The strategic programming of the 2021-2027 cycle responds to several European regulations and specific national regulations.
REGULATORY PACKAGE
The regulatory package for the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy programming entered into force on 1 July 2021.
These regulations govern the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds worth more than EUR 330 billion (2018 prices), equal to almost one third of the EU long-term budget.
See the 2021-2027 regulatory package: The Regulations governing 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy are published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 231 of 30 June 2021.
THE 2021-2027 PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
In July 2022, Italy’s Partnership Agreement was approved by the European Commission. The Agreement implementation envisages the adoption of European Programmes entrusted to central and regional administrations.
See the dedicated page – Download the document (pdf)
COHESION POLICY FINANCED BY NATIONAL RESOURCES
Cohesion Policy is financed through national and European resources.
With regard to Cohesion Policy funded through national resources, the allocation of 80 per cent of Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC – Fondo Sviluppo e Coesione) resources to Southern Italy is confirmed.
Article 1(178) of the Budget Law for 2021 (Law No. 178/2020) establishes that the financial allocation for the 2021-2027 programming cycle shall be used in line with the investment and reform policies under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as with the missions pursued by the Piano Sud 2030 (Plan for Southern Italy 2030) without prejudice to the principles of complementarity and additionality.
Actions are implemented through Development and Cohesion Plans (Piani Sviluppo e Coesione – PSC). The 12 thematic areas that characterise current Development and Cohesion Plans, identified by Article 2 of CIPESS Decision No. 2/2021, are to be confirmed also for the 2021-2027 programming cycle on account of their exhaustiveness and aiming to foster comparative analysis with respect to previous cycles.
In March 2022, the document defining the FSC 2021-2027 Strategic Objectives for each of the 12 thematic areas was published on the Cohesion Policy Department (DIPCOE) website, in line with Law No. 178/2020.
The text draws upon technical inputs from the said administration, with the contribution from a commission appointed by the Minister for Southern Italy and Territorial Cohesion.
The implementation of 2021-2027 programmes partially overlaps with the extraordinary interventions under the strategy aimed at countering Covid-19 emergency through Cohesion Policy resources defined during the 2014-2020 cycle.
In the future, data on individual projects financed via 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy will feed the National Monitoring System to enable obtaining information on their implementation progress and will be dynamically accessible on the national OpenCoesione Portal.
Cohesion Policy Department – 2021-2027 programming period
European Plans and Programmes for 2021-2027
Based on the EU 2021-2027 programming, Italy is to implement programmes co-financed by EU Structural Funds. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) co-finance 38 Regional Programmes (RPs) and 10 National Programmes (NPs), respectively. The Just Transition Fund (JTF) co-finances a single NP – “Just Transition Fund – Italia”.
In addition, Italy is in charge of 10 Programmes under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) objective, and participates in another 9 Programmes under such objective.
Operational Programmes (OPs) management is entrusted to Managing Authorities (MAs), which can delegate the implementation of ad-hoc programme sections to Intermediate Bodies (IBs). Regulation (EU) 1060/2021 stipulates that OPs shall be subject to regular audits by an ad-hoc Monitoring Committee (MC). The MC includes socio-economic partners, and meets periodically to assess programme implementation and progress towards the pursued objectives.
Programmes financed via EU Structural Funds
List of 2021-2027 ERDF Programmes
List of 2021-2027 ESF+ Programmes
2021-2027 JTF Programme
2021-2027 European Territorial Cooperation
Communicating 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy – See document
Cohesion Policy national logo for 2021-2027
Cohesion Policy national logo for 2021-2027, presented and shared with the network of communicators of ERDF and ESF+ programmes, will accompany all the central, regional and local administrations involved in Cohesion Policy implementation. The unified logo stems from an indication of the European Commission (EC) aimed at promoting one promptly recognisable single visual identity for the communication initiatives on all the Programmes of the 2021-2027 programming cycle.
Customised patterns, graphic tools and a dedicated User’s Guide are available on the Communication 2127 page of the OpenCoesione unified portal.
The EC indication also becomes a national opportunity to give a strong communication identity to Italy’s Cohesion Policy as a whole, and will also involve, as appropriate, Plans and Programmes supported by national Cohesion Policy resources.
USEFUL LINKS