FEAD Regulation - introducing specific - measures for addressing the COVID-19 crisis Webinar EUROCITIES, 22 April 2020
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FEAD Regulation - introducing specific #SocialRights measures for addressing the COVID-19 crisis Webinar EUROCITIES, 22 April 2020
FEAD: Facts and figures Budget: 3,8 bn EUR (current prices) from cohesion allocation Shared management General objectives: promote social cohesion and enhance social inclusion and contribute to achieving the EU2020 poverty reduction target • -> contribute to poverty reduction • Specific objective: contribute to alleviating the worst forms of poverty by providing non-financial assistance to the most deprived persons
FEAD: Scope of support 2 types of Operational Programmes a) Food and/or Basic Material Assistance (OP I)- 23 Member States • Purchase and distribution of food- annual reach 12,5 million people • Purchase and distribution of basic material assistance (clothes, sleeping bags, school supplies, etc.) 1 million people • Accompanying measures b) Social Inclusion of the Most Deprived (OP II)- DE, NL, DK, SE • Non-material social inclusion activities outside active Labour market • Reaches about 35,000 people (dedicated target groups)
FEAD – who are the most deprived ? • Article 2(2) of FEAD Regulation: Persons whose need for assistance is established according to a set of objective criteria • Defined at national level (in the OP or later) Examples: people covered by minimum income scheme; homeless persons; disadvantaged children; migrants, marginalized communities
FEAD – Implementation on the ground • Article 2(3) of FEAD Regulation: through partner organisations (public bodies or non profit organizations) • For OP I: Deliver food or material assistance (multiple levels possible); Provide accompanying measures; May also purchase assistance • Exclusive list of eligibility of expenditure • For OP II: undertake social inclusion activities for the most deprived • Role of cities/ municipalities
FEAD – Networking and Community • Stakeholder exchanges: 18 FEAD network meetings from 2016 until 2019 • FEAD Community: Mutual learning on implementation challenges and next MFF
Reasons and objectives of the FEAD covid- 19 amendment proposal • Ensure the most deprived continue to receive FEAD assistance in a safe environment • Enable Managing Authorities, partner organisations and other actors involved in the implementation of the Fund to react quickly to the emerging additional needs of the target groups • The most deprived are exposed to further hardship stemming from this crisis.
Key elements of the proposal • Ensuring quick and effective crisis response by the FEAD (e.g early eligibility of actions, flexibility for OP amendments, broadening scope of eligibility) • Providing flexibility and liquidity (e.g reporting, control and audit requirements, temporary increase of co-financing rate) • Alignment with CRII package (ESI Funds)
Ensuring a quick and effective response to COVID-19 outbreak (1) • Modification of key elements of the OP I not subject to COM decision (only notification) - Article 9(4) FEAD • Expenditure for operations for fostering crisis response capacity to the COVID-19 outbreak is eligible as from 1 February 2020 (including when the OP must be amended) – Article 22(4) FEAD Alignment with CRII package (ESI Funds)
Ensuring a quick and effective response to COVID-19 outbreak (2) Food and basic material assistance may be provided through (electronic) vouchers or cards: • Rationale: Such indirect delivery reduces contamination risks • COM proposal: only electronic vouchers for food and/or basic material assistance, as in the ESF+ Regulation proposal • EP and CL amendment: also other forms of vouchers are allowed N.B: preparation costs for vouchers (and meals) are also eligible under Article 26(2)(c) as in ESF+ proposal
Ensuring a quick and effective response to COVID-19 outbreak (3) Provide protective materials and equipment to partner organisations (Article 26 (2) (a)) Rationale: • enables buying protective equipment for partner organisations outside technical assistance • Allows continuation of traditional delivery schemes in safe environment
Providing flexibility and liquidity Eligibility for suspended operations and operations that cannot be fully implemented (Articles 26a, 26b, 26c) • Rationale: introduce specific provisions regarding the eligibility of costs incurred by beneficiaries in case the delivery of food/basic material assistance or social assistance is delayed as well as for suspended and not fully implemented operations. • Differentiation between FEAD OP I, OP II and Technical assistance operations. • No similar provision in CPR
Ensuring a quick and effective response to COVID-19 outbreak (3) Provide protective materials and equipment to partner organisations (Article 26 (2) (a)) Rationale: • enables buying protective equipment for partner organisations outside technical assistance • Allows continuation of traditional delivery schemes in safe environment
Providing flexibility and liquidity (ctd) Deadline for Annual Implementation report extended to 30/9/2020(Article 13 (1)) Co-financing rate of 100% on Member State request (Article 20(1a)) • Applicable for the accounting year 2020-2021, provided that the programme amendment is approved by the Commission at the latest before the submission of the final application for an interim payment • Requires a programme amendment • Need to notify the financial table; from the subsequent accounting year `reset` financial tables to normal Alignment with CRII package
Providing flexibility and liquidity (ctd) Lighter control and audit trail requirements (Article 30 (1a)) • Rationale: Reduce administrative burden; provide flexibility for compliance with certain management and control requirements (eg audit trail requirements during confinement periods) • Based on an analysis of potential risks • Applies only to FEAD OP I type programmes
State of play • COM proposal adopted 2 April, as part of the CRII Plus package • COREPER 8 April, Presidency compromise text • EP Plenary adoption, 17 April • Council adoption (Wednesday 22 April, tbc) • Enters into force on the day following the OJ publication
State of play Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII Plus) – COM proposal for CPR (COM(2020)138) • Full flexibility to transfer resources for 2020 between the 3 Cohesion policy Funds (Investment for Growth and Jobs Goal) : ESF, ERDF, Cohesion Fund (Art. 25a(2) CPR) • full flexibility for the 2020 allocations • No minimum share for ESF • YEI and FEAD: not affected • Flexibility between categories of regions (Art. 25a(3) CPR) • Full flexibility on thematic concentration (Art. 25a(5) CPR) • Increasing EU co-financing rate to 100% (Art. 25a(1) CPR)
State of play Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII Plus) – Less administrative burden: Some examples: • No more amendments to Partnership Agreements (Art. 25a(6) CPR) • Deadline for submission of annual implementation reports for all ESI Funds 2019 extended (Art. 25a(9) CPR) • Eased use of a non-statistical sampling method for audit (Art. 25a(12) CPR) • Up to 10% financial flexibility per priority at programme closure (New Art. 130(3) CPR)
Reminder:
The ESF+ components EGF
€ 1,6 bn
(outside MFF
ceiling)
European
Social Fund + EU priority
Support to the
actions /
most deprived
experimentation
(FEAD)
(EaSI)
Employment,
Investment in education and
Youth (YEI) social inclusion Health
(ESF)
Shared management € 100 bn Direct mgt € 1,2 bnPolicy Objective 4 - A More Social Europe – Implementing the
European Pillar of Social Rights
ESF+ Specific Objectives
EDUCATION SOCIAL
EMPLOYMENT
TRAINING INCLUSION
• (i) Access to employment • (iv) Improving the quality, • (vii) Active inclusion
of all jobseekers effectiveness and labour • (viii) Socio-integration of
• (ii) Modernising labour market relevance of migrants and marginalised
market institutions and education and training communities e.g. Roma
services systems • (ix) Equal and timely access
• (v) Promoting equal to services; social protection
• (iii) Women’s labour healthcare systems and
market participation, access to and completion
long term care
of, quality and inclusive
work/life balance, well- education
adapted working • (x) Social integration of
• (vi) Lifelong learning, people at risk of poverty;
environment, adaptation upskilling, anticipating
of workers & enterprises, change and new skills • (xi) Addressing material
active & healthy ageing deprivation including
requirements accompanying measures
Gender equality, equal opportunity & non-discrimination
Also contributes to other policy objectives, in particular, to PO 1 a
Smarter Europe; PO 2 A Greener, low-carbon EuropeESF+ support for addressing material
deprivation (specific objective xi)
• Ensures continuation of support provided by the FEAD in 2014-2020 to OP I:
Addressing material deprivation through food and/or basic material
assistance to the most deprived, including accompanying measures
• Objective of the merge: to promote synergies between ESF and FEAD
support, whilst preserving lighter rules for FEAD-type support:
• ESF+ Regulation and CPR proposals continue to provide for simpler requirements for
this type of operationsThe Regulation proposal provides for full flexibility. ESF + support to address material deprivation can take two forms: • Specific objective is part of comprehensive ESF + programme • Specific programme exclusively addressing material deprivation Relevant derogations in Common Provisions Regulations, such as: • Performance framework: no targets and milestones • Exceptions on programming and monitoring NEW! Electronic vouchers/electronic cards for food and/or basic material assistance (Article 17 (2))
ESF+ support to social integration of the most deprived (specific objective x) • May ensure continuation of support provided by the FEAD in 2014-2020 to OP II: now part of a broader specific objective x – “promoting social integration of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including the most deprived and children” • In “duly justified cases”, addressing the most deprived under specific objective (x) counts for 2% minimum allocation to address material deprivation. • In ESF+ proposal, this falls under Chapter II, General support of the ESF+ strand under shared management (already in 2014-2020 many of the simpler rules only applied to OP I) • Common provisions apply throughout
Partnership principle
Social
partners
ESF+
Civil society ESF+ resources for
programming,
implementation, capacity building of
Bodies for partners
monitoring and
fundamental
evaluation
rights, gender
equality, non-
discriminationPartnership
CPR - Article 6 - Partnership and ESF+ - Article 8
multi-level governance
1. Each MS organises partnership • MS to ensure participation of
incl.: social partners and civil society in
• urban and other public authorities; the delivery of employment,
• economic and social partners; education and social inclusion
• civil society policies under ESF+
2. Involvement at all stages (PA, • Member States to allocate
preparation, implementation, appropriate amount of ESF+ in
participation in monitoring each programme for the capacity
committees) building of social partners and
civil society organisations.
3. Continuation of ECCP
• Recital 26
4. COM consults partners min. once • Partnership for innovation
a year on programme implementation (art.13)ESF+ programming state of play • Spring 2019: informal dialogue with Member States started • November 2019: COM letter to Member States on partnership and transparency • Q3-Q4 2020: expected submission of Partnership Agreements and programmes → formal negotiations can start
Thank you ! References: - FEAD website https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1089&langId=en - COM proposal FEAD amendment: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1089&furtherNews=ye s&newsId=9638 - CRII Plus press release https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_574 - ESF+ COM proposal
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