Implementation
1. The Facility shall be supported with resources from the NDICI – Global Europe amounting to EUR 520 million in non-repayable support and a maximum amount of EUR 1 500 million in loans. The amount for loans shall not constitute part of the amount of the External Action Guarantee within the meaning of Article 31(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947.
2. The non-repayable financial support shall be financed for the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027 from the envelope allocated to the Neighbourhood geographic programme under Article 6(2), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/947. It shall cover provisioning for loans amounting to EUR 135 million, support provided by the Union for projects approved under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform, as referred to in Article 18(2) and complementary support, including support to civil society organisations and technical assistance. That funding shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/947.
Decisions on the release of funds referred to in Article 19(3) for the support in the form of loans shall be adopted in the period from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2029.
3. The release of the Union’s assistance shall be managed by the Commission in a manner consistent with the key principles and objectives of reforms set out in the Reform Agenda. All funds, with the exception of complementary support referred to in paragraph 2, and resources referred to in paragraph 6, shall be provided in twice-yearly instalments based on the completion of the necessary reforms in the specified timelines as agreed in the Reform Agenda and agreed in the Commission implementing decision.
4. At least 25 % of the loan released to Moldova shall be made available by Moldova to investment projects approved under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform, one of the regional investment platforms referred to in Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 2021/947. The Facility Agreement shall detail this obligation, as well as the detailed rules and principles for its implementation. Failure to comply with this obligation shall trigger suspension of further operations under the Facility and recovery of said amounts from Moldova, as referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation.
5. Complementary support shall correspond to at least 20 % of total non-repayable financial support as referred to in paragraph 2.
6. An amount of up to 1 % of the non-repayable support referred to in paragraph 2 may be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Facility, such as preparatory actions, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities, which are required for the management of the Facility and the achievement of its objectives, in particular studies, meetings of experts, training, consultations with Moldova’s authorities, conferences, consultation of local authorities, in accordance with Moldova’s national legal framework, and relevant stakeholders, including social partners and civil society organisations, information and communication activities, including inclusive outreach activities, and the communication of the political priorities of the Union, insofar as they are related to the objectives of the Facility, expenses linked to IT networks focusing on information processing and exchange, corporate information technology tools, as well as all other expenditure at headquarters and Union delegation for the administrative and coordination support required for the Facility. Expenses may also cover the costs of activities supporting transparency and of other activities such as the quality control and monitoring of projects or programmes on the ground and the costs of peer counselling and experts for the assessment and implementation of reforms and investments.
7. In order to maximise international support, donors may contribute to the implementation of the Facility through external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2) of the Financial Regulation.
Rules on the eligibility of persons and entities, on the origin of supply and materials and on restrictions under the Facility
1. By way of derogation from Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2021/947, participation in procurement and in grant award procedures for activities financed under the Facility shall be open to international and regional organisations and to all natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons effectively established in:
(a)
Member States, Moldova, candidate countries and contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area;
(b)
countries which provide a level of support to Moldova comparable to that provided by the Union, taking into account the size of their economy, and for which reciprocal access to external assistance in Moldova is established by the Commission.
2. The reciprocal access referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), may be granted for a limited period of at least one year where a country grants eligibility on equal terms to entities from the Union and from countries eligible under the Facility.
The Commission shall decide on the reciprocal access after consulting Moldova.
3. All supplies and materials financed and procured under the Facility shall originate from any country referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), unless those supplies and materials cannot be sourced under reasonable conditions in any of those countries. In addition, the rules on restrictions laid down in paragraph 6 shall apply.
4. The eligibility rules under this Article shall not apply to, and shall not create nationality restrictions for, natural persons employed or otherwise legally contracted by an eligible contractor or, where applicable, subcontractor except where the nationality restrictions are based on the rules provided for in paragraph 6.
5. For activities jointly co-financed by an entity or implemented under direct management or indirect management with entities referred to in Article 62(1), first subparagraph, point (c), of the Financial Regulation, the rules applicable to those entities shall also apply in addition to the rules established under this Article, including, where applicable, the restrictions provided for under paragraph 6 of this Article and duly reflected in the financing agreements and contractual documents signed with those entities.
6. The eligibility rules and rules on the origin of supplies and materials set out in paragraphs 1 and 3 and rules on the nationality of the natural persons as set out in paragraph 4 may be restricted with regard to the nationality, geographical location or nature of the legal entities participating in award procedures, as well as with regard to the geographical origin of supplies and materials where:
(a)
such restrictions are required on account of the specific nature or objectives of the activity or specific award procedure or where those restrictions are necessary for the effective implementation of the activity;
(b)
the activity or specific award procedures affect security or public order, in particular concerning strategic assets and interests of the Union, of Member States, or of Moldova, including the security, resilience and protection of integrity of digital infrastructure, including 5G network infrastructure, communication and information systems, and related supply chains.
7. Tender applicants and candidates from non-eligible countries may be accepted as eligible in cases of urgency or where services are unavailable in the markets of the countries or territories concerned, or in other duly substantiated cases where the application of the eligibility rules would make the realisation of an activity impossible or exceedingly difficult.
8. In the framework of the Union’s restrictive measures, adopted on the basis of Article 29 TEU and Article 215 TFEU, no funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of legal persons, entities or bodies subject to Union restrictive measures. Such persons and entities, and entities owned or controlled by them, shall not be supported by the Facility either directly or indirectly, including as indirect owners, sub-contractors in the supply chain or ultimate beneficiaries.
Facility Agreement
1. The Commission shall conclude a Facility Agreement with Moldova for the implementation of the Facility setting out the obligations and payment conditions for the disbursement of funding.
2. The Facility Agreement shall be complemented by a loan agreement in accordance with Article 15, setting out specific provisions for the management and implementation of funding provided in the form of a loan. The Facility Agreement, including any related documentation, shall be made available to the European Parliament and the Council simultaneously and without delay.
3. Funding shall be granted to Moldova only after the Facility Agreement and the loan agreement have entered into force.
4. The Facility Agreement and the loan agreement concluded with Moldova shall ensure that the obligations set out in Article 129 of the Financial Regulation are fulfilled.
5. The Facility Agreement shall lay down the necessary detailed provisions concerning:
(a)
the commitment of Moldova to make decisive progress towards a robust legal framework to fight fraud, and establish more efficient and effective control systems, including appropriate mechanisms for the protection of whistleblowers as well as appropriate mechanisms and measures to effectively prevent, detect and correct irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest as well as to strengthen the fight against money laundering, organised crime, misuse of public funds, terrorism financing, tax avoidance, tax fraud and tax evasion, and other illegal activities affecting the funds provided under the Facility;
(b)
the rules on the release, withholding and reduction of funds in accordance with Article 19;
(c)
the detailed rules on and the obligation of Moldova to provide part of total loan amount for investment projects approved under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform, pursuant to Article 6(4);
(d)
the activities related to management, control, supervision, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and audit, as well as system reviews, investigations, anti-fraud measures and cooperation;
(e)
the rules on reporting to the Commission on whether and how the payment conditions referred to in Article 10 are fulfilled;
(f)
the rules on taxes, duties and charges in accordance with Article 27(9) and (10) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947;
(g)
the measures to effectively prevent, detect and correct irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest, and the obligation for persons or entities implementing Union funds under this Regulation to notify the Commission, OLAF and, where applicable, EPPO, without delay, of suspected or actual cases of irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest and other illegal activities affecting the funds provided under the Facility and their follow-up;
(h)
the obligations referred to in Articles 21 and 22, including the precise rules and a timeframe on collection of data by Moldova and access to it for the Commission, OLAF, the Court of Auditors and, where applicable, EPPO;
(i)
a procedure to ensure that requests for the disbursement of loan support fall within the available loan amount, in accordance with Article 6(1);
(j)
the right of the Commission to reduce proportionately the support provided under the Facility and to recover any amount referred to in Article 6(1) spent to achieve the objectives of the Facility, or to ask for early repayment of the loan, in cases of irregularities, fraud, corruption or conflicts of interest affecting the financial interests of the Union that have not been corrected by Moldova, of a reversal of qualitative or quantitative steps, or of a serious breach of an obligation provided for in the Facility Agreement;
(k)
rules and procedures for Moldova to report for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the Facility and assessing the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 3;
(l)
the obligation for Moldova to transmit electronically to the Commission the data referred to in Article 20.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
