(1)

The recent military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the ongoing armed conflict has fundamentally changed the security situation in Europe. As a result of that military aggression, the Union, and its eastern regions in particular, is facing a substantial inflow of persons. This poses an additional challenge at a time when Member States’ economies are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(2)

Member States are already able to finance a broad range of investments under their cohesion policy programmes to address migration challenges under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), including under the additional resources made available as Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) to provide assistance for fostering crisis repair in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its social consequences and for preparing a green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy. Actions can cover investments in the areas of social inclusion, health, education, employment, housing and childcare, including through investments in infrastructure, regeneration of deprived urban areas, actions to reduce spatial and educational isolation of migrants, and business start-ups. Member States may redirect remaining resources within their programmes to address such migration challenges. In addition, the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) can be used to provide food and basic material assistance to persons, including third-country nationals, affected by the Russian Federation’s military aggression.

(3)

While the additional resources made available under REACT-EU already benefit from a number of flexibilities in their implementation arrangements, it is necessary to make the use of ERDF, ESF and FEAD resources from the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework more flexible. Taking into account the urgency to address the migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, expenditure for operations addressing those challenges should be eligible from the date on which that military aggression started. Furthermore, flexibility as to how the ERDF and the ESF can be used should be increased for such operations so that available funding in programmes can be used quickly, provided that the operation concerned is in line with the operational programme as amended where necessary. That flexibility should be additional to the possibilities for the complementary financing of operations already provided for. Simplified reporting arrangements regarding the data on participants in those operations should also be introduced.

(4)

In order to ensure that affected persons may benefit from assistance under the FEAD without delay, it is appropriate to allow Member States to amend certain elements of operational programmes supported by the FEAD without requiring the adoption of a Commission decision.

(5)

The support provided under cohesion policy should be complementary, in particular to actions financed under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, to maximise the impact of available funding.

(6)

Member States have been affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in an unprecedented manner. The overall impact of that pandemic has been to put very high pressure on the budgets of Member States due to the sudden and significant increase in public investments needed in their healthcare systems and other sectors of their economies. It also risked disrupting the support provided to the most deprived. This has created an exceptional situation which needed to be addressed by specific measures.

(7)

In order to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, Regulations (EU) No 1301/2013 (3) and (EU) No 1303/2013 (4) of the European Parliament and of the Council were amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/460 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) to allow more flexibility in the implementation of programmes supported by the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund (the ‘Funds’) and by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. However, as the serious negative effects of that crisis on Union economies and societies worsened, both Regulations were amended again, by Regulation (EU) 2020/558 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6).

In addition, in order to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the most deprived, Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) was amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/559 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) to introduce specific measures for the FEAD to address the outbreak of COVID-19. Those amendments have provided exceptional additional flexibility to enable the Member States to concentrate on the necessary response to the unprecedented crisis by enhancing the possibility to mobilise non-utilised support from the Funds and by simplifying procedural requirements linked to programme implementation to address the need for a rapid response to that crisis. A subsequent amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, introduced by Regulation (EU) 2020/2221 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), made available substantial additional resources as REACT-EU to provide assistance for fostering crisis repair in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its social consequences and for preparing a green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy.

As part of the same package, Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 was also amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/177 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), in order to allow the mobilisation of those additional resources by Member States to the most deprived in the context of the implementation of the FEAD.

(8)

While the flexibilities and additional resources provided for in respect of the 2014-2020 programming period have helped Member States in their crisis response and recovery efforts, the emergence of new coronavirus variants, in particular the Omicron variant, as well as the widespread tightening of restrictions in the last quarter of 2021 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 the Russian Federation and the resulting migratory flows have exacerbated those effects and risk further undermining the recovery of the Union’s economy. In line with the possibility provided for in Regulation (EU) 2020/558, it is therefore necessary to provide for an exceptional extension of one of the measures introduced by that Regulation, namely the option of the application of a co-financing rate of 100 % for the accounting year 2020/2021 to the following accounting year.

(9)

With a view to alleviating the burden on public budgets that is arising from the need to respond to the crisis situation, accelerating programme implementation and enabling needed investments for the recovery of regions, Member States should therefore be given the exceptional possibility to apply a co-financing rate of 100 % in a programme supported by the ERDF, the ESF, the Cohesion Fund or the FEAD also for the accounting year 2021/2022.

(10)

In order to comply with the multiannual financial framework payment ceilings for 2022 and 2023, a ceiling should be established for those years for payments resulting from the application of the 100 % co-financing rate under the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund or the ESF. Payments that cannot be made as a result of the application of those ceilings should be paid by the Commission at the earliest opportunity subject to the availability of funding, either with the acceptance of the accounts or through subsequent payments. Such deferred payments should not affect the acceptance of accounts or bear any other effect.

(11)

Taking into account that the application of the 100 % co-financing rate will not substantially affect the content of the operational programmes themselves, it is appropriate to allow its rapid implementation without the need for a Commission decision approving the Member States’ amendment to the financial tables of the operational programme. The Member State should nevertheless notify the revised financial tables prior to the submission of the final payment application for the accounting year. Potential consequential amendments, including to the values of indicators, can be made as part of a subsequent programme amendment after the end of the accounting year.

(12)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to introduce flexibility measures in the field of providing support from the Funds, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone but can rather, by reason of the scale and effects of the proposed action, 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 Treaty on European Union (TEU). In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.

(13)

Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(14)

In view of the urgency to address the migratory challenges as a result of the recent military aggression by the Russian Federation and the continued public health crisis stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is considered appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

(15)

In view of the need to allow Member States to amend their programmes in time to benefit from the application of the 100 % co-financing rate for the accounting year 2021/2022, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,