(1)

Member States have had positive experiences with repayable assistance schemes at the level of operations during the programming period 2000 to 2006 and have therefore continued such schemes or have started to implement repayable assistance schemes in the current programming period 2007 to 2013. Some Member States have also included descriptions of those schemes in their programming documents, which were approved by the Commission.

(2)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund (3) sets out financial engineering instruments with precise areas and scope of intervention. However, the repayable assistance schemes implemented by Member States in the form of reimbursable grants and credit lines managed by managing authorities through intermediate bodies are neither appropriately covered by the provisions on financial engineering instruments, nor by other provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. It is therefore necessary, in accordance with Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the European Social Fund (4), which already provides that assistance can take the form of reimbursable grants, for Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 to be amended in order to provide that the Structural Funds may co-finance repayable assistance. That amendment should cover reimbursable grants and credit lines managed by managing authorities through intermediate bodies which are financial institutions.

(3)

Given that the financial resources used through repayable assistance are totally or partially reimbursed by the beneficiaries, it is necessary to introduce appropriate provisions for the reuse of the repayable assistance reimbursed for the same purpose or in accordance with the objectives of the operational programme in question so as to ensure that the funds that are repaid are properly invested and the support provided by the Union is used as effectively as possible.

(4)

It is necessary to clarify that the provisions on major projects, revenue-generating projects and durability of operations should not be applicable as a matter of principle to financial engineering instruments, as those provisions are meant for other types of operation.

(5)

There is a need to enhance the transparency of the implementation process and ensure appropriate monitoring, by the Member States and by the Commission, of the implementation of financial engineering instruments, inter alia, in order to allow the Member States to provide appropriate information to the Commission on the type of instruments put in place and on the relevant actions undertaken through such instruments on the ground. It is therefore necessary to introduce a provision for reporting on financial engineering instruments. Such reporting would also allow the Commission to better assess the overall performance of financial engineering instruments and to provide a summary of the progress at the Union and Member State level.

(6)

In order to ensure compliance with Article 61(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), the statement of expenditure submitted to the Commission should provide all information necessary for the Commission to produce transparent accounts which give a true image of the Union's assets and of budgetary implementation. To this effect, an attachment to each statement of expenditure should include information on the amount of total expenditure paid in establishing or contributing to financial engineering instruments and on the advances paid to the beneficiaries in the context of State aid. The format of the attachment should be defined in an Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 for the purpose of legal certainty and consistency. However, the practical implementation of the collection of data necessary for the attachment should be conducted at national level and, as far as the applicable legal framework allows, it should not result in changes to national computer systems.

(7)

The amendments relating to the forms and reuse of the repayable assistance as well as to the exclusion of the application of the provisions on major projects, revenue-generating projects and durability of operations, to operations falling under Article 44 (financial engineering instruments), aim at providing for greater legal certainty and clarity concerning the application of an existing practice in these fields with effect from the beginning of the eligibility period as set out by Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. Those amendments should, therefore, have retroactive effect from the beginning of the current programming period 2007 to 2013.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

in Article 2, the following points are added:

‘(8)   “reimbursable grant”: a direct financial contribution by way of a donation, which can be totally or partially reimbursable, without interest.

(9)   “credit line”: a financial facility allowing the beneficiary to draw down the financial contribution, which can be totally or partially reimbursable, in relation to the expenditure paid by the beneficiary and supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value.’;

(2)

in Title III, Chapter II, the following section is inserted:

(3)

the following article is inserted:

(4)

Article 67 is amended as follows:

(5)

the following article is inserted:

(6)

the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation shall be added as Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.