(1)

With a view to enhancing the economic and social cohesion of the Union, it is necessary to support limited interventions for the renovation of existing buildings serving housing purposes in Member States that acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004. Those interventions may take place under the conditions set out in Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the European Regional Development Fund (3).

(2)

Expenditure should be programmed within the framework of an integrated urban development operation or priority axis for areas experiencing or threatened by physical deterioration and social exclusion. For clarity, the conditions under which housing interventions in urban areas may take place should be simplified. To this end, expenditure on housing interventions should be programmed taking into account different parameters regardless of the source of financing. Furthermore only expenditure on interventions in regard to existing buildings should be considered as eligible expenditure.

(3)

In several Member States, for marginalised communities living in urban or rural areas, housing constitutes a decisive factor of integration. It is therefore necessary to extend the eligibility of expenditure on housing interventions in all Member States to communities living in urban or rural areas.

(4)

Irrespective of whether communities are located in urban or rural areas, due to the extremely poor quality of their housing conditions, expenditure on the renovation or replacement of existing housing, including by newly constructed housing, should also be considered as eligible expenditure.

(5)

In line with Principle No 2 of the Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion reiterated by the Council in its Conclusions on Inclusion of the Roma of 8 June 2009, housing interventions focused on a specific group should not exclude other people sharing similar socio-economic circumstances.

(6)

In line with Principle No 1 of those Common Basic Principles, in order to limit the risks of segregation, housing interventions for marginalised communities should take place within the framework of an integrated approach, which includes, in particular, actions in the fields of education, health, social affairs, employment and security, and desegregation measures.

(7)

Uniform conditions of implementation should be ensured for the adoption of the list of criteria needed to determine the areas experiencing or threatened by physical deterioration and social exclusion and the adoption of the list of eligible interventions. Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for the control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of its implementing powers are laid down in advance by a regulation adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. Pending the adoption of such a regulation and in order to avoid any disruption of the Union’s legislative action, the provisions of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (4) should continue to be applied.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,