Contribution to a Union trust fund for external action
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 is amended as follows: (1) In Article 65 a new paragraph 4 is added; ‘4. Under this component assistance may also be implemented by a contribution to a Union trust fund for external action (trust fund contribution), created under Article 187 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *1 ) , in pursuing the objectives set out in the relevant programmes within the respective programme area. ( *1 ) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 ( OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1 ).’ " (2) In Article 147(1) point (c) is amended as follows: (a) Point (vii) is replaced by the following: ‘(vii) education and training investments, including for vocational training’; (b) The following point (viii) is added: ‘(viii) investments in health and social infrastructure which contribute to regional and local development.’; (3) The following Article 159a is inserted: ‘Article 159a Contribution to a Union trust fund for external action 1. Under the regional development and human resources development components, in pursuing the objectives set out in the relevant operational programme within the respective programme area, operations may be implemented through contributions to EU trust funds. 2. With regard to the trust fund contribution, the relevant operational programme shall only contain the following information: (a) a summary assessment of the coherence of that contribution with the objectives of the trust fund; (b) for the regional development component, information on the single operation priority axis, also referring to the other priority axes with regard to eligible expenditure which may also cover a share of the management costs of the trust fund, as provided for in Article 187(7) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012; (c) for the human resources development component, information on the single operation measure under a given priority axis, also referring to the other measures of that priority axis with regard to eligible expenditure which may also cover a share of the management costs of the trust fund, as provided for in Article 187(7) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012; (d) the identification of the trust fund as final beneficiary; (e) the amount of the contribution. 3. Articles 150 and 157 shall not apply to trust fund contributions. 4. The trust fund contribution shall not be subject to ex ante controls pursuant to Article 14; to monitoring by the sectoral monitoring committee pursuant to Articles 59, 167 and 169; to the procedure to select operations provided for in Article 158; and to evaluations pursuant to Article 166. 5. The relevant financing agreement between the Commission and the beneficiary country shall set out detailed implementing rules with regard to the trust fund contribution. Where appropriate, the relevant operational programme may also set out those rules. The detailed implementing rules shall concern in particular: (a) the obligations of the authorities in the beneficiary country; (b) reporting, evaluation and monitoring; (c) provisions requiring the amount of the contribution or part of it to be returned, as the case may be, to the relevant programme in the event of liquidation of the trust fund, in accordance with Article 187(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. 6. Expenditure with regard to a trust fund contribution shall be eligible from the date of establishing that trust fund. At closure, the certified statement of expenditure shall present the total amount of the contribution for which a decision on the allocation of funds to individual actions has been taken by the operational board of the trust fund up to 31 December 2017 in pursuing the objectives set out in the relevant programme and within the respective programme area. 7. For a payment application for an interim payment on a trust fund contribution from budget commitments made up to 31 December 2012, the last sentence of the third subparagraph of Article 161(1) shall not apply. The national authorising officer shall certify in the certified statement of expenditure to be submitted by 31 December 2015 that the contribution was paid to the trust fund identified in the relevant programme.’