The Commission has adopted a proposal for Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) allowing Member States and regions to provide emergency support to people fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. CARE is introducing the necessary flexibility in the 2014-2020 Cohesion policy rules to allow a swift reallocation of available funding to such emergency support.

 

 

What does CARE propose:

  • It amends the CPR-Common Provisions Regulation (for shared management funds) for European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Member States and regions will have the possibility to use resources or any type of measures to support people fleeing Ukraine. Thanks to this flexibility either fund will be able to support projects even if these would normally be funded by the other one.
  • It guarantees the flexibility of use of available resources under ESF, FEAD, and ERDF from the previous funding period 2014-2020.
  • Possibility of 100% EU co-financing for 2014-2020. In particular, Cohesion funds will be extended for the accounting year 2021-2022, this means that there is a possibility of getting a reimbursement by EU budget of 100% for a second year through only a notification to the Commission.
  • Simplified reporting.
  • These new regulations will be retroactive from 24-02-2022.

 

Cohesion policy funds will be complemented by the support from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and other funding sources. The Commission is also proposing to prolong the implementation period for the money available to Member States under the 2014-2020 Home Affairs funds, which would release around €420 million in additional support. Under the Home Affairs Funds:

  • They will allow Member States to use the money they have already: this will give Member States the possibility to use resources under the previous period 2014-2020 by extending the expiring deadline. Member States will be able to use this money for an additional year.
  • They want to amend AMIF to make it more flexible (from the previous period) to use it where is more needed: flexibility to use other Home Affairs Funds (for example the Border Management and the Internal Security funds) for migration purpose.
  • They are mobilising the funding available under the 2022 emergency assistance component of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to address immediate and urgent needs of the Member States mostly hit by the crisis could be secured

For more information, please visit the Commission’s website.

 

To learn more about current calls for proposals or Eurodiaconia’s funding events, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our our Projects and EU Funding Officer Giorgia Signoretto at giorgia.signoretto@eurodiaconia.org.