Cohesion Fund
The major innovation of the new approach of the Commission relates to integrating the Cohesion Fund - that has so far been operating on a project-basis - in the programming structure, which means that major investments implemented by funding granted by the Cohesion Fund must also be included within the framework of operational programmes; moreover – or at least according to the concept of the Commission – the so-called N+2 rule must also be extended to cover the Cohesion Fund as well, according to which rule the member state irrevocably loses all funding not used up to the end of the second year following the year in which the amount was committed and the commitment was accepted by the Commission.
The other new innovative concept of the Commission in connection with the Cohesion Fund is that – as opposed to current practice – not only environmental protection and transport major investments will be funded within the scope of operations of the fund. Accordingly, other areas connecting to sustainable development will also be eligible for funding, such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, transport beyond the scope of TEN, inter-modal transport systems and the interoperability of these, traffic control, clean urban transport and public transport.