Calabria regional operational programme (ROP) 2014-2020: contradictory data and lack of transparency

Subject: Calabria regional operational programme (ROP) 2014-2020: contradictory data and lack of transparency

On 31 December 2018 the deadline for meeting the regional operational programmes’ mid-term spending target expired.

In the case of the ROP for Calabria, the amount to be certified for the purpose of securing funding from the performance reserve was EUR 446 million.

In its answer to Question P-000007-19, the Commission confirmed that this target had been achieved.

However, this information appears to be different from that provided by the Calabria Region1, certified as at 31.12.2018.

The information has been confirmed on several occasions by the regional government, which has also noted that the certified expenditure target to be met by 31.12.2018 was EUR 363 million and not EUR 446 million, as indicated by the Commission in its replies to questions P-003303/2018, P- 006058/2018 and P-000007/2019.

Lastly, the information note drawn up by the monitoring committee on 28 June provides yet another figure for the certified expenditure: according to that note, certified expenditure of EUR 435 million had been achieved only on 10 May 2019.

In view of the above inconsistencies, and in order to ensure maximum transparency, can the Commission say whether:

1) the mid-term certified spending target under the Calabria ROP was EUR 363 million or EUR 446 million;

2) certified expenditure as at 31.12.2018 was EUR 420 million, EUR 446 million, or another amount;

3) the suspension of the application for an interim payment of some EUR 130 million is still in force and what action the Commission intends to take in this regard?

1 http://calabriaeuropa.regione.calabria.it/website/

Answer given by Mr Hahn on behalf of the European Commission

(4 September 2019)

The programme was originally approved by Commission Decision C(2015)7227 of 20 October 2015, with EU co-financing of 75%. Annex I of this decision sets a spending target for 2018 of EUR 446 million in terms of EU co-financing.

The programme actually spent EUR 489 million in EU funds by the end of 2018. This spending was the sum of pre-financing (EUR 174 million), plus payment claims transmitted to the Commission (EUR 315 million).

The figures provided by the Commission refer to EU co-financing, while the figures presented at the monitoring committee refer to total financing of EUR 420 million (EUR 315 million of EU funds plus EUR 105 million of national funds). This sum exceeded the minimum target of total payments claims needed to meet the 2018 N+3 target of EUR 363 million. Therefore, no automatic decommittment was applied for Calabria in 2018.

Payments are not suspended, but interrupted. The programme’s authorities are currently undertaking additional verifications on the programme’s implementation. The outcome of these measures will be analysed by the Commission.

⋅1∙ http://calabriaeuropa.regione.calabria.it/website/ | | ( | | )