The regulatory framework for the 2021-2027 programming period introduces a new feature for programmes across the EU, the so-called ‘operations of strategic importance’. With thousands of Cohesion policy projects funded each year across Europe, new CPR provisions aim to highlight key and emblematic operations, and set the stage for them to tell the programme’s story and Cohesion policy’s contribution.
It is up to Member States and managing authorities to set out the operations of strategic importance. In the implementation phase, Member States, managing authorities and beneficiaries shall communicate and ensure visibility of EU support. The Commission aims to capitalize on operations of strategic importance’s visibility in communication campaigns.
The purpose of this document is to inspire Member States, managing authorities and beneficiaries when communicating about operations of strategic importance. It is a follow-up of discussions and questions raised in September 2021 as part of the Technical Seminar about Operations of Strategic Importance and in December 2021 as part of the Inform EU Expert Group on Communication.
Update! The English version of the toolbox was updated at the beginning of 2024 with revised information on using SFC2021 for selected operations of strategic importance (page 8 of the document). The updated version is also being translated to EU official languages and the publication of new versions will proceed in several rounds, starting with Bulgarian, Czech, German, Finnish, French and Dutch versions.