Today the High Level Group on Simplification is meeting in Brussels to discuss the issue of gold-plating in the access to and management of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds. "Gold-plating" refers to the administrative extra-requirements added by the national and local authorities in charge of managing the funds and imposed to the beneficiaries. The High Level Group will assess the level of extra-requirements against real needs and propose ideas for simplification. Commissioner
Simplifying access to the ESI Funds: High Level Group on Simplification tackles gold-plating
- 21 June 2016
Today the High Level Group on Simplification is meeting in Brussels to discuss the issue of gold-plating in the access to and management of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds. "Gold-plating" refers to the administrative extra-requirements added by the national and local authorities in charge of managing the funds and imposed to the beneficiaries. The High Level Group will assess the level of extra-requirements against real needs and propose ideas for simplification. Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu said: "There are countries where more than 40 signatures are needed to submit an application – and this is not required by Union law. The High Level Group will look at ways to reduce the administrative burden, to make the life of both the authorities dealing with the funds and the beneficiaries easier." Set by the Commission in July 2015, the High Level Group on Simplification assesses and monitors the uptake of simplification opportunities to access and use the ESI Funds by Member states and works on proposals for further simplification in the post-2020 ESI Funds framework. More information on the High Level Group, on today's meeting and on future meetings is available here. Do you have ideas on how to simplify the management of ESI Funds? Share them and engage with other stakeholders on this online platform.