend on the size of the Community contribution to the assistance.

To conclude, the report notes that greater management efficiency and simplification with financial checks should be accompanied by heavier penalties and measures to ensure rapid recovery in the event of irregularities or fraud. The consequences for not applying transparent rules regarding financing should be suitably severe. The rules should also include arrangements for the Commission to make financial corrections in cases where Member States fail to take adequate steps to comply with their obligations. Nor should the Commission hesitate to make use of procedures under Articles 226 and 228 of the EC Treaty in cases where Member States' have failed to fulfill their obligations.

COM(2004)0580
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OJ C 318 30.12.2003, p. 0001-0004
RCC0007/2003

COM(2003)0499
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32002R2355
OJ L 351 28.12.2002, p. 0042-0043

COM(2002)0748
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COM(2002)0591
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32001R0438
OJ L 063 03.03.2001, p. 0021-0043

Regulation 1999/1260
OJ L 161 26.06.1999, p. 0001

OJ C 279 01.10.1999, p. 0254-0292
T4-0427/1999

T4-0427/1999

Debate in Parliament

A4-0264/1999
OJ C 279 01.10.1999, p. 0017

A4-0264/1999

06959/1/1999

06959/1/1999

06959/1999

06959/1999

CDR0273/1998
OJ C 093 06.04.1999, p. 0001

OJ C 379 07.12.1998, p. 0123-0164
T4-0673/1998

T4-0673/1998

Debate in Parliament

A4-0391/1998
OJ C 379 07.12.1998, p. 0004

A4-0391/1998

CDR0167/1998
OJ C 373 02.12.1998, p. 0001

CES1130/1998
OJ C 407 28.12.1998, p. 0074

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COM(1998)0131

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COM(1998)0182

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COM(1998)0131