National co-financing of Interreg programmes 2021-2027
The management of national co-financing for Interreg programmes will change for the 2021-2027 programming period. In the future, national co-financing will only be applied for after the project has received a funding decision from an Interreg programme. The commitment procedure is no longer in use.
The amount of national co-financing is a maximum of 70% of the non-EU funding share of the project's Finnish beneficiaries. The amount may be lower than this due to state aid rules, for example.
National co-financing is applied for either from the Council of Uusimaa or the Council of Lapland, where the management tasks for national co-financing have been centralised.
- The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council is responsible for the national co-financing of the following programmes:
- Interreg Central Baltic
- Interreg Baltic Sea Region
- URBACT
The Regional Council of Lapland is responsible for the national co-financing of the following programmes:
- Interreg Aurora
- Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA)
- Interreg Europe
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and the Regional Council of Lapland together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment are currently preparing the process for granting national co-financing. The application form for national co-financing is available on the websites of the Regional Councils from spring 2022. The councils also offer programme-specific support on questions related to applying for national co-financing and reporting.
Contact details for national co-financing of Interreg programmes:
Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council
Senior Specialist Antti Taronen
[email protected]
p. 040 507 9998
Regional Council of Lapland:
Interreg Specialist Maiju Jolma-Taylor
[email protected]
p. 040 660 8546
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:
Ministerial Adviser Riitta Vartia
[email protected]
p. 029 506 4966
Administrative control of Interreg programmes
During the 2014-2020 programming period, private auditors were responsible for the first level control (FLC) of Interreg programmes. During the programming period 2021-2027, administrative checks will be carried out in two Regional Councils, the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and the Regional Council of Lapland. In the future, the audit will be free of charge for the projects. The payment application (report) is sent either to the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council or to the Regional Council of Lapland, depending on which party acts as the administrative controller of the programme in question.
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council is responsible for the administrative checks of the following programmes:
- Interreg Central Baltic
- Interreg Baltic Sea Region
- URBACT
- Interact
The Regional Council of Lapland is responsible for the administrative checks of the following programmes:
- Interreg Aurora
- Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA)
- Interreg Europa
If a Finnish project actor participates in some other Interreg programme, the control of such a project is carried out by the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
Legislation
Key points from the legislation:
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Chapter 4 describes the implementation of the administration of Interreg programmes in Finland (sections 31-41)
-
Chapter 3 describes the tasks of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and the Regional Council of Lapland (sections 17-23)
- Chapter 2 describes in general terms the aid procedure, which also applies to the national co-financing of Interreg programmes (sections 19-36).
- Chapter 4 describes in particular the exceptions and additional provisions concerning the national co-financing of Interreg programmes (sections 59-69).
- Chapter 5 describes inspections (sections 70-74)
- Chapter 3 describes in more detail the general aid procedure, which also applies to the national co-financing of Interreg programmes (sections 9-17).
Chapter 6 describes in more detail the support for national match funding for Interreg programmes, including application and payment (sections 31-37)
Description of national co-financing for European Territorial Cooperation (later Interreg) projects under the General Block Exemption Regulation (later GBER) (EU) 651/2014
Reference to SANI system: National co-financing of Interreg programmes 2021-2027 SA.103672
1. National legal basis
Act on Regional Development and implementation of the European Union's regional and structural policy (756/2021)
Government Decree on Regional Development and implementation of the European Union's regional and structural policy (797/2021)
Act on the financing of Regional Development and Regional and Structural Policy projects of the European Union (757/2021)
Government Decree on Regional Development and the financing of Regional and Structural Policy projects of the European Union (867/2021), amended (187/2022) and (1042/2023)
Government budget proposal TAE2024; National co-financing is included in the budget under item 32.40.64 EU and central government contributions to EU regional and structural policy programmes and other cohesion policy programmes. In accordance with the justifications of the subsection, the appropriation can be used to pay the central government's financial contribution to Interreg programmes.
EU State aid rules: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 107(1) TFEU)
2. Competence and tasks of the grant authority
The competent state aid authorities are the Regional Council of Lapland and the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council (797/2021, section 23). The management of national co-financing for the Interreg Aurora, Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic and Interreg Europe programmes has been centralised in the Regional Council of Lapland.
The administration of national co-financing for the Interreg Central Baltic, Interreg Baltic Sea Region and Urbact programmes has been centralised in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council. The administration of national co-financing for other Interreg programmes has been centralised in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
The above-mentioned authorities also act as controllers in programmes where the administrative controls of the programme are not carried out by the Managing Authority (797/2021, section 20).
3. Aid decision, aid intensity and eligible costs
The Managing Authority of the Interreg programme grants the ERDF/EU contribution to the Lead Partner of the project with a grant agreement (in Finland: grant decision).
The eligible costs are defined in Interreg Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 and, where applicable, programme-specific programme manuals. Value-added tax is not an eligible cost if it is a recoverable to the beneficiary under national tax legislation.
The maximum aid intensity for projects funded by the programmes is defined in the Interreg Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 and set out in the programme-specific implementing regulations of the European Commission.
Support for the costs of the Interreg project shall not exceed the maximum amount of co-financing provided for in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 or Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as appropriate. National co-financing is part of the funding/support share granted to the project.
4. Granting of aid
The Managing Authority of the Interreg programme decides whether the aid is granted to the project under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The Managing Authority of the programme assesses on a case-by-case basis the fulfilment of the GBER conditions when preparing its proposal to the programme Monitoring Committee for projects to be funded. The programme Monitoring Committee or, where applicable, the Steering Committee shall select the actions to be financed in terms of content in accordance with the strategy and objectives of the programme. In accordance with Article 22 of (EU) 2021/1059, the Managing Authority of the programme determines the conditions for granting and paying the aid, including the terms and conditions related to state aid, in its grant agreement.
5. Granting of Finland's national co-financing and cumulation of aid
Finland's national co-financing is part of the funding granted for the project. When preparing the decision on national co-financing, the authority granting national co-financing examines whether national co-financing can be granted to the project in addition to the EU support share already granted or whether the maximum aid intensity of the funding granted to the project is already met on the basis of the EU support decision (grant agreement) issued by the Managing Authority of the programme in question (Article 20 of the GBER). The authority granting national co-financing checks the cumulation of the intended aid with other state aid. For example in the Interreg Aurora programme, the aid may also be granted as De Minimis aid. However, the maximum aid intensity per programme cannot be exceeded.
6. Retention period of project data
Provisions on the archive of material concerning national co-financing are laid down in section 69 of the Act on the financing of Regional Development and Regional and Structural Policy projects of the European Union (757/2021). In addition, a longer retention period of 10 years for state aid must be observed if the aid has been granted on the basis of Article 20 of the GBER (EU) 651/2014.