a. thematic ex ante conditionalities

|[pic] |EUROPEAN COMMISSION |
| |Directorate-General |
| |Regional and Urban Policy |
| | |
| |2014-2020 Policy and Legislation Inter-institutional |
| |relations |
DRAFT Guidance on Ex ante Conditionalities PART II (This is a provisional text, based on the current outcome of the CPR
trilogues, without prejudice to the on-going negotiations. The document
will be reviewed once there is an agreement between the three institutions
on the legislative package) This guidance is addressed to geographical units for ESI Funds. Its purpose
is to provide a framework for the assessment by the Commission of the
consistency and adequacy of the information provided by Member States on
the applicability and fulfilment of ex ante conditionalities upon the
formal submission of Partnership Agreements and programmes, as well as
during the informal dialogue that takes place before the formal submission
of programmes and partnership agreements. It will also be made available to
Member States.
20 August 2013
This version does not yet include the ex-ante conditionalities linked to
the Youth Employment Initiative and the new investment priority on
vocational education and training as these depend on the outcome of on-
going trilogues Table of Contents
A. THEMATIC EX ANTE CONDITIONALITIES 5 A.1-1 Research and innovation ex ante conditionality 5
A. 2-1 Digital growth 19
A. 2-2 Next Generation Network (NGN) - Broadband Infrastructure 25
A.3 SMEs 33
A. 4-1 Energy efficiency in infrastructure, public buildings, housing
sector 39
A. 4-2 Cogeneration 55
A. 4-3 Renewable energy 63
A. 5 Risk prevention and management 73
A. 6-1 Water 85
A. 6-2 Waste 97
A.7-1 Road 115
A.7-2 Railway 151
A.7-3 Other modes of transport 161
7.4 Smart energy distribution, storage and transmission system 173
A.8-1 Access to employment 189
A.8-2 Self-employment 198
A. 8-3 Labour market institutions 205
A.8-4 Active and healthy ageing 214
A.8-5 Adaptation of workers, entreprises/entrepreneurs to change
220
A. 9-1 Early school leaving 229
A.9-2 Higher education 239
A.9-3 Lifelong learning 247
A.10-1 Active inclusion 258
A.10-2 Integration of marginalised Roma communities 269
A.10-3 Health 279
A.11 Institutional capacity and efficient public administration
289 B. GENERAL EX ANTE CONDITIONALITIES 301 B.1 Anti-discrimination 301
B.2 Gender equality 309
B.3 Disability 316
B. 4. Public procurement 324
B. 5. State aid 338
B. 6. Environmental legislation 348
B.7 Statistical systems and result indicators 354
A. THEMATIC EX ANTE CONDITIONALITIES
A.1-1 Research and innovation ex ante conditionality[1]
|Thematic |Investment |Ex ante |Criteria for fulfilment |
|objectives |priorities |conditionality | |
|1. |ERDF: |1.1. Research and |A national or regional |
|Strengtheni|- All investment |innovation |smart specialisation |
|ng |priorities under |The existence of a |strategy is in place that: |
|research, |thematic |national or regional|- is based on a SWOT or |
|technologic|objective no. 1 |smart specialisation|similar analysis to |
|al | |strategy in line |concentrate resources on a |
|development| |with the National |limited set of research and|
|and | |Reform Programme, to|innovation priorities; |
|innovation | |leverage private |- outlines measures to |
|(R&D | |research and |stimulate private RTD |
|target) | |innovation |investment; |
|(referred | |expenditure, which |- contains a monitoring |
|to in | |complies with the |mechanism. |
|Article | |features of |A framework outlining |
|9(1)) | |well-performing |available budgetary |
| | |national or regional|resources for research and |
| | |research and |innovation has been |
| | |innovation |adopted. |
| | |systems[2]. | |
1. When to assess applicability? The conditionality is applicable, if a MS or region is planning to allocate
ERDF funding to any of the investment priorities under the thematic
objective n°1 (strengthening research, technological development and
innovation).
2. Definitions A smart specialisation strategy means the national or regional innovation
strategies which set priorities in order to build competitive advantage by
developing and matching research and innovation own strengths with business
needs to address emerging opportunities and market developments in a
coherent manner, while avoiding duplication and fragmentation of efforts,
and which may take the form of or be included in a national or a regional
research and innovation (R&I) strategic policy framework. Guidance on how to establish regional / national Strategies for Smart
Specialisation is available (RIS3 Guide- see the link in Annex). Member
States should be encouraged to look at it, since it provides useful and
concrete information on how to deal with it and what to put in. A strategic policy framework consists of a document or several documents at
national or regional level, which set out a limited number of coherent
priorities established on the basis of evidence and a timeframe for their
implementation and which may include a monitoring mechanism. Entrepreneurial discovery process means that the strategy was developed
through an active stakeholder involvement process that brought together
entrepreneurs and researchers, and as relevant civil society, public sector
bodies involved in innovation etc. This helps to avoid the short-comings of
purely political interest-driven or consultant-written strategies, because
this process allows to draw operational conclusions out of the results of
the SWOT / statistical type of analysis to shape ownership around the
strategies and to design the intervention methods according to the needs of
innovation actors, in particular of course the enterprises. (RI3S guide,
step 1)
3. Source of information for assessment . Research and innovation policy monitoring tools:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/regional-
innovation/index_en.htm . ERAWATCH
http://erawatch.jrc.ec.europa.eu/erawatch/opencms/information/country_pages/
. Innovation Policy Trend Chart
http://www.proinno-europe.eu/inno-policy-trendchart/page/innovation-policy-
trends . Regional Innovation Monitor
http://www.rim-europa.eu/ . Innovation Union Scoreboard, incl. regional scoreboard, expert reports
and analysis carried out for the Commission
http://www.proinno-europe.eu/inno-metrics/page/innovation-union-scoreboard-
2011
4. Rationale for the ex ante conditionality ESI Funds investments in research and innovation risk not to deliver a
sustainable impact on the regional / national economies in terms of higher
knowledge-intensity and added value, unless they fit into a well-conceived
comprehensive and targeted policy strategy that takes into account all
national/regional assets, competitive advantages, and potential of
businesses, researchers and universities. Research and innovation policies - in particular at regional level - are
today often inward looking and fragmented. R&I policies remain heavily
focused on supply-side measures (investment in R&D capacity) and have not
enough demand-side elements. They concentrate on the manufacturing sector,
and are not supporting emerging sectors, innovation in services, cross-
fertilisation between sectors, public sector innovation and non-R&D
innovations. The policy measures are often generic copies of practices
elsewhere that are not adjusted to the local/regional needs and
potentials[3]. 5. Fulfilment and non-fulfilment of criteria (Assessment grid) |Criteria for fulfilment |Criteria fulfilled? |
| |YES/NO |Elements of non-fulfilment |
| A national or regional [4] smart specialisation | | |
|strategy is in place ... | | |
|The relevant operational programme contains a | | |
|reference to the name of the framework and indicates | | |
|where it or its different elements are published (in | | |
|a form of a link). | | |
| ... that: |
|is based on a SWOT or similar a