1 Information and Communication rules for EU Cohesion policy Brussels, 20 October 2011 Peter Fischer European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy, Information and Communication Unit

2  Continuation of proven communication practices  Simplification  Increased transparency  Clarification of existing rules Information & Communication

3 Simplification -> Information and communication rules now part of main regulation; Art Annex V -> 7 years communication strategy with yearly updates (without formal Commission approval; discussed and agreed by the Monitoring Committee); -> No Mid-Term Assessment but annual progress report for the Monitoring Committee.

4 Increased transparency -> Single website (or portal) for all EU Regional policy programmes in a Member State -> List of operations with clearer, more detailed and more comparable information

5 Clarification For example: -> Better definition of communication responsibilities of Managing Authority and beneficiary (Annex V, Art. 2) -> Clearer role for national information officer (Responsible for the co-ordination of communication actions in the Member State and the national website)

6 Responsibilities of the Member State / managing authority (Annex V (2.1) Ensure / organise that information and publicity measures are implemented in line with communication strategy widest possible media coverage using various forms of communication A programme launch event / annually major information activity the display of the EU flag at Managing Authority premises (365d) the publication of List of Operations Publication of examples of projects on the web also in a widely spoken language (other than the official language(s) of the Member State) publication of updated information about programme implementation, incl. its main achievements. Provide information and publicity kits (also in electronic form) for beneficiaries (Annex V, 3.2 (2)).

7 Responsibilities of the beneficiaries (Annex V (2.2) Info & Comm. measures have to acknowledge support from the Funds by displaying the EU emblem, with a reference to the EU and the Fund. Provide information about the project on the beneficiary‘s website, (incl. a short description with aims and results and highlighting the support from the EU). Comm. activities to be proposed already in project application (Annex V (3.1; 2 (e)) Placing at least one poster with information about the project “at a location readily visible to the public” For ESF operations (and other educational projects supported by ERDF/CF) the beneficiary shall inform the participants of this funding. Billboard / permanent plaque for ERDF/CF infrastructure / construction operations > 500,000 EUR public funding

8 Increased Transparency – The new list of operations (Annex V (1) New emphasis on project content in the list of operations (with short project description) More frequent updates (at least quarterly) Clearer definition of data fields and format - XML or CSV; spreadsheet compatible (Art. 105 (2) … for details -> see Annex V of general Reg.

9 List of operations (projects) – data fields Beneficiary name (legal entities only) Project name Project summary Project start date Project end date Total eligible expenditure per project EU co-funding rate Project Post code Country Project Category Last update (of the List of Projects) Headings also in another official EU language

10 Better branding for EU cohesion policy (billboards, plaques & logos) Commission to provide a billboard template for download on the Inforegio website Non-infrastructure projects to be made more visible: posters and acknowledgement of EU‘s regional support on beneficiary‘s website (Annex V, (2.2). The use of a slogan such as „Investing in your future“ will be optional It is planned to provide downloadable templates on the Inforegio website, (with equal amount of space for European Union support and Member State logos/text)

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12 Any questions? Thank you for your attention!