In 2021-2027 the performance framework mechanism will function differently than in 2014-2020. All outputs shall have milestones and targets to track overall performance. There is no prima facie obligation for the financial coverage by output indicators. However, it is anticipated that the expanded list of common outputs and the use of programme common indicators will lead to very high coverage of investments by output indicators.
The regulation does not set a minimum requirement on the coverage of output indicators. There should be some flexibility to avoid that a common indicator might be needed to cover marginal or isolated actions (not covered by more widely relevant indicators). The PF methodology (Article 13) talks about the criteria applied in selecting indicators. The budget covered by the indicators proposed will be a relevant criteria. The scale of the investment effort by specific objective (SO), the homogeneity or diversity of actions and the relevance of common or result indicators will be others. In the case of a SO with a significant budget (absolute or relative) and homogeneous actions, it could be expected that close to 100% of the budget is covered by indicators. In the case of a SO with a small budget covering diverse actions, a lower coverage could be justified.
The 50%+ minimum percentage for PF indicator coverage in 2014-2020 is not a relevant comparator for the period 2021-2027. That provision was specifically linked to the sub-set of indicators used in the 2014-2020 PF to inform the performance review and performance reserve. Other indicators (common and specific) also existed with targets set outside the 2014-2020 PF.