The executive approved, on Thursday, a draft emergency ordinance that will ensure the necessary legal framework for the process of closing the 2014-2020 operational programs, maximizing the absorption of funds allocated during this programming period.
According to a Government press release, in particular, the regulatory act establishes completion measures adapted to the current context of implementation of projects carried out through the operational programs related to the 2014-2020 programming period, which were declared unfinished on December 31, 2023 and which are not phased through the programs related to the 2021-2027 programming period and which have not been declared non-functional.
"The changes are necessary because aspects requiring clarification or revision have been identified, in order to eliminate the risk of blockage in the implementation of projects financed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), as well as the risk of failure to achieve the assumed objectives, affecting the financial flow at the project level, so as to prevent the decommitment of available resources allocated through the implementation of cohesion policy. In the absence of these changes, for all unfinished projects that will not have acceptance reports concluded before December 31, 2025 and that are not declared/reclassified as non-functional operations/projects, the managing authority will be obliged to refund to the European Commission the amounts already paid for expenses incurred before 2023, with a direct impact on the absorption rate at the program level," the press release explains.
The cited source specifies that the main changes made aim at:
- updating the list of non-functional operations/projects, respectively for the completion of projects carried out through the Operational Programmes for the period 2014-2020, which were declared not completed on 31 December 2023, which are not phased through the programmes for the period 2021-2027 and which meet the conditions set out in art. 118a of Regulation (EU) No. 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council, by reclassifying them as non-functional projects;
- the correlation of all provisions of the ordinance regarding the structure and method of approving the final implementation report, respectively the approval of the final versions of the List of phased operations/projects and the List of non-functional operations/projects, annexes to the final implementation report, by the monitoring committees of the 2014-2020 operational programs, as well as the repeal of the provisions regarding the approval by the Government of the list of non-functional projects approved by the MC, taking into account the need to respect the deadlines for submitting the closing documents of the 2014-2020 programming period, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No. 1303/2013;
- explicit regulation of the exchange of information and obligations relating to irregularities identified in stage I or stage II, in a uniform manner for all 2014-2020 operational programs, as well as for the 2021-2027 programs, with regard to projects phased from the operational programs related to the 2014-2020 programming period into the programs related to the 2021-2027 period;
- ensuring the legal framework for the distribution and supply of electronic media intended for providing material support to categories of people at risk of material deprivation and/or extreme poverty, to the final recipients identified in 2025, taking into account the expiration of the initial deadline of 31.12.2025;
- establishing an exception regarding the deadline for granting material support for the categories of final recipients identified in 2025 by the Ministry of Labor, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity.
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