Operations of Strategic Importance

Operations of Strategic Importance of the PR FESR 2021–2027: Communication Obligations
New communication arrangements apply to projects co-financed by EU funds in the 2021–2027 cycle.
By means of a circular issued by the Coordinating Authority of the Managing Authority of the PR FESR Sicilia, the Sicilian Region summarised the innovations introduced by the European Union to increase the visibility of interventions with a significant impact on territorial development and, at the same time, incorporated the updated version of the specific national guidelines.
The starting point is Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, which introduced into the programming of EU resources the so-called “Operazioni di importanza strategica (OSI)”: interventions that make a significant contribution to achieving a programme’s objectives and are therefore subject to specific communication and monitoring measures.
The new rules require specific steps to ensure the visibility of EU support: for OSI, it is, among other things, the responsibility of beneficiaries and of bodies implementing financial instruments to organise an event or an appropriate communication activity, involving the European Commission and the Managing Authority of the Programme in good time.
These provisions also apply to all interventions whose total cost exceeds EUR 10 million (with the exception of Technical Assistance operations) and to others specifically identified for their particular ability to make a significant contribution to the Programme’s objectives.
Appendix 3 of the PR FESR Sicilia 2021–2027 identifies five OSI: “Support for research infrastructures” (Priority 1, Specific Objective 1.1); “Measures to improve the Integrated Water Service” (Priority 2, Specific Objective 2.5); “Measures to improve accessibility to Inner Areas” (Priority 3, Specific Objective 3.2); “Revitalisation of places of culture and public spaces for social inclusion and innovation” (Priority 5, Specific Objective 4.6); and “Preparation of territorial strategies” (definition process for 9 Functional Urban Areas and 11 Inner Areas, Priority 6, Specific Objective 5.1/2).
The communication event or activity may take various forms. By way of example, these include opening/closing events, communication campaigns, press conferences or site visits by journalists, citizen-facing initiatives (guided tours, visits to laboratories or infrastructures), and experience-based initiatives that offer a unique insight into the project (exhibitions, theatre performances, storytelling events). Beneficiaries are encouraged to use communication approaches that work well locally and are suited to the specific project.
In essence, the event or activity should serve as an opportunity to make the results achieved through the project visible to the public, to show positive changes for the territory, and to highlight the relevance of the intervention in relation to the Specific Objective of the Programme. The aim is to leverage the communication potential of emblematic projects to help citizens understand the EU’s role in territorial development, thereby increasing awareness of the benefits generated by the PR FESR Sicilia 2021–2027.
The circular of the Department of Programming (No. 2198 of 14 February 2025, amending and supplementing circulars No. 2724 and No. 8158 of 2024) is accompanied by a methodological note and refers to the guidelines (“LG-COM OSI 2.0 – November 2024”) issued by the Department for Cohesion Policies (DpCoes) of the Presidency of the Council, which in turn are based on the operational toolbox previously produced by the European Commission (“Communicating Operations of Strategic Importance in 2021–2027 – A practical toolbox”).