Operational Programme for Cohesion Policy Funds 2014-2020

The Operational Programme for Cohesion Policy Funds 2014-2020 is a national multi-sectoral programme of Estonia. It provides that the Programme has been drawn up in accordance with the principle that the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI) are one-off leverage to achieve significant changes in Estonia. Their use should bring about a shift in development, increasing the efficiency, effectiveness or quality of target achievement in an area, sector or industry, and leading to positive long-term impact (e.g. initiation and implementation of structural reforms and key initiatives/projects).
The Operational Programme aims to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable. To this end, it is planning to invest in the water sector to meet the requirements of the Union's environmental acquis and to address needs, identified by the Member States, for investment that goes beyond those requirements; protect and restore biodiversity and soil and promoting ecosystem services, including through Natura 2000, and green infrastructure; and develop and improve environmentally-friendly (including low-noise) and low-carbon transport systems, including inland waterways and maritime transport, ports, multimodal links and airport infrastructure, in order to promote sustainable regional and local mobility.
Further, for reducing rural poverty, the document targets to enhance access to affordable, sustainable and high-quality services, including healthcare and social services of general interest; increased labour market participation or improved coping of people with special needs, care burden or coping difficulties who have received welfare services; active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability; inclusion and improvement of the employability of young people, incl. those at risk of exclusion; access to employment for job-seekers and inactive people, including the long-term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility; improving the quality and efficiency of, and access to, tertiary and equivalent education with a view to increasing participation and attainment levels, especially for disadvantaged groups; provide support for physical, economic and social regeneration of deprived communities in urban and rural areas; and invest in health and social infrastructure which contributes to national, regional and local development, reducing inequalities in terms of health status, promoting social inclusion through improved access to social, cultural and recreational services and the transition from institutional to community-based services.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Operational Programme seeks to support the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes; and to support employment-friendly growth through the development of endogenous potential as part of a territorial strategy for specific areas, including the conversion of declining industrial regions and enhancement of accessibility to, and development of, specific natural and cultural resources.
In order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the Operational Programme aims to promote investment to address specific risks, ensuring disaster resilience and developing disaster management systems; and to promote low-carbon strategies for all types of territories, in particular urban areas, including the promotion of sustainable multi-modal urban mobility and mitigation relevant adaptation measures. In the energy sector, the Programme provides for supporting energy efficiency, smart energy management and renewable energy use in public infrastructure, including in public buildings, and in the housing sector.