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1. The Commission shall assess the consistency of programmes with this Regulation and with the Fund-specific rules, their effective contribution to the selected thematic objectives and to the Union priorities specific to each ESI Fund, and also the consistency with the Partnership Agreement, taking account of the relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU and relevant Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU as well as of the ex ante evaluation. The assessment shall address, in particular, the adequacy of the programme strategy, the corresponding objectives, indicators, targets and the allocation of budgetary resources.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the Commission shall not need to assess the consistency of the dedicated operational programmes for the YEI referred to in point (a) of the second paragraph of Article 18 of the ESF Regulation and dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) of this Regulation with the Partnership Agreement in the absence of the submission by the Member State of its Partnership Agreement at the date of submission of such dedicated programmes.

3. The Commission shall make observations within three months of the date of submission of the programme. The Member State shall provide to the Commission all necessary additional information and, where appropriate, revise the proposed programme.

4. In accordance with the Fund-specific rules, the Commission shall approve each programme no later than six months following its submission by the Member State concerned, provided that any observations made by the Commission have been adequately taken into account, but not before 1 January 2014 or before adoption by the Commission of a decision approving the Partnership Agreement.

By way of derogation from the requirement referred to in the first subparagraph, programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal may be approved by the Commission before the adoption of the decision approving the Partnership Agreement and dedicated operational programmes for the YEI referred to in point (a) of the second paragraph of Article 18 of the ESF Regulation and dedicated programmes referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 39(4) of this Regulation may be approved by the Commission before the submission of the Partnership Agreement.