The Commission is in the process of negotiating and adopting PAs with individual EU countries for 2021 to 2027. As of September 2022, twenty-two partnership agreements have been adopted.
To support the partnership principle during the current programming period, a new European Community of Practice on Partnership (ECoPP) for 2021-2027 has been created to exchange best practices, discuss the functioning of the European Code of Conduct on Partnership (ECCP) and prepare updates to the code.
It will be a true forum for practitioners at all levels of the funds’ implementation to exchange good practices.
The ECoPP primarily consists of partners selected through a call for applications, which was launched at the end of 2021. Permanent representations were asked to nominate partners, with the support of the relevant regional managing authorities.
The rest of the ECoPP members are representatives of Member States, such as managing authorities or coordination authorities.
I strongly believe that successful projects are firmly rooted in local partners and local people. We must do even more here in future!’ says Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira.
The partnership principle and PAs are the framework with which to achieve this.
Strategic agreements
Partnership agreements are strategic documents that set out national authorities’ plans on how to use funds in shared management with the Commission during the current EU long-term budget. Around 70 % of EU programmes are run this way, including all cohesion policy funds.
The focus is on EU priorities – laying down the strategy and investment priorities identified by the countries themselves and paving the way for the implementation of regional investments. A list of national and regional funding programmes is presented for implementation on the ground, including the annual amount allocated to each programme.
They establish investments that promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and help implement key EU priorities such as the green and digital transitions and social inclusion.
Code of conduct
Partners must follow the ECCP, which ensures that investment plans are of good quality and that they mobilise all local knowledge, spread ownership and take account of local conditions.
Lessons have been learnt since the code of conduct was put in force in the 2014-2020 funding period. Experience has demonstrated that partners are very willing but sometimes lack the capacity to efficiently implement the funded projects. The new Common Provision Regulation reinforces support for capacity building.
For the current programming period, the managing authorities in the partner countries help identify where the institutional capacity needs to be strengthened and can then access technical assistance to build that capacity.
Partnerships in action
The Commission will adopt PAs with every Member State. The agreements outline the national funding programmes and the intended types of beneficiaries to receive EU funding. These beneficiaries include regional, local, urban and other public authorities; economic and social partners; research organisations and universities, where appropriate; and relevant bodies representing civil society, including NGOs and environmental bodies.
It is vital to involve bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, fundamental rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and non-discrimination.
Only a diversity of actors and European territories can adequately represent the diversity of people’s needs. By involving as many of these different actors as possible, each PA will allow for targeted regional development where it is needed most.
All partners are involved in the preparation of the PA. They are also involved in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of cohesion policy programmes.
Synergies with other policies
Looking ahead, the new partnership agreements will help different instruments mutually reinforce each other to achieve a higher overall impact for Europeans.
Indeed, one of the goals of the new PAs is to highlight where the EU’s budget can be maximised through shared investments in areas of common interest.
By involving a variety of stakeholders and enabling collaboration across policy areas, the partnership principle remains a key ingredient of EU support. Europe can react strongly to economic challenges and capitalise on the investment priorities of individual countries, so that regional investment delivers on the ground.
Find out more:
Partnership Agreements for 2021-2027
The first meeting of the European Community of Practice on Partnership
