21.5.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 126/1

(1)

In light of the persistently high levels of youth unemployment in the Union, the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) was established to provide support to young persons not in employment, education or training in the most affected regions. In order to ensure a quick response in the fight against youth unemployment, Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) and Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) laid down provisions allowing a quicker mobilisation of the resources allocated to the YEI, including, inter alia, the commitment of all the resources in the first two years of the programming period, the possibility to adopt operational programmes dedicated to the YEI before the Partnership Agreement, as referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, is submitted to the Commission, and the eligibility of expenditure incurred in respect of operations under the YEI as from 1 September 2013.

(2)

The budgetary constraints faced by Member States and the lack of available funding at the initial stage of the programming period have caused significant delays in the implementation of the YEI. Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 established the levels of the initial prefinancing amount to be paid to ensure that Member States have the means to provide support to beneficiaries from the start of the implementation of operational programmes. However, in the context of the YEI, those amounts are considered to be insufficient to provide the necessary payments to beneficiaries for the implementation of operations.

(3)

In order to address the budgetary constraints faced by Member States at the initial stage of the programming period and taking into account the urgent need to address youth unemployment and the specific features of the YEI, provisions should be laid down that complement Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, to increase the level of the initial prefinancing paid to operational programmes supported by the YEI in 2015. To ensure that Member States have sufficient means to provide payments to beneficiaries responsible for the implementation of operations that target youth unemployment, an additional initial prefinancing amount from the specific allocation for the YEI should be paid in 2015 for operational programmes supported by the YEI, in order to complement the prefinancing amounts paid in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

(4)

To ensure that the additional initial prefinancing amount is used for the immediate implementation of the YEI, that amount should be reimbursed to the Commission should the Union contribution from the YEI not amount to an adequate level in interim payment applications submitted to the Commission within 12 months after the entry into force of this Regulation.

(5)

In order to allow for the prompt application of the measures laid down 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.

(6)

Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly,