From the DG REGIO perspective, it is imperative that programmes make an attempt to estimate the targets and the baselines for the actions expected under the relevant specific objectives in order to understand the context and the scale of the GHG reductions envisaged. A very significant financial effort will be made to support the Green Deal using EU budget funding, and reducing GHG emissions is of the highest policy priority. Not having baselines and targets in initial programmes will undermine the Commission’s presentation of the justification for the EU budget to the Council and the European Parliament in the early year of the 2021-2027 programme period. For that reason, we must ask that the best is made to estimate the baseline and targets for relevant specific objectives.
The basis for estimating the targets could be the experience with similar actions in 2014-2020, while taking into account any changes in actions planned for support or other contextual elements. Where you have information on unit costs, and these are relevant for the different actions you are planning to finance in future, then this would be a reasonable starting point.
We recall that the performance framework methodology provides the possibility to outline the data, evidence and assumptions used in selecting indicators and calculating baselines, milestones and targets as relevant. The uncertainty surrounding the lack of information on the projects to later be selected could be set out in the methodology.