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TRANSCRIPT
Erasmus+ Social Inclusion
Coordinators' Meeting
1-2 March 2018
Barbara HERMANS Project Advisor-EACEA A1
All you wanted to know and never dared to ask about contractual and reporting
issues
CONTENT
1. The Social Inclusion & project lifecycle
2. Actors and their roles
3. Contractual documents
Grant agreement
Amendments
Reporting
Progress report
Final report
4. Project monitoring
5. Tips & Hints
Social Inclusion lifecycle
Project life cycle
Multi-beneficiary Grant Agreement
EACEA Coordinator Letter of mandate
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
Grant Agreement
ACTORS Project
• Beneficiaries
Coordinator
• Legal representative
• Project manager
• Subcontractors
EACEA
• Project officer
• Financial officer
Grant Agreement COORDINATOR
(Art II.1.3)
• Intermediary between the Agency and the Beneficiaries
– Establishes communication between the Agency and the Beneficiaries
– Provides all necessary documentation and information to the Agency and to
the Beneficiaries
• Sole recipient of payment ensure that all Beneficiaries receive the
payment
• Monitors budget
• Ensures that agreed actions are implemented
COORDINATOR Legal representative
• Person who signs all legal documents
Eg. Grant agreement, amendment requests
• Replacement by valid power of attorney
COORDINATOR Project manager
• Staff member of the Coordinator
• Person managing the day-to-day communication from and to the Agency
• Manages beneficiaries' work and deals with problems between
beneficiaries
BENEFICIARIES (Art. II.1.1-1.2)
• Are the organisations not the persons
• Co-responsible for the implementation of the project
• Share part of the budget
- Receive part of the EU contribution
- Contribute to the co-financing
• Report to the coordinator and transmit all justifying costs
• Respect the deadlines
• Inform the coordinator of any problem or deviation from the agreed work programme
OTHER PROJECT PARTICIPANTS Subcontractor
• Organisation/person that does not belong to Beneficiary
organizations and performs specific tasks for which no
competence exists amongst the Beneficiaries.
• Project management and the general administration of the
project may not be subcontracted.
The Agency - EACEA
• Management of centralized actions
• Calls, selections, contracts, monitoring, acceptance of reports, payments / reimbursements
• Responsible for the legal and financial compliance of the project
Project officer • Performs continuous monitoring of the project
• Acts as helpdesk during the project lifetime
• Validates the assessments of progress and final reports
Financial officer • Assesses the financial part of Progress and Final reports
• Acts as helpdesk concerning financial matters during the project lifetime
3. Contractual documents
• Grant Agreement
• Amendments
• Reporting
Progress report
Final report
Overview
THE GRANT AGREEMENT
1. Special Conditions
2. General Conditions
3. Annexes:
1.Description of the Action
2.General Conditions
3.Estimated Eligible Budget
4.List of Beneficiaries and Mandate Letters
5.Reports Template (technical report)
6.Reports Template (financial statement)
7.Guidance Note Audit Certificate type I or type II
8.Model terms of reference for the operational verification report:n/a
By order of importance!
Legally binding!
THE GRANT AGREEMENT
Fundamental information:
1. Project description & Work programme
2. Eligibility period (Art. I.2.2)
3. Payment arrangements and reporting dates (Art. I.4.1)
4. Eligible budget (Annex III)
5. General Conditions (Annex II)
AMENDMENTS
WHY? to give you some flexibility against unpredictable changes during the project's lifetime but
cannot change the substance of the selected project
must be officially requested and approved by the Agency
WHO? Coordinator – request duly signed by the Legal Representative of the Coordinating organisation
WHEN? Anytime during the project’s life BEFORE the change takes place AND at the latest 1 month before end of eligibility
AMENDMENTS
HOW? - in writing (sent by email attaching a scanned signed letter signed by the legal representative)
- motivate the request
- provide supporting documents
Email: [email protected]
AMENDMENTS
Two categories of amendments:
1. Amendments via the Participant Portal:
- legal name, legal status, address of Coordinator and Beneficiary/ies
2. Amendments requested to the Agency (via exchange of letters)
- legal representative, project manager, eligibility period, work programme, budget, change of partners, bank account, coordinator, etc.
2 types
AMENDMENTS
Format of the request
1. Formal amendment request -> changes to:
partnership
eligibility period
budget breakdown above 10% rule (Art. I.8)
bank account
work programme
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AMENDMENTS
Format of the request
2. No official template : scanned letter per email -> changes to:
Legal representative of coordinator
Contact person of coordinator
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AMENDMENTS Do’s and don’ts
In case of doubt, discuss amendments in advance with your EACEA project officer
Submit amendments without delays
Duly justify the reasons for the proposed changes (or request may be rejected)
If possible, put together different issues in one amendment request
• Don’t submit amendment retrospectively
• Don’t add a new partner without clear/relevant tasks and added value to the project
• Don’t request budgetary changes at the end of the project
• Don’t request prolongation of eligibility period a few weeks before the end just
because you cannot finish the project on time
Reporting: progress and final report
WHY? For the benefit of the entire project consortium
Measure the state of progress
Adopt solutions to improve certain aspects
Improve visibility in the consortium and in the wider community
For the Agency's benefit and use
Monitoring by the Agency
Decision on evaluation – next payment
Identification of good practices or projects needing follow up
Feedback to the Commission for policy-making
Reporting stages (Art. I.4.1, I.4.2, II.23, II.24)
Signature of Agreement
1st Pre-financing payment
Progress report 2nd Pre-financing payment
Final report Final payment
Progress Report (Art. I.4.1)
WHEN? Depending on the project duration: fixed dates
Project of 24 months: 15/1/2019
Project of 36 months: 31/5/2019
WHAT? Assessment of the mid-term implementation (reporting period= whole implementation until submission minus 1 month)
40% pre-financing foreseen (if 70% of 1st prefinancing spent)
Progress Report (Art. I.4.1)
HOW? Template
CONTENT? Project summary update
Good practice upscaled
4 award criteria
Challenges and key messages
Cost-effectiveness
Login and password details to internal documents
2 tables: management and project outputs
Indicators
- Target groups
- Logical Framework Matrix update
Final Report
WHEN? 60 days after the end of the project’s eligibility period
Reporting period = eligibility period
WHAT? Assessment of overall achievements and impact of the project assessed in comparison with :
1) the application work plan and the budget
2) the feedback to the Progress Report
Final payment: up to 20% balance -> In case of low performance, the EU
contribution to eligible staff costs
may be reduced
Hints for reporting
• Collect and check supporting documents on a regular basis
• Provide supporting documents upon request
• Fill in the forms from the beginning of the project
• Use only Excel reporting form developed by the Agency
• Get help from financial colleagues within your organisation
• Discuss financial issues with co-beneficiaries and financial officers from the Agency (originals from co-ordinator and certified copies from co-beneficiaries)
• Keep all correspondence, including emails
MONITORING Objectives
Ensure that:
•The goals will be achieved as scheduled
•The quality of products is high
•The financial and administrative regulations are respected
•The project’s evaluation supports the project work
•The partnership cooperates well
•The dissemination and exploitation are efficient
MONITORING
Activities Online support documents
• Project management information published on the website (contractual documents, guidelines)
Helpdesk from project and financial officer • E-mail
Reporting • Evaluation of progress and final reports – feedback (content &
finances)
Meetings • Coordinators’ meeting including workshops • Visits to projects • Thematic cluster meetings • Attending key events organised by the projects
Positive Indicators
Expert’s recommendations at selection stage followed
Balanced work plan
Active participation of all partners, clear management structure and division of tasks
Project coordinators supported at institutional level for all aspects of project implementation
Good internal/external communication (strategy, tools..)
Webpage as a dynamic tool for dissemination and promotion
Highly engaged target groups and stakeholders
MONITORING
Strategy
Negative Indicators
Delays in work plan (e.g. partner withdrawal)
Partners with low commitment
Very few activities implemented
No compliance with publicity clause
Weak implementation of dissemination strategy from the project start
No internal quality control / evaluation mechanisms
MONITORING
Strategy
GUIDANCE ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Different roles
• Monitoring
• Reporting
• Financial rules
• Publicity and dissemination
• Amendments
5. TIPS & HINTS
•IPR rights: results belong to partnership – agree among consortium
•Read carefully all legal documentation
•Sign partnership agreements & establish a common approach within
the consortium to address concerns
•Keep an eye on your planning, activities & budget
•Start dissemination activities and stakeholders’ involvement from the
very beginning of the project
•Consider the feedback on your application and Progress Report
•Consult us for advice and support ☺
USEFUL LINKS
EACEA website
EACEA website « Soc In Beneficiaries' space 2017»
Participant Portal
Erasmus+ Projects Result Platform
CONTACTS
•Your project officer
• Our functional mailbox:
Thanks for your kind attention !