Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1076 of 28 April 2015 laying down, pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, additional rules on the replacement of a beneficiary and on the related responsibilities, and minimum requirements to be included in Public Private Partnership agreements funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds

• CELEX: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1076
• Articles: 6

Article 1 Additional conditions on the replacement of the private partner

The replacement of the private partner or public law body referred to in Article 63(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 (‘partner or body’) shall comply with the following additional conditions:

(a)

the partner or body is able to provide at least the service, including at least the minimum quality standards, determined in the Public Private Partnership (‘PPP’) contract;

(b)

the partner or body has agreed to assume the rights and responsibilities of a beneficiary in relation to the support for PPP operations from the date on which the managing authority is notified of the replacement proposal.

Article 2 Proposal to replace the private partner

1.   The partner or body shall send the managing authority the proposal to replace the private partner as beneficiary within one month from the date of the decision to replace the private partner.

2.   The proposal referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain the following:

(a)

the terms and conditions of the PPP or financing agreement between the private partner and the financial institution co-financing the operation requiring replacement;

(b)

evidence of the fulfilment by the partner or body of the conditions set out in Article 1 of this Regulation and evidence that it fulfils and assumes all the corresponding obligations of a beneficiary under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(c)

evidence that the partner or body has been provided with a copy of the original support agreement and any amendments made to that agreement.

Article 3 Confirmation of the replacement of the private partner

Within one month of the receipt of the proposal referred to in Article 2, and provided that the partner or body fulfils and assumes all the corresponding obligations of a beneficiary under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and complies with the conditions set out in Article 1 of this Regulation, the managing authority shall:

(a)

register the partner or body as the beneficiary as from the date referred to in Article 1(b) of this Regulation;

(b)

inform the partner or body of the remaining amount of support available from the ESI Funds.

Article 4 Escrow account

With regard to the escrow account referred to in Article 64(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the PPP agreement shall contain the following requirements:

(a)

where appropriate, the criteria for the selection of the financial institution where the escrow account is to be opened, including requirements regarding its creditworthiness;

(b)

the conditions under which payments from the escrow account can be made;

(c)

whether the public law body that is a beneficiary may use the escrow account as collateral/security for the performance of its or the private partner's obligations under the PPP agreement;

(d)

the obligation for the holders of the escrow account to inform the managing authority, upon its written request, about the amount of funds in the escrow account disbursed and the balance of the escrow account;

(e)

rules on how the remaining funds in the escrow account shall be disbursed when the escrow account is closed due to a termination of the PPP agreement.

Article 5 Reporting and audit trail

1.   The PPP agreement shall contain provisions on the establishment of a reporting and document retention mechanism. This mechanism shall contain the same reporting and document retention obligations as those of the beneficiary who incurs and pays himself for expenditure that is eligible under Article 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

2.   The PPP agreement shall include procedures to ensure the adequate audit trail as set out in Article 25 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 480/2014  ( 2 ) . These procedures shall in particular allow for the reconciliation of the payments incurred and paid by the private partner for the implementation of the operation with the expenditure declared by the beneficiary to the Managing authority.

Article 6 Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .