Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 is amended as follows:

in Article 9, the first subparagraph of paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not apply for the purposes of modifying elements of an operational programme falling under sub-sections 3.5 and 3.6 and section 4, respectively, of the operational programme templates set out in Annex I, or the elements set out in points (a) to (e) and (g) of Article 7(2) in the event that they are modified as a result of the crisis response to the outbreak of COVID-19.’;

in Article 13(1), the following subparagraph is added:

‘By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the deadline for the submission of the annual implementation report for the year 2019 shall be 30 September 2020.’;

in Article 20, the following paragraph is inserted:

‘1a. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, at the request of a Member State, a co‐financing rate of 100 % may be applied to the public expenditure declared in payment applications during the accounting year starting 1 July 2020 and ending 30 June 2021.

Requests for modification of the co-financing rate shall be submitted in accordance with the procedure for the amendment of operational programmes set out in Article 9 and shall be accompanied by a revised programme. The co-financing rate of 100 % shall apply only if the relevant amendment of the operational programme is approved by the Commission before the submission of the final application for interim payment in accordance with Article 45(2).

Before submitting the first payment application for the accounting year starting 1 July 2021, Member States shall notify the table referred to in section 5.1 of the operational programme templates set out in Annex I, confirming the co-financing rate which was applicable during the accounting year ending 30 June 2020.’;

in Article 22(4), the following subparagraph is added:

‘By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, expenditure for operations for fostering crisis response capacity to address the outbreak of COVID-19 shall be eligible from 1 February 2020.’;

in Article 23, the following paragraph is inserted:

‘4a. Food and/or basic material assistance may be provided to the most deprived persons directly or indirectly, such as through vouchers or cards, in electronic or other form, provided that such vouchers, cards or other instruments can be exchanged only against food and/or basic material assistance.’;

in Article 26, paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

point (a) is replaced by the following:

the cost of purchasing food and/or basic material assistance and the cost of purchasing personal protective materials and equipment for partner organisations,’;

point (c) is replaced by the following:

the administrative, preparation, transport and storage costs borne by the partner organisations at a flat-rate of 5 % of the costs referred to in point (a); or 5 % of the value of the food products disposed of in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013;’;

the following articles are inserted:

REGULATION (EU) 2020/559 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2020 amending Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards the introduction of specific measures for addressing the outbreak of COVID-19