Setting up a database to assess impacts and effects of certain thresholds and limits in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 (CPR) : executive summary

In order to reduce the administrative burden, respect the principle of proportionality, ensure sound financial management, and facilitate the implementation of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds both for the Member States and the beneficiaries, the Common Provisions Regulation establishes a set of thresholds and limits on administrative requirements for operations benefitting from ESI Funds. Modelling the impact of these new thresholds at the level of the operations with existing data was problematic as data was only available at an aggregate level. Therefore, the European Commission initiated this study to establish a database and subsequently analyse operation-level data from Operational Programmes supported by the ERDF and CF under the 2007-2013 programming period. Where possible, data that could not be collected was estimated. The assembled database was then used to analyse the distribution of operations, both in terms of the number of operations and their total cost, around six thresholds. This analysis was also applied to show the impact based on other criteria, including category of region, priority theme, territorial dimension, and for individual Member States. Finally, sensitivity analyses were conducted to analyse the impact that any potential changes in the thresholds would have on these parameters.