Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
Modified by
  • Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 18 July 2018on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, 32018R1046, July 30, 2018
  • Regulation (EU) 2020/559 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 23 April 2020amending Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards the introduction of specific measures for addressing the outbreak of COVID-19, 32020R0559, April 24, 2020
  • Regulation (EU) 2021/177 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 10 February 2021amending Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards the introduction of specific measures for addressing the crisis associated with the outbreak of COVID-19, 32021R0177, February 16, 2021
  • Regulation (EU) 2022/562 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 6 April 2022amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 as regards Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE), 32022R0562, April 8, 2022
  • Regulation (EU) 2022/613 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 12 April 2022amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 as regards increased pre-financing from REACT-EU resources and the establishment of a unit cost, 32022R0613, April 13, 2022
  • Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 29 February 2024establishing the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and amending Directive 2003/87/EC and Regulations (EU) 2021/1058, (EU) 2021/1056, (EU) 2021/1057, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) 2021/1060, (EU) 2021/523, (EU) 2021/695, (EU) 2021/697 and (EU) 2021/241, 32024R0795, February 29, 2024
Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 11 March 2014on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived TITLE IGENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1Subject matter and purposeThis Regulation establishes the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived ('the Fund') for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 and determines the objectives of the Fund, the scope of its support, the financial resources available and their allocation for each Member State, and lays down the rules necessary to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the Fund.
Article 2DefinitionsThe following definitions apply:(1)'basic material assistance' means basic consumer goods of a limited value and for the personal use of the most deprived persons for example clothing, footwear, hygiene goods, school material and sleeping bags;(2)'most deprived persons' means natural persons, whether individuals, families, households or groups composed of such persons, whose need for assistance has been established according to the objective criteria set by the national competent authorities in consultation with relevant stakeholders, while avoiding conflicts of interest, or defined by the partner organisations and which are approved by those national competent authorities and which may include elements that allow the targeting of the most deprived persons in certain geographical areas;(3)'partner organisations' means public bodies and/or non- profit organisations that deliver food and/or basic material assistance, where applicable, combined with accompanying measures directly or through other partner organisations, or that undertake activities aiming directly at the social inclusion of the most deprived persons, and whose operations have been selected by the managing authority in accordance with point (b) of Article 32(3);(4)'national schemes' means any scheme having, at least partly, the same objectives as the Fund and which is being implemented at national, regional or local level by public bodies or non-profit organisations;(5)'food and/or basic material assistance operational programme' (also referred to as 'OP I') means an operational programme supporting the distribution of food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived persons, combined where applicable with accompanying measures, aimed at alleviating the social exclusion of most deprived persons;(6)'social inclusion of the most deprived persons operational programme' (also referred to as 'OP II') means an operational programme supporting the activities outside active labour market measures, consisting in non-financial, non-material assistance, aimed at the social inclusion of the most deprived persons;(7)'operation' means a project, contract or action selected by the managing authority of the operational programme concerned, or under its responsibility, contributing to the objectives of the operational programme to which it relates;(8)'completed operation' means an operation that has been physically completed or fully implemented and in respect of which all related payments have been made by beneficiaries and the support from the corresponding operational programme has been paid to the beneficiaries;(9)'beneficiary' means a public or private body responsible for initiating or initiating and implementing operations;(10)'end recipient' means the most deprived person or persons receiving support as defined in Article 4 of this Regulation;(11)'accompanying measures' means activities provided in addition to the distribution of food and/or basic material assistance with the aim of alleviating social exclusion and/or tackling social emergencies in a more empowering and sustainable way, for example guidance on a balanced diet and budget management advice;(12)'public expenditure' means a public contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities, the budget of the Union related to the Fund, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or any body governed by public law within the meaning of Article 1(9) of Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of the procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 114).;(13)'intermediate body' means any public or private body which acts under the responsibility of a managing or certifying authority, or which carries out duties on behalf of such an authority in relation to beneficiaries' implementing operations;(14)'accounting year', means the period from 1 July to 30 June, except for the first accounting year of the programming period, in respect of which it means the period from the start date for eligibility of expenditure until 30 June 2015. The final accounting year shall be from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024;(15)'financial year' means the period from 1 January to 31 December;(16)'irregularity' means any breach of Union law or of national law relating to its application, resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator involved in the implementation of the Fund, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the budget of the Union by charging an unjustified item of expenditure to the budget of the Union;(17)'economic operator' means any natural or legal person or other entity taking part in the implementation of assistance from the Fund, with the exception of a Member State exercising its prerogatives as a public authority;(18)'systemic irregularity' means any irregularity, that may be of a recurring nature, with a high probability of occurrence in similar types of operations, which results from a serious deficiency in the effective functioning of a management and control system, including a failure to establish appropriate procedures in accordance with this Regulation;(19)'serious deficiency in the effective functioning of a management and control system' means a deficiency for which substantial improvements in the system are required, which exposes the Fund to significant risk of irregularities, and the existence of which is incompatible with an unqualified audit opinion on the functioning of the management and control system.
Article 3Objectives1.The Fund shall promote social cohesion, enhance social inclusion and therefore ultimately contribute to the objective of eradicating poverty in the Union by contributing to achieving the poverty reduction target of at least 20 million of the number of persons at risk of poverty and social exclusion in accordance with the Europe 2020 strategy, whilst complementing the Structural Funds. The Fund shall contribute to achieving the specific objective of alleviating the worst forms of poverty, by providing non-financial assistance to the most deprived persons by food and/or basic material assistance, and social inclusion activities aiming at the social integration of the most deprived persons.This objective and the results of the implementation of the Fund shall be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed.2.The Fund shall complement sustainable national poverty eradication and social inclusion policies, which remain the responsibility of Member States.
Article 4Scope of support1.The Fund shall support national schemes whereby food and/or basic material assistance, are distributed to the most deprived persons through partner organisations selected by Member States.With the view to augmenting and diversifying the supply of food for the most deprived persons, as well as reducing and preventing food wastage, the Fund may support activities related to the collection, transport, storage and distribution of food donations.The Fund may also support accompanying measures, complementing the provision of food and/or basic material assistance.2.The Fund shall support activities contributing to the social inclusion of the most deprived persons.3.The Fund shall promote, at Union level, mutual learning, networking and dissemination of good practices in the area of non-financial assistance to the most deprived persons.
Article 5Principles1.The part of the budget of the Union allocated to the Fund shall be implemented within the framework of shared management between the Member States and the Commission, in accordance with point (b) of Article 58(1) of the Financial Regulation, with the exception of technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission, which shall be implemented in the framework of direct management in accordance with point (a) of Article 58(1) of the Financial Regulation.2.The Commission and the Member States shall ensure, taking account of the specific context of each Member State, that support from the Fund is consistent with the relevant policies and priorities of the Union and complementary to other instruments of the Union.3.Support from the Fund shall be implemented in close co-operation between the Commission and the Member States in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.4.Member States and the bodies designated by them for that purpose, shall be responsible for implementing the operational programmes and carrying out their tasks under this Regulation in accordance with the institutional, legal and financial framework of the Member State and subject to compliance with this Regulation.5.Arrangements for the implementation and use of the Fund, and in particular the financial and administrative resources required in relation to reporting, evaluation, management and control shall take into account the principle of proportionality having regard to the level of support allocated and the limited administrative capacity of the organisations that function thanks mainly to volunteers.6.In accordance with their respective responsibilities, and to prevent double funding, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure coordination with the ESF, and with other relevant Union policies, strategies and instruments, in particular Union initiatives in the field of public health and against food waste.7.The Commission and the Member States and the beneficiaries shall apply the principle of sound financial management in accordance with Article 30 of the Financial Regulation.8.The Commission and the Member States shall ensure the effectiveness of the Fund, in particular through monitoring, reporting and evaluation.9.The Member States and the Commission shall ensure that the operational programmes are prepared, programmed, implemented, monitored and evaluated, respecting the partnership principle, when carrying out the consultations of relevant stakeholders as set out in this Regulation.10.The Commission and the Member States shall take action to ensure the effectiveness of the Fund, and shall carry out their respective roles in relation to the Fund with the aim of reducing the administrative burden for beneficiaries.11.The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that equality between men and women and the integration of the gender perspective are taken into account and promoted during the various stages of the preparation, programming, management and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Fund, as well as in information and awareness raising campaigns and exchanges of best practices. The Commission and the Member States shall use data broken down by gender, where available.The Commission and the Member States shall take appropriate steps to prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in obtaining access to the Fund, and to programmes and operations supported by the Fund.12.Operations supported by the Fund shall comply with applicable Union law and national law relating to its application ('applicable law'). In particular, the Fund may only be used to support the distribution of food or goods that are in conformity with the Union law on consumer product safety.13.Member States and beneficiaries shall choose the food and/or the basic material assistance on the basis of objective criteria related to the needs of the most deprived persons. The selection criteria for the food products, and where appropriate for goods, shall also take into consideration climatic and environmental aspects, in particular with a view to reduction of food waste. Where appropriate, the choice of the type of food products to be distributed shall be made having considered their contribution to the balanced diet of the most deprived persons.14.The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that aid provided in the framework of this Fund respects the dignity of the most deprived persons.
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