PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT · practical guide for project management final version...

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR REGIONAL POLICIES AND COHESION

ERDF

- ARTICLE 10 -

INNOVATIVE ACTIONS FOR

REGIONAL AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

_____

PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

FINAL VERSION

DECEMBER 1997

Innovation Programme – Practical guide 1997 – DG XVI – EI2000 2

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER I : Innovative actions for regional and local development ......................................7 (- Article 10 of the ERDF regulation - ): general introduction

1.1. WHAT ARTICLE 10 ALLOWS.........................................................................................7 1.2. EXPERIENCE GAINED 1989-1993................................................................................7 1.3. THE NEW GENERATION 1994-99 / GREATER FORMALISATION................................8 1.4. OBJECTIVES OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS FOR REGIONAL AND LOCAL .................8 DEVELOPMENT 1.5. ORGANISATION OF THE PROGRAMME IN FOUR MAIN FIELDS AND ...................9 SIX METHODS OF ACTION 1.6. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF PILOT PROJECTS.............................................................. 12 1.7. SUMMARY OVERVIEW OF 6 TYPES OF ACTION ...................................................... 13

INFORMATION SHEET No.1 - RISI I ........................................................................ 14 INFORMATION SHEET No. 2 - RISI II ...................................................................... 15 INFORMATION SHEET No. 3 - RIS........................................................................... 17 INFORMATION SHEET No. 4 - RTT.......................................................................... 19 INFORMATION SHEET No. 5 - NSJ .......................................................................... 21 INFORMATION SHEET No. 6 - CULTURE ............................................................... 23

CHAPTER II : The organisation of the programme’s management : the project ................... 24 leader’s interlocutors

2.1. THE ACTORS INVOLVED AND RESPONSIBILITIES.................................................. 24 2.2. ORGANISATION BY THEMES ..................................................................................... 26 2.3. ORGANISATION CHART OF UNIT IN CHARGE AT THE COMMISSION AND ......... 27 RESPONSIBILITIES (FOR INNOVATIVE ACTIONS ONLY) 2.4. WHO SHOULD BE CONTACTED FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS ...................... 28

TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBERS AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES OF MAIN ............................. 30 INTERLOCUTORS


CHAPTER III : Managing projects and networks .................................................................... 31

3.1. AIM OF CHAPTER....................................................................................................... 31 3.2. THE PROJECT CYCLE................................................................................................. 32 3.3. OBJECTIVES TO BE MET AND COORDINATION WITH COMMISSION................... 35

3.3.1. QUALITY OF DIALOGUE AND ADHERENCE TO WORK PROGRAMME ..... 35 3.3.2. TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMISSION AND EI 2000..................... 36

3.4. STEERING AND DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES ................................................ 37

3.4.1. PROJECT LEADER .......................................................................................... 37 3.4.2. STEERING COMMITTEE................................................................................. 37 3.4.3. PROJECT TEAM/TECHNICAL TEAM ............................................................. 39 3.4.4. PARTNERSHIP AND AGREEMENTS............................................................... 42

3.5. AGREEMENTS ON FINANCING.................................................................................. 44 3.6. INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING AND CONTINUOUS.............. 45 EVALUATION 3.7. SUGGESTIONS AND METHODS SPECIFIC TO THE DIFFERENT FIELDS.............. 54

METHOD SHEET RISI I, RIS, NSJ PHASE 1......................................................... 55 METHOD SHEET RISI 2, RTT, CULTURE, NSJ PHASE 2.................................... 59

CHAPTER IV : Obligations of the project leader ..................................................................... 63

4.1. PRACTICAL REPORTING ON PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION............................. 67

4.1.1. PROGRESS REPORT........................................................................................ 67 4.1.2. ACTIVITY REPORTS: INTERIM REPORT AND FINAL REPORT ................... 70 4.1.3. COMMON RULES ON DRAWING UP AND SUBMITTING PROGRESS ........ 73 REPORTS AND OTHER REPORTS

4.2. FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY REPORTING ON PROJECT'S ........................... 75 IMPLEMENTATION

4.2.1. THE PROJECT'S BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL TERMS OF REFERENCE 75 4.2.2. THE CERTIFICATE OF EXPENDITURE AND THE PAYMENT OF ADVANCES ................................................................................................................ 82 4.2.3. REMARKS ON THE COMPLETION OF TABLES ............................................ 85 4.2.4.THE MONITORING TABLE OF BUDGETARY COMMITMENTS (MTBC)....... 95 4.2.5. SOME COMMON RULES FOR DRAWING UP THE CERTIFICATE .............. 99 OF EXPENDITURE AND THE MTBC

4.3. BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT RULES AND CONTROL ....... 100 MECHANISMS

4.3.1. ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE ............................................................................ 100


4.3.2. INVESTMENT INTEREST AND REVENUE.................................................... 106 4.3.3. FINAL FINANCIAL REPORT: EXPLANATION OF EXPENDITURE............. 106 4.3.4. CALCULATION OF COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE BASED ON PAID ............ 108 ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE DECLARED 4.3.5. PROJECT ACCOUNTS................................................................................... 115 4.3.6. CONTROL OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT .................................................... 118

ANNEXES TO CHAPTER IV....................................................................................................... 120 V. CHAPTER V : Programme coordination and communication .......................................... 133

5.1. COORDINATION OBJECTIVES (EXCHANGES OF EXPERIENCES, COMPARISON AND TRANSFERS OF KNOW-HOW, POOLING OF ACTIONS AND PROJECTS, DEFINITION OF METHODS AND CONDITIONS OF TRANSFERABILITY)................................................ 133

5.1.1. NETWORKS AND ACTIONS OF COOPERATION ......................................... 133 5.1.2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR A PARTNERSHIP ACTION (NETWORK ........ 134 AND COOPERATION) IN THE SERVICE OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5.1.3. BEYOND THE BINDING ASPECTS OR THE FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE .... 135 TO BE GAINED, INVOLVEMENT IN A COOPERATION NETWORK, AND EVEN MORE SO IN A PARTNERSHIP PROJECT REQUIRES TREMENDOUS MOTIVATION

5.2. THEMATIC SEMINARS........................................................................................... 136 5.3. ANNUAL CONFERENCE......................................................................................... 137 5.4. ELECTRONIC FORUM ............................................................................................ 137 5.5. PUBLICATION OF COMMUNICATION DOCUMENTS........................................ 140

ANNEX: ORGANISATION OF THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE EUROPE INNOVATION 2000 ............................................................................................................................................ 143


INTRODUCTION

The present guide has been produced by Europe Innovation 2000, a Technical Assistance Office chosen by the European Commission (Directorate General XVI: Regional Policies and Cohesion) to assist it in the management of innovative actions for regional and local development implemented between 1996 and 1998. The guide has been revised by the Commission’s services since its initial drafting. This guide is primarily for use by those who will be responsible for managing the projects selected by the European Commission and its experts following the call for proposals and selection phases which took place in 1995 and 1996. These users will hereafter be referred to as `project leaders’. The guide is aimed at supporting project leaders in the implementation of actions funded by the European Commission and does so in two ways: by supplying tools to manage such projects and by reminding project leaders of the objectives and procedures relating to programmes funded under Article 10 of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). An instrument for information and technical support, this guide will by implication evolve over time, and will be completed by suggestions from project leaders. The guide is divided into five chapters: Chapter I Innovative actions for local and regional development funded under

Article 10 of the ERDF: general introduction This chapter outlines the context of the programme, its objectives and its constraints; it is aimed at facilitating greater general understanding of the overall nature of projects funded under Article 10, and at outlining anticipated results within each field of action. Chapter II Programme administration: the project leader’s interlocutors In this chapter, the project leader will find all necessary elements concerning the overall organisation of the programme, the provision of technical assistance, monitoring procedures, and evaluation. Project leaders will thereby be able to identify which contact person they need to address themselves to, according to the nature of their request.


Chapter III Managing projects and networks: advice for project leaders This chapter groups together a number of recommendations on the organisation of project work which are based on the experience of various projects developed regionally and/or involving transnational inter-regional cooperation and funded under a variety of programmes managed by the European Commission. Of course, these recommendations should not be taken as actual standards for such work, but simply as indications which the project manager will need to adapt to the specific circumstances within which he is undertaking his individual project. Chapter IV The project manager’s obligations: what is imperative to observe A project which is funded by the Commission is necessarily subject to a number of technical, legal and financial regulations, which are outlined in this chapter, notably concerning technical and financial reports, eligibility of expenditure, and parameters for control by the European Commission itself. Chapter V Programme coordination and communication: to enhance practices and prepare for the future The innovative and pilot nature of this programme creates a need for exchanges and communication that supposes the implementation of specific actions.


CHAPTER I

Innovative actions for regional and local development (-Article 10 of the ERDF regulation -): general introduction

1.1. WHAT ARTICLE 10 ALLOWS Through an allocation of 1% of its annual budget, the ERDF can contribute to the financing at the Community level1 of:

a) "studies requested by the Commission aimed at identifying: the consequences with regard to spatial planning of measures foreseen by national

authorities, notably as concerns large-scale infrastructure projects whose impact extends beyond national borders;

measures aimed at resolving the specific problems of regions which are situated along the internal and external borders of the Community;

the elements required to come up with a forward definition of the use of Community territory.

b) pilot projects which:

stimulate the creation of infrastructure, enterprise investment, and other specific measures of interest for the Community, particularly within those regions which are situated along the internal and external borders of the Community;

encourage the pooling of experiences and the development of cooperation between different regions of the Community, in addition to innovative measures."

1.2. EXPERIENCE GAINED BETWEEN 1989 AND 1993

A number of important studies have been completed or undertaken within the framework of Article 10 and have greatly contributed to the development of a Scheme for the Development of Community Space.

1 See provisions 2081/93 and 2083/93 of the ERDF, amending provisions 2052/88 and 4254/88.


A number of pilot projects were launched by DGXVI, in particular those selected under the framework of the RECITE programme (21 projects receiving a total of MECU 34 in Community financing). At the same time, funding available under Article 10 was allocated to almost 400 cooperation projects under the intra-community programme for exchanges of experiences PACTE and to over 250 projects as part of the opening towards Central and Eastern Europe under the ECOS and OUVERTURE programmes. A portion of the funds available was also used to supplement the INTERREG initiative to develop cross-border cooperation, while another portion helped to launch a number of urban pilot projects (UPP). These projects, centred on local and regional development, the exchange of experiences, and the creation of transnational cooperation projects supported for the most part by local authorities and Member States or their national development agencies, have opened the way for a new generation of programmes whose aim, beyond a simple exchange of experiences between partners, is to support the implementation of cooperation projects producing economic development and job creation.

1.3. THE NEW GENERATION 1994-99: GREATER FORMALISATION

Observing the positive political results of the inter-regional promotion actions, the Commission nonetheless wanted to reinforce the legibility of these actions and the transparency of the organisation, particularly by issuing calls for proposals. 4 priorities were defined concerning the launching of pilot projects: • internal and external inter-regional cooperation, which was the subject of calls for projects

in 1996; • regional planning (TERRA programme) for which projects are currently being developed; • urban pilot projects, for which a call for tender was organised in 1996; • and finally, innovative actions for local and regional development. The present guide is concerned with the pilot projects selected as part of this 4th priority. The following paragraphs are therefore only valid for this last priority.

1.4. OBJECTIVES OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The programme “innovative actions for local and regional development” has four main objectives:


=> Practical implementation of the White Paper on “Growth, Competitiveness and Employment”. The aim here is to show the benefits, both economic and for the employment sector, of actions involving technological innovation and the development of


an information society; actions of economic development in the field of culture and cultural heritage, innovative actions in the search for new sources of employment; => Improvement of regional or local development know-how by experimenting new methods of action, promoting partnership work, sharing experiences; => Stimulation of regional and transnational exchanges for the promotion of new economic dynamics at the local and regional level; => the preparation, through an analysis of project results, of new generations of policies and programmes favouring local and regional development and employment, which may be financed in the framework of the Structural Funds for the programming period after 1999.

1.5. ORGANISATION OF THE PROGRAMME INTO FOUR MAIN FIELDS AND SIX METHODS OF ACTION

The calls for proposals published in the OJEC make a distinction between four fields for innovative pilot actions in local and regional development: 1 Projects relating to the information society, with two sub-categories of projects:

a) projects referred to as RISI1 (Information Society No.1) whose aim is the implementation of regional strategies and action plans for the integration of the notion of information society in regional development policy. b) projects referred to as RISI2 (Information Society No.2) or pilot application

projects whose aim is to define best practices in the implementation of the information society at regional level.

2 Projects relating to innovation strategy and transfers of technology to the benefit of

local and regional development, with two categories or projects as well:

a) projects referred to as RIS (Regional Innovation Strategies) whose aim is to develop a strategic framework at the regional level for the optimisation of innovation policies and infrastructures.

b) projects referred to as RTT (Research and Technology Transfer) for the

preparation and launch of regional projects for transfers of technology to the benefit of disadvantaged regions.

3. Projects relating to the exploration of new sources of jobs (NSJ) which, on the basis of a regional and local strategy for the creation of new jobs that is determined during the initial phase of selected projects (definition phase), oversee concrete demonstration actions that, if possible, can be transposed elsewhere.


4 Projects relating to inter-regional cooperation for economic development of a cultural vocation (hereafter referred to as CULTURE) whose aim is to strengthen social and economic cohesion through the establishment of networks between the Union’s local and regional authorities on the theme of the creation of economic activities and jobs linked to the development of heritage and cultural exchanges.

These four types of project are managed according to common rules by the same unit of DG XVI, but each of the themes is monitored according to specific provisions based on the nature of the projects assisted, the required conditions of eligibility, and the inter-project activities specific to each theme. Certain categories of project are monitored by DG XVI in close collaboration with other Directorates General (DG V and DG XII for RISI1; DG XIII for RIS and RTT; DG III, DG V, DG XIII for RISI2). The objective is to combine experience in monitoring regional projects with other sectoral skills or expertise in a common multidisciplinary approach that promotes the synergies and complementarities between the different Directorates General involved. Projects were selected following an evaluation procedure which, at the request of the Commission, involved over seventy independent experts whose job it was to propose a list of the best projects to the Commission. This was done using specific evaluation grids, and following a number of joint working sessions held according to a very strict methodology. From this list, the Commission made its selection of projects on the basis of the experts’ recommendations and taking into account available budgets. DG XVI, with the help of Europe Innovation 2000, then began working closely with the respective project leaders in order to finalise the content, timetable and amount of the aid granted. The operations carried out in this framework took place from May to November 1996. At the end of this process21, almost 140 projects have been awarded financial assistance from the European Commission which was notified in the form of a grant letter accompanied by a document stating the nature of eligible expenditure and the procedures to be followed (see ch.IV of the present guide). The following table outlines, in summary form, the main specific features of the four fields and the six types of operation provided for in the framework of the programme.

21 Which included inter-service consultations between Directorates General and a briefing of Member States

12

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOUR FIELDS UNDER ARTICLE 10 "INNOVATIVE ACTIONS FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT"

National /

Transnational Maximum community

assistance Conditions of eligibility Number of projects

selected Observations

I. INFORMATION SOCIETY

RISI I

National

Maximum ECU 250,000

maximum level of aid 50% of maximum eligible costs

Priority to ERDF Objective 1, 2, 5b and 6 areas Presentation by regional authorities

22 (14 ERDF 8 ESF)

IS1 encourages the creation of regional partnerships between key actors to meet the challenge of the information society

RISI II

Transnational

MECU 1 to 3 level of aid 50% of maximum

eligible costs

At least 2 countries 3 to 6 regions preferred At least 1/3 of partners from Obj 1 or 6 areas

Presentation by regional authorities

10 (8 ERDF 2 ESF)

Demonstration pilot projects

II. INNOVATION AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

RIS

National

Maximum ECU 250,000

Priority to ERDF Objective 1, 2, 5b and 6 areas Presentation by regional authorities

19

Regional partnership essential

RTT Transnational

Maximum ECU 75,000 (definition phase)

then 50% of MECU 1 to 3

At least 2 countries 3 to 6 regions preferred At least 1/3 of partners from Obj 1 or 6 areas

7

Definition phase followed by implementation phase

III. NEW SOURCES OF JOBS

NJS

National

75% Obj. 1 & 6 areas 50% Obj. 2 & 5b areas

30 % non obj. areas

Area with minimum 200,000 inhabitants Regional partnership Priority to Obj. 1 and 6 areas where the rate of unemployment > Community average

41

Implementation of White Paper proposals Local partnership essential Definition phase followed by demonstration project phase

IV. Culture CULTURE

Transnational

75% Obj. 1 & 6 areas 50% for other areas;

participation of public/private economic sector for 20 to

25% of total budget Maximum ECU 600,000

Priority to Obj. 1, 2, 5b and 6 areas 1/3 of partners from Obj 1 or 6 areas 3 Member States 3 to 6 regions, maximum six partners except with valid justification

32

Priority to actions for integrated development which favour decentralised inter-regional cooperation, innovation and transferability


1.6. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF PILOT PROJECTS

The criteria listed below must be constantly borne in mind by project leaders and their partners, given the special status of innovative pilot action which makes this programme original and that fact that Community assistance under the Structural Funds is involved. These criteria will be used during the monitoring phases and during the final evaluation of the projects. The following elements must therefore be taken into consideration: a) Regional and local know-how which helps enhance regional development actions, particularly those funded by the operational programmes of the Structural Funds, must be improved. b) The approach is and must remain innovative throughout the project. This implies that there are innovative elements during the different phases and at the different levels of the project: definition of actions, partnership, implementation, methods used. c) The approach must, as much as possible, be experimental for the region or regions involved. This implies that the actions undertaken will be aimed at testing the project or at developing and perfecting products and services resulting in the acquisition of clients and other commercial outlets. This experimentation will result from innovation, and will be the application of the same. Nevertheless, experimentation at the local level will involve the testing of an innovative concept which, through its application, will lead to an improvement of the initial approach. d) It is also expected that the approach used will be of an exemplary nature, in that it will show a demonstrative effect. This effect could result from the presence of a number of elements: the original nature of the strategy to be used; use of innovative methods for project management and the production of notable results; the management of unforeseen events; management of costs and time commitments; policies used in mobilising resources and maintaining communication; projects should also, through their intrinsic nature, aim to contribute in a positive manner to the overall image and reputation of the programme within which they have been implemented. e) Particular attention should be given to the transferable nature of the action, i.e. its capacity to be adapted elsewhere to produce positive effects in terms of local and regional development. This is true for regional projects (RIS1; RIS; NSJ) for which models for the management of actions in regional partnership are to be proposed and true for transnational projects where there are questions of transcultural understanding and actions to be organised in a decentralised but coherent manner (see ch. III of this guide).


f) These elements together help define the Community added value related to the project. However, the economic and social results of the pilot project action must also be questioned: has the project improved the socio-economic and spatial context within which local development dynamics are today emerging or growing stronger in connection witht the general internationalisation of the areas? g) Furthermore, the way in which the project is able to support the various Community policies in practice should be identified. In particular:

- support for the development and internationalisation of dynamic, job-creating SMEs;

- utilisation of synergies and complementarities with Community, national and

regional policies that promote innovation, research and economic development; - reinforcement of the impact of structural policies on the creation of jobs and

equality of opportunity between men and women; - protection of the natural and artificial environment and development of

heritage, notably with regard to biotopes, species, important sites and monuments;

- the establishment of innovative and creative networks focusing on

transnational approaches to innovation. 1.7. SUMMARY OVERVIEW OF THE SIX TYPES OF ACTION

Below are six information sheets to facilitate the mutual informing of those responsible for assisted projects and to help them remember the features, constraints and objectives of their projects. These sheets indicate, for the different types of action: the objectives, characteristics of the partnership requested, the outline in principle of the action’s progression, and a reminder of the specific results expected.


Information Sheet no.1 RISI 1

Information Society no.1 Objectives: - To integrate the notion of an information society into local and regional development policy - To encourage the emergence of innovative methods of application and services - To develop partnerships between key regional actors aimed at the implementation of the information

society Characteristics: - Partnership definition of a strategy and action plan at the regional level Proposers: - Regional authorities responsible for economic development - Priority to Objective 1, 2, 5b, 6 areas Actions: 1) analysis of base-line situation, with analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats;

inventory and assessment of communication structures and infrastructures; analysis of needs 2) development of scenarios: sectoral growth, institutional and legal implications, targeted approach to new

products and services, regional impact, identification of strategies of actors 3) elaboration of action plan: definition of development objectives, identification of initiatives, structural

projects; feasibility studies to be undertaken; participation of users, roles of individual actors, budget, timetable.

Organisation: Steering committee with the key public and private actors and users, thematic working groups and management unit. Duration: 18 months Reports: Work programme in the 3rd month, Progress report every 4 months Interim report Final report Community Financing: 50% of total eligible budget, with a maximum of ECU 250,000 per region.


Information Sheet no.2 RISI 2

Information Society no.2

Objectives: - To develop and implement pilot applications for demonstrating best practice in the implementation of the

information society at the regional level - To ensure application through transnational inter-regional cooperation, especially that of benefit to

disadvantaged regions - To contribute, through such practical application, to the economic development of the regions

concerned, and to show prospects for economic viability, in the long-term at least - To reinforce know-how and consolidate the new skills of actors in disadvantaged regions Characteristics: - 5 fields

1. business needs, competitiveness and growth; 2. development of human resources and continuing training; 3. environment and quality of life; 4. reduction of peripherality; 5. improvement of the delivery of services to citizens and creation of personal services.

- Definition, development, launching of pilot projects of a transnational nature Proposers: Local and regional authorities (with proof of involvement of key actors). At least two bodies from 2 regions of different countries. Priority for groups involving between 3 and 6 regions; at least a third of the participants must come from Objective 1 or 6 areas. Action: - 1st phase (6 months) of detailed definition. Content: feasibility and commercial viability studies,

consequences for users, social acceptability, financing structures, monitoring and evaluation procedures, methodology

- 2nd phase involving the developing and launching of pilot applications. The Commission supports

assistance for the project’s implementation, but not for investment in infrastructure, unless such investment is related to the promotion of applications. Phase may not last more than 24 months.

Organisation: The organisation differs from network to network, but there is always a steering committee with leaders from each member region of the network.


Duration: Maximum 30 months Reports: One progress report every 4 months One report on the detailed definition phase One final report. Community Financing: 50% of the eligible cost of pilot actions, including the definition phase. The contribution will be between MECU 1 and 3 per project funded.


Information Sheet no.3 RIS

Regional Innovation Strategies

Objectives: - To support administrations or local and regional development organisations in an analysis of structures

for innovation, technology transfer, research and technological development used in the promotion of active strategies for innovation.

- To define a framework at the regional level for the optimisation of the policy on innovation structures

and infrastructures, notably to the benefit of SMEs (in coordination with the use of the Structural Funds) - To promote public/private sector cooperation. Characteristics: Definition by the partnership at the regional level (priority given to NUTS II) of a global innovation strategy with a view to ensuring that infrastructures and mechanisms supporting innovation are more in line with the stated or latent needs of businesses (and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises). Proposers: - Regional administrations responsible for economic development - Regions where at least half of the population is in areas eligible under the ERDF. Actions: The RIS methodology is designed as a dynamic process that calls into question generally accepted ideas on the capacities and needs of enterprises in innovation matters (technological and organisational) rather than as a series of studies. The RIS process is normally comprised of several phases, but considering the nature of the exercise there may be overlapping or feedback between the various phases. Even if each region interprets the RIS methodology in relation to its institutional structures and the initial information (earlier studies, etc.), the content is generally the following: 1. Definition of a work plan; creation of a management unit (comprised of at least one or two full-time

people); dissemination of information on RIS (brochure, etc.) and formation of a regional consensus on the problems to be examined (through a promotional event, for example, a regional conference, etc.).

2. Assessment of the situation with analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the region in relation to the dynamics of industrial and technological trends; appraisals or other surveys of regional enterprises in order to determine their capacity to innovate and their needs in terms of support for innovation (financing, search for partners, access to new technologies, etc.); evaluation of regional supply in terms of support for innovation, missions and policies of actors involved in this field.

3. Definition of strategic guidelines; 4. Definition of actions (possible launching of pilot projects), instruments and policies; 5. Implementation of a monitoring and evaluation system.


Organisation: A Steering Committee, involving the local key partners, monitors the project and makes key decisions such as approval of the working programme, the choice of experts, strategic guidelines, etc. The regional partnership formed around the RIS project must include representatives of employers (it is preferable that they include heads of enterprises, who are to be distinguished from institutional representatives such as Chambers of Commerce), representatives.of regional authorities, economic development agencies, educational institutions, research centres and other organisations which support innovation. Reports : Detailed work programme in the 3rd month, strategy and action plan Progress reports every 4 months One interim report after definition of strategic orientations Final report, strategy and action plan. Community Financing : A maximum of 50% of eligible costs Maximum of ECU 250,000 per region.


Information Sheet no.4 RTT

Research and Technology Transfer

Objectives: - To develop and launch pilot and demonstration actions focusing on the transfer of skills and technology

which, through multi-regional transnational cooperation, are of primary benefit to disadvantaged regions - The projects must promote the consolidation of skills and know-how in these regions and have a

concrete and calculable impact (e.g. creation of new products) on the competitiveness of enterprises and the regional economy (creation or protection of jobs).

- In addition, the projects must promote cooperation between enterprises and/or between the public and private sector.

Characteristics: The projects are divided into two phases: the first phase is one of definition at the end of which the Commission, with the possible assistance of independent experts, will determine whether the project is justifiable. In the event it is, Community funding will be granted for the implementation phase. Proposers : Local or regional RTD or innovation organisations associated with interregional collaborative groupings, working with local authorities and industrial actors. At least two bodies from 2 regions of different countries. Priority given to projects involving between 3 and 6 regions in at least 3 different countries. 1/3 of the regions must be in Objective 1 or 6 areas. Actions: 1) Definition phase (6 months maximum): financial feasibility, commercial viability of the transfer project;

evaluation of the project’s impact, definition of methods and notably, how to mobilise actors. Definition of the partnership and organisation, final commitment of the partners.

2) Implementation phase (30 months maximum): adaptation of technology to its new use or modification of prototypes, transfers to appropriate sites with provision of necessary back-up support, coordination of the transfer process, diffusion activities.

Organisation: A Steering Committee comprised of key actors from all the participating regions must monitor the project. Community Financing: Definition phase: 75% of eligible costs with a maximum of ECU 75,000 Implementation phase: 50% of eligible costs out of a total budget of ECU 1 to 3 million Duration: Maximum 36 months Reports: One final report for the definition phase. One progress report every 4 months during the implementation phase


One final report, evaluating objectives and results, accompanied by a programme showing the diffusion of results.


Information Sheet no.5 NSJ

New Sources of Jobs

Objectives: Promote the development of regional and local strategies, followed by pilot projects providing support for local employment initiatives in priority areas connected with better standards of living: jobs which are related to people, to living conditions, to the environment. Characteristics: Partnership definition of a strategy for action and development of a demonstration pilot project at the local or regional level, followed by the implementation of the project. Proposers: - Local authorities and socio-economic actors - Priority given to Objective 1, 2, 5b et 6 areas or areas where the rate of unemployment > the Community

average - The partnership must cover a continuous territory, representing at least 200,000 inhabitants - Working in partnership notably with associations (non-profit-making associations), socio-economic

bodies and the private sector. Actions: 1) Strategic definition and preparation phase (8 months)

a) Approach to integrated development leading to proposals for a strategy for local employment initiatives, particularly in the local services sector: analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, development of integrated measures for use by networks and dissemination of structural change at the local level, programme development

b) Analysis of the conditions required for a restructuring of supply and demand and increasing sustainability of demand

c) Evaluation of anticipated social benefits and economic viability. Development of pilot projects phase Implementation of an operation in support of structures focusing on the exploration of new sources of jobs:

a) diversification of structures for support and financial engineering to project leaders b) establishment of intermediary structures mobilising public, market and voluntary resources c) support for enterprise creation in new sectors of activity, notably through the spreading of resources d) support of primary infrastructure e) support in the marketing and promotion of services f) optimisation of actions undertaken

Organisation: Local Steering Group or Committee, working according to a formula to be presented to the Commission.


Duration: Maximum 24 months Reports: Report for the strategic definition phase in the 8th month Interim report covering the period from the start of the pilot project phase in the 16th month Final report by no later than the 24th month Community Financing: Financing between ECU 250,000 and MECU 1 per project.


Information Sheet no.6 Culture Objectives: - To strengthen economic and social cohesion through the establishment of networks of regions and

towns, the focus of cooperation being culture and the development of regional and local cultural heritage - Networks will be transnational in nature, thereby enabling exchanges of experience and know-how and a

concentration of expertise - Integrated development of projects leading to the creation of economic activity and jobs through the

mobilisation of public, private and voluntary partners. - Use of new technologies in this field. Characteristics: Implementation of networks focusing on a maximum of three themes within a coherent framework. Possible topics of cooperation (the following is not an exhaustive list): historical and architectural heritage, industrial and craft heritage. Proposers: Regional and local networks, with priority being given to networks in Objective 1, 2, 5b and 6 areas. Networks may also be open to the participation of regions from non-Objective areas. 1/3 of network partners must come from Objective 1 or 6 areas, and account for 1/3 of the requested Community financial contribution. Regions from Objective 1, 2, 5b and 6 areas must account for over half of the total number of network partners 3 to 6 different regions in at least 3 Member States Actions: The overall approach is left to the discretion of the participants, provided the objectives of the action are in accordance with the proposal and respect the eligibility criteria. Organisation: A genuine partnership is to be set up. The project is to be managed by one of the leading participants, a partner in the network. The manner in which the network is organised must be approved by the Commission, and should be the subject of a collective agreement between partners. Duration: 24 months maximum Reports: Progress report every 4 months Interim and final reports Community Financing: A maximum of ECU 600,000 per project.


CHAPTER II

The organisation of the programme’s management: the project leader’s interlocutors 2.1. THE ACTORS INVOLVED AND RESPONSIBILITIES

=> The European Commission has defined the programme, announced and explained it to the potential project holders by publishing the calls for proposals in the Official Journal and on the INTERNET and by directly distributing information documents largely taken up by numerous information relays. The programme is placed under the authority of DG XVI - Directorate General for Regional Policy. Management is in close liaison at the technical level with the Directorates General indicated in Chapter I. DG XVI, in association with these Directorates General:

• sets the priorities • establishes the general timetable • triggers the communication and coordination actions • chooses independent outside experts to help it in the selection and monitoring of the projects

to be part-financed by the ERDF • selects the projects to be part-financed • defines the terms of the aid in a grant letter, indicating the amount of part-financing and the

obligations to be observed • monitors the projects assisted with the help of a technical assistance office • assesses the results and their interest.

=> For the smooth running of the operations, the Commission relies on a technical assistance office. The office chosen by a call for tender is the EUROPE INNOVATION 2000 (EI 2000) association which is based in Brussels near the Commission. EI 2000 brings together the expertise of four consultancy organisations, and for the orientation of its actions, 11 regional and local authorities or associations of regional and local authorities in the service of the programme (see annex).


EI 2000: SUPPORT FOR THE COMMISSION

a) PROJECT ASSISTANCE

b) PERMANENT

MONITORINg OF PROGRAMME AND

COORDINATION

c) CAPITALISATION OF

RESULTS

EI 2000 assists the Commission in:

• the technical organisation of selections, • the management of the list of experts chosen

for the selection and monitoring of the projects assisted.

• the formalisation of the projects selected, • the launch of projects and their monitoring, • the organisation of evaluation meetings with

project holders, • the implementation and operating of

information technology tools (database, electronic forum) for project monitoring and coordination

• the information and advisory service for project holders based on their needs for the project’s management,

• the examination of project and network activities, experts’ reports, project progress reports,

• the organisation of programme information, communication and coordination,

• the capitalisation throughout the programme of useful ideas.

=> The Commission has already mobilised the expertise of over 70 independent experts during the selection phase. The Commission will mobilise some of these experts, or others as well, for the monitoring and evaluation of projects and for technical support for project leaders.


2.2. ORGANISATION BY THEMES

For each of the themes, monitoring is ensured by one or several Commission officials who are assisted by the TAO staff. Below is the table of the thematic interlocutors Table of thematic interlocutors

Themes

Information Society

Innovation and Transfers of Technology

New Sources of Jobs

Culture

Actions

RISI I and

RISI II

RIS and RTT

NSJ

CULTURE

Officials European Commission DG

XVI

Mikel

LANDABASO

Mikel

LANDABASO

Didier

BOUTEILLER

Pierre NICOLAS

Officials European

Technical Assistance Office

EI 20003

Roisin NI

CHONCHUIR Sofia

COROYANNAKIS

Alasdair REID

Serge

DEMAILLY

Michel GAULT

JOINT TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT: Isabelle REBOUR (management of programme and projects) Teresa MASCARENHAS (TAO Secretariat) Serge DEMAILLY (management control) GENERAL COORDINATION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: François de LAVERGNE The coordination of programme events by Françoise DUBRUILLE will include for each of the themes the organisation of individual seminars and the establishment of overall dynamics (see chapter V). The first of these seminars for each theme is a seminar to launch selected projects. Accompanying actions are being organised jointly by DGXVI and DG XIII for the theme “ innovation and transfers of technology ” and by DGV, XIII and XVI for the theme “ information society ”.

3 A summary of the organisation of the Technical Assistance Office Europe Innovation 2000 is provided in annex


2.3. ORGANISATION CHART OF THE UNIT IN CHARGE AT THE COMMISSION AND RESPONSIBILITIES (FOR INNOVATIVE ACTIONS ONLY) • DIRECTOR: JEAN CHARLES LEYGUES • QUESTION IN PRINCIPLE CONCERNING ARTICLE 10, DEFINITION, MONITORING, ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF PROGRAMMES, DISSEMINATION OF GOOD PRACTICES, RELATIONS WITH THE OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS: CARMELO MESSINA, HEAD OF DEPARTMENT, HEAD OF UNIT AND GUY DURAND, ASSISTANT HEAD OF UNIT • THEMATIC OFFICERS: MIKEL LANDABASO, DIDIER BOUTEILLER, PIERRE NICOLAS


2.4. WHO SHOULD BE CONTACTED FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS?

This depends on your involvement in the programme, the nature of your question and your problems. 1) => You are not project leader and you would like general or technical information on the programme:

Teresa MASCARENHAS - OFFICE OF EUROPE INNOVATION 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Brussels - Belgium Tel: 322 743 83 23 - Fax: 322 743 83 10 E-mail: [email protected]

who, according to your needs, will put you in touch with the appropriate interlocutor. 2) => You are project leader and would like information of a technical, administrative or financial nature, technical assistance, support, advice in the management of your project, contact the EI 2000 thematic officer:

Interlocutor Address Facsimile E-mail RISI I RISI 2

Roisin Ni Chonchuir Sofia Coroyannakis

EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles

Fax : 32 2 282 96 16 Fax : 32 2 743 83 10

[email protected] ou [email protected] [email protected]

RIS - RTT Alasdair REID Véronique DAUSSY

EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles

Fax : 32 2 743 83 10 Fax : 32 2 282 96 16

[email protected] [email protected]

NSJ Serge DEMAILLY EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles

Fax : 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

Culture Michel GAULT EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles

Fax : 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]


4) => You are project leader and you would like a change in your project (costs, deadlines, working programme, etc.), you contact the Commission official responsible for the specific monitoring of your project or if this is not possible your thematic officer who will refer the matter to the Commission. For any other point, or in case of doubt, call or send documents to the central coordinating staff:

Address Tel/Fax E-mail François de LAVERGNE Central coordinator EI 2000

EI 2000 9/11 rue des Ménapiens B - 1040 Bruxelles

Tel : 33 4 42 23 21 71 Fax : 33 4 42 21 28 02

[email protected]

Isabelle REBOUR Technical secretariat of the programme


Tel : 32 2 743 83 23 Fax : 32 2 743 83 10

[email protected]

T. MASCARENHAS information point in Brussels, EI 2000


Tel : 32 2 743 83 23 Fax : 32 2 743 83 10

[email protected]


TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBERS AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES OF MAIN INTERLOCUTORS 1° Commission Phone Fax E-Mail C. MESSINA General policy 32 2 295 84 68 32 2 296 24 73 - G. DURAND General policy

32 2 295 60 20 32 2 295 36 14 -

M. LANDABASO RISI I/RISI II/ RIS/RTT

32 2 296 52 56 32 2 295 36 14 -

D. BOUTEILLER NJS 32 2 296 19 81 32 2 296 24 73 - P. NICOLAS Culture 32 2 295 63 04 32 2 296 24 03 -

2° EI 2000 Reminder

responsibilities

F de Lavergne

Coordination

33 4 42 21 28 02

33 4 42 23 21 71

[email protected]

I. Rebour Technical secretariat 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected] T. Mascarenhas Information and

EI 2000 secretariat 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

Nelly Swanet Administration and finance

32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

Christina Papoulia EI 2000 secretariat 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected] A. Reid RIS/RTT 32 2 743 83 23

ou 32 75 324 056

32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

J. Bardouin Laboratory function 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected] C. Grapeloux NJS 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected] M. Gault Culture 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected] V. Daussy RIS/RTT 32 2 282 96 15 32 2 282 96 16 [email protected] S. Demailly NJS / Management

control 32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

P. Berry NJS 44 1772 203 020 44 1772 204 129 [email protected] R. Ni Chonchuir Information society

RISI 1 & 2

32 2 282 96 38 32 2 282 96 16 [email protected] or [email protected]

S. Coroyannakis Information society RISI 1 & 2

32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

J.P. Wattiaux Information technology

32 2 743 83 23 32 2 743 83 10 [email protected]

F. Dubruille Coordination and communication

32 65 62 25 21 32 65 52 01 08 [email protected] or 101625,[email protected]

J.L. Joseph Coordination local and regional authorities

33 4 42 39 49 84 33 4 42 39 72 54 -


CHAPTER III

Managing projects and networks

3.1. AIM OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter brings together a number of remarks, guidelines and recommendations, based on experiences acquired during previous Community programmes for local and regional development. It is clear that each project leader should bear these recommendations in mind while adapting them to his particular circumstances. The chapter has also been written with the aim of providing networks with elements to bear in mind when defining the methods to be used in managing and implementing their tasks. This chapter - in contrast to succeeding chapters which outline the obligations of project and network leaders and their partners - presents a number of guidelines intended for their use. Certain obligations, relevant to particular categories of funded action, are, however, mentioned to make recommendations. Distinctions will also be made throughout the text between regional projects (RISI1, RIS, NSJ) on the one hand and transnational projects (RISI2, RTT, CULTURE) on the other.. From experience, the work undertaken by projects and networks does not always end at the conclusion of the pilot period, and there are often strong demands to be able to pursue work jointly. However, the management of the ‘pilot’ phase requires the creation of partnership dynamics between the actors which are productive.


3.2. THE PROJECT CYCLE4(1)

This chapter is not so much concerned with the ‘innovative actions’ programme but with the different phases of the project, from its development to its final evaluation and the conclusions reached by the Commission.

Call for proposals by the Commission

ex post Evaluation Development of projects Dynamics

Implementation Evaluation and selection

Financing

Following the Commission’s call for proposals, the projects were developed in principle on a partnership basis then selected by the Commission. Of interest here is the management of co-funded projects. The tasks relating to project leaders are now situated in the Financing/Implementation/Evaluation part.

These various phases are defined as follows:

4(1) See for example the manual `Management of the Project Cycle’ produced by the European Commission as part of a series on methods and instruments No.1 February 1993.


- Preceding the recommendations of this guide:

Call for proposals

General elaboration of the principles and approaches raised by the sectoral and thematic emphasis of national or transnational projects.

Development of projects Development of projects by those partners who have expressed their potential interest, outlined in terms of objectives, results and activities. Determination of regional and transnational partnership, work programme, budget, management structures.

Evaluation and selection

Development of a project evaluation form (eligibility, quality), process of evaluation by independent experts, selection of projects by the Commission on the basis of evaluations, consultations between the Commission’s services and information from Member States, development of projects on the basis of recommendations resulting from the evaluation and made by the Commission.

- Covered by this guide:

The financing phase centres around the preparation of the binding agreement between the European Commission, the project leader and his partners. This agreement will, in the case of Article 10, be issued in the form of a grant letter that states the partners’ obligations and that must be accepted by the project leader.. The implementation phase can involve either a detailed definition phase (RISI2, RTT, NSJ) or the production of a detailed work programme (RIS, RISI1, CULTURE) prior to the actual implementation of the project. The evaluation phase is composed of two actions: one of continuous evaluation, allowing for possible changes in the nature of the work, programme and timetable; the other involving subsequent or ex-post evaluation conducted at the initiative of either projects and networks themselves or of the Commission.. The present chapter only deals with those aspects relating to the management of projects which have already been selected, in other words from the time when the


network or project leader receives and accepts the grant letter. This chapter therefore concentrates on the implementation and evaluation of projects. The following issues will be addressed :

• the objectives to be borne in mind throughout the project, in liaison with the monitoring by the Commission which is assisted by EI 2000 ;

• steering and decision-making structures; • relations between network partners, methods of agreement and cooperation; • instruments for monitoring and continuous evaluation.


3.3. OBJECTIVES TO BE BORNE IN MIND AND COORDINATION WITH COMMISSION

3.3.1) QUALITY OF DIALOGUE AND ADHERENCE TO WORK PROGRAMME The "sound management" of a project based on partnership, be it at regional or transnational level, will depend on good relations between the key actors concerned: European Commission, EI 2000, national, regional and local authorities, project or network leaders, and partners. A dialogue of quality is therefore essential in ensuring that the work accomplished matches the programme’s objectives. The partnership is one of the essential conditions of the programme. It is central to the fulfilment of actions. It is therefore vital that the Commission and the EI 2000 Technical Assistance Office be informed as soon as possible if:

• the project encounters difficulties of a technical nature (under-estimation of constraints, conflicts between development objectives and the preservation of the environment, for example);

• the project experiences problems or delays following, for example, partial or total

deficiency on the part of one of the partners. This deficiency could be of a technical nature (unavailability of human means, technologies or know-how) or of a financial nature (budgets not yet voted, poor assessment of the notion of eligible expenditure).

• the project needs to be adjusted in terms of the content of the actions that can be

undertaken within the time period set, and therefore with regard to the work programme and timetable.

The experience of the experimental networks and projects RIS, RTT, PACTE, RECITE, ECOS, has shown that if the Commission is notified sufficiently in advance, solutions can generally be found that enable the project to continue and the work programme to be adapted. In contrast, a situation leading to the non-fulfilment of initial proposals, and which is discovered late in the project, would be difficult to accept, as it would have incurred expenditure which was not in accordance with agreed work programmes, or delays or failures that the Commission could not accept.

Flexibility, within the framework of the budget, is possible to a certain extent (see. Chapter IV), provided modifications are stipulated in advance. Deadlines can sometimes be extended by a maximum of one year, but only with serious justification.


3.3.2. TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMISSION AND EI 2000

The Commission, with the assistance of EI 2000, monitors the projects. A special correspondent will be appointed for each project. This person will either be a Commission official or a member of the central staff of EI 2000. In addition, EI 2000 has been contracted by the European Commission to ensure a mission involving the monitoring, continued analysis of progress, assistance to those project leaders who request it, and notification of the Commission when necessary. This mission is undertaken either by the Commission directly (certain RIS, RISI I projects), or under its authority by experts selected by the Commission or by the central staff of EI 2000 directly. The Commission, with the support of EI 2000, will focus its action on:

• analysis of the coherence of current project/network activities with the objectives of the projects and programme;

• assessment of the quality of the partnerships and the effectiveness of the proposed distribution of

roles between the partners • examination of the current degree of progress achieved by projects and networks in relation to

agreed timetables, in order to predict potential problems and reduce their possible consequences, and dialogue with project leaders with regard to their levels of progress;

• effectiveness and adaptability of the methods and techniques used; • assessment of the effectiveness and adaptability of the overall methodology and work programme

in terms of local and regional development, and the innovative nature of the actions; • comparison between improvements proposed and anticipated results in relation to actual results

and achievements; • exemplary nature of approach; • transferability of project/network results; • coordination of the programme.


3.4. STEERING AND DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES

This section focuses on the manner in which project or network partnership is organised in terms of project steering and the decisions to be made. 3.4.1. PROJECT LEADER The project leader is the organisation which is named as beneficiary in the Commission’s grant letter and which returned the acceptance slip to the Commission. As such, the project leader is responsible for ensuring the correct organisation and management of the project throughout its duration. It is responsible for defining the structures for dialogue and decision-making with the partners participating in a project and ensuring the effectiveness of these structures. It is also responsible for notifying the Commission and EI 2000 as to any unforeseen problems which may arise in the course of the project (i.e. possible redefining of the project, budgetary revisions exceeding what is considered ‘minor’ in the grant letter, deficiency on the part of one of the partners) and jeopardise the schedule. In the case of transnational projects, the project leader (who is the named beneficiary of the grant letter) must not be confused with those in charge of implementing the project in the other regions. It is, however, preferable that within each of the regions concerned, the project leader be able to rely on one permanent interlocutor whose role has been defined beforehand and who is appointed by the authorities of these regions, particularly those which are part-financing the action. It is therefore in the project leader’s interest to be able to rely on partner steering structures and forms of agreement in his action, whether the project be national or transnational in nature. 3.4.2. STEERING COMMITTEE Whether this instrument operates under the above name, or as a Project Management Committee, or as a Monitoring Committee, or under any other name, and whether the project is transnational or national in nature, a `steering structure’ must be put in place. It is the reflection of the partnership which has been constituted around the project. Here it will be referred to as Steering Committee. The Steering Committee (or guidance, monitoring or strategic committee) is therefore responsible for:


1. examining, on a regular basis, the situation regarding the project’s progress, the

responsibility and technical contribution of partners, adherence to the timetable; establishing the `rules of play’;

2. taking, within the framework of flexibility allowed, and without having recourse to the

Commission, decisions concerning any possible scheduling or re-scheduling of the project which may be deemed necessary in order to ensure the concrete implementation of actions within the imposed timeframe;

3. or adopting a new work programme and timetable to be submitted to the Commission in case

of a change in direction or major changes in the project; 4. examining technical and financial activity reports before their submission to the Commission

and EI 2000; 5. analysing, on a regular basis, the results achieved by the project; 6. ensuring and supporting the definition and implementation of a policy of dissemination of

result of the work undertaken. The Steering Committee is a creation of the partners involved in the project. It is the internal decision-making instrument which validates or transmits the proposals made by the project leader and the team responsible for managing actions. The chairmanship of the Steering Committee logically reverts to the organisation which is named in the Commission’s grant letter. The decisions taken by this Committee are in fact essential acts concerning the project’s progression and its optimisation. Nevertheless, for reasons of local balance, the Steering Committee could establish an `office’ to ensure the preparation of decisions with the necessary key actors. The chairman of the Steering Committee is the Commission’s interlocutor for fundamental decisions which commit the project or network.. There may be times when the Chairman of the Committee is not the recipient of the grant letter, and this for specific reasons (e.g. presence of an eminent individual or institution better able to chair the Steering Committee than the local or regional authorities or the development agency primarily concerned financially). In such case, the authority benefiting must stipulate in writing the conditions in which the decision-making roles of the Committee and its chairman are carried out (exchanges of letters, mandate, Committee’s rules of procedure signed by its members, etc.). It is essential that this be done in order to successfully avoid the creation of conflicting roles. The Steering Committee may, in the case of a regional project (RISI1, RIS, NSJ), be composed of those actors providing a significant contribution to the project financially


or by providing technical, human, organisational means: local and regional authorities, representatives of devolved administrations, consular chambers, development agencies, and eminent representatives of the socio-economic or voluntary sectors. The Steering Committee may, in the case of a transnational project (RISI2, RTT, CULTURE), be composed of a representative from each body officially involved in the Commission’s grant letter, following the selection of proposals. This representation must, for each of the partners (public, private or voluntary) be at a decision-making level, because the Steering Committee will be called upon to make decisions regarding the commitment of resources. The Committee may also appoint a treasurer, who will monitor the resource commitments of all the partners. The Steering Committee should meet as often as necessary in order to approve activity reports, or when the Chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of one of its members, considers it necessary for the Committee to meet. The Commission may also suggest that the Committee’s Chairman convene a meeting of this Committee. Please note: A Steering Committee is officially stipulated for RISI I and RIS. The establishment of a Steering Committee or Group is suggested for the other actions, either at the beginning or at the end of the definition phase. 3.4.3. PROJECT TEAM/TECHNICAL TEAM

The operational management of the project may be confided by the Steering Committee to either a project team or a technical team. Such teams bring together the necessary technical skills and competences for the effective implementation of the project. In the case of a transnational project, such a team should therefore be composed of key local partners from each region. In the case of a regional project, the technical team should be composed of those individuals, mandated by key local partners, who will make the most significant contributions to the project in terms of actual man-hours. The composition of project and technical teams will need to be approved by the Steering Committee and a directory of network partners, presenting their specific roles and contact details, will need to be prepared and distributed. The team is managed, coordinated, motivated by a project director. The selection of a project director must be approved by the Steering Committee. For all intents and purposes, the project director is the executive representative of the Steering Committee Chairman, i.e. he generally belongs to the beneficiary organisation named in the grant letter or an agency, association, enterprise, socio-professional establishment designated by him: he is the `executive arm’ of the organisation `responsible for the project’.


In the case of managing an innovative pilot project or coordinating a transnational network and given the complexity of the partnerships of most of the programme’s projects, the project director must be able to dialogue - with the other partners, with the European Commission - and have experience in the management of projects (private, public or mixed). To engage in appropriate dialogue with the other networks as part of the overall coordination and with the Community level requires fluency in one of the working languages, English or French, or both if possible. Unless there is a valid justification to do so, the Chairman of the Steering Committee and the project director should not be one and the same person. The project director will need to make use of opinions and suggestions from external sources. In addition, he will need to devote a large proportion of his time to ensuring the smooth running of the project, thereby leaving all discussions of a political nature to the Chairman. The composition of the project team is obviously different for national and transnational projects: => for national projects, the team must be organised on a local level in order to ensure effective implementation of the local programme. => for transnational projects, the project director, during each of the key phases planned in the work programme, mobilises his correspondents who are responsible for the implementation of the project in the other regions and ensures that they organise the work to be done jointly, check the work accomplished and to be accomplished in each of the areas concerned, perform the necessary evaluations and amendments required to implement the decisions of the Steering Committee, prepare new submissions for decision by the Steering Committee, update situation charts, etc.


"CHECK-LIST" OF THE PROJECT DIRECTOR’S ROLE:

1. Organisation of the partnership and coordination of key actors under the authority of the Steering

Committee for the smooth implementation and performance of the actions; 2. Management of the project team (director + persons designated responsible in the other organisations or

regions); 3. Preparation of contracts and reference terms for the studies and experts’ reports to be done by

organisations outside the partnership; monitoring of agreements between project partners; 4. Development of project management and monitoring instruments; (situation charts, progress reports,

evaluations, etc...) ; 5. Management of the team responsible for administrative and financial matters, bookkeeping, verification

of accounting records; 6. Finalisation of working documents and technical and financial progress reports for submission to the

Steering Committee, then to the Commission, and the organisation of their production; 7. Preparation of Steering Committee meetings; 8. Organisation of the project’s participation in inter-network activities (thematic seminars, conferences,

specific meetings); 9. Maintain dialogue with the Commission, EI 2000, experts mandated by the Commission, in close

collaboration with the Chairman of the Steering Committee; 10.Hosting and organisation of visits to sites concerned by the project by representatives of the

Commission or its mandated experts, EI 2000, project directors or experts from other projects in the framework of the programme’s exchange activities;

11.Optimisation of the results of the actions undertaken, in liaison with the Commission and EI2000. i.e. 8 points concerning the project and 3 points (9, 10, 11) concerning relations with the Commission.


3.4.4. PARTNERSHIPS AND AGREEMENTS

The projects and networks of innovative actions under Article 10 require institutional, technical and financial cooperation. The Commission, through its previous experience of pilot projects and the establishment of networks (notably transnational networks), is itself a partner in the networks and project teams. But it expects the partners of the projects and networks to establish formal and informal cooperation procedures. The Commission does not wish to provide financial assistance to projects or networks based on vague or uncertain partnerships, where it is never known who does what, who contributes to what, or who is really responsible for the regional or transnational part-financing of Community assistance, without a real and written commitment from the partners. Project directors are therefore strongly urged to establish partnership agreements (see example in annex) that stipulate the responsibilities of each partner, with their technical and financial implications. Such partnership agreements must be established from the start of the project in order to avoid any ambiguity. The forms adopted for such agreements must be clear, balanced, equitable and solid. The main points to be taken into account are outlined in the table overleaf.


CONTENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN PARTNERS

MAIN ELEMENTS

1. All partners are in agreement with the content of the grant letter and its annexes, including the project, sent by the Commission, and accepted by the receiving organisation, including the technical and financial terms (description of eligible costs, periodical reports) or empower the project leader to accept it. The project leader alone is responsible for evaluating, before committing all the partners, the reality of the technical and financial partnerships.

2. All partners accept the project’s provisional total budget and commit themselves to providing their

individual contributions to the budget (in principle as soon as the action gets under way) and to the terms of these contributions (a timetable for the payment of contributions should be attached).

3. The partners will remain united in the event of deficiency on the part of one of the partners, and

undertake to rapidly find a valid solution of substitution. If such a solution proves impossible, the Commission must be immediately informed.

4. The partners undertake to keep separate accounts of their expenditure in the project according to the

rules - adapted from Community regulations - which are proposed by the Chairman of the Steering Committee and the project director, and to supply all necessary and relevant information for the preparation of activity reports (see also ch. IV below).

5. The partners undertake to truly participate in the management, coordination and concrete

implementation of the actions that are entrusted with them as part of the project. 6. The partners undertake to participate in the optimisation and diffusion of results according to the terms

proposed by the Commission.

These six elements are not exclusive, but provide the base for agreements or texts which can be signed either at the regional level or at the transnational level. The first point is extremely important, since it indicates the acceptance by all partners of the principle of Community assistance to the project and the effective adherence by all partners to the technical and financial rules proposed by the Commission to the project holder. These agreements should include explicit definitions of the management tools to be used throughout the project’s duration, such as the Steering Committee (there must be a commitment to participate in its work), the project team (partners may choose to participate), working, management, monitoring and evaluation methods, .


It is strongly recommended that the partnership agreement, once signed, be sent to the thematic central staff of EI 2000 which, in liaison with the Commission, will examine the terms of the agreement. The Commission, or EI 2000 acting on its behalf, may indicate to the project leader the items that could be discussed and approved by the project’s Steering Committee. To do so, EI 2000, at the request of the Commission, can provide assistance to a network either directly or through a mandated expert.

3.5 AGREEMENTS ON FINANCING

The experience of the RECITE networks, in particular, has shown that there was often, on the part of the partners involved, a poor understanding of the notion of financial partnership and part-financing.

In fact:

- Community financing is considered here a conditional subsidy. Real matching funding

through the mobilisation of financial, technical or human means devoted to the project and not part of the general budget of the participating authorities (save clear identification within this budget of the means implemented) is necessary (see Chapter IV below);

- part-financing may not come from other sources of Community aid, all sources of

Community financing being taken into account.

Please note: certain national programmes whose national part-financing is awaited can receive assistance, although this may not be immediately apparent, from Community sources. If this is the case, an examination by the Commission may base itself on this fact to declare that the project was already benefiting from assistance and calculate part of the aid to be refunded by the authority responsible for the project, or even its partners. It is important to be prepared for the possibility of such a situation and to verify that the part-financing is truly of national origin. This can, in any case, be included in the partnership agreement between the responsible authority and its local or transnational partners.

This, however, does not prevent linking, in the stated budget of the project, actions part-financed by the Community to other objectives or programmes. On the contrary, there can be complementarity in such case.


In relations with the European Union, it is essential that there be one sole financial interlocutor (of networks and projects for the Commission and EI 2000: the authority responsible for the project, represented by the recipient of the grant letter, in principle - unless otherwise justified - the Chairman of the Steering Committee and the project director). Financial agreements between partners are drawn up according to provisions, regarding which the Commission and EI 2000 do not intend to give orders, but simply to advise as necessary. The result is that from a financial point of view the Commission will have only one interlocutor, who will receive the aid but who in return will have to ensure that it is properly used.

3.6 - INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING AND CONTINUOUS EVALUATION

It is difficult to present general instruments for very different projects between four fields and six types of action. However, some tools can be the same. That is why a general framework will first be presented, along with “checklists”. Methodological advice will then be given that is adapted to the nature and phases of the different projects included in the programme, in the form of information sheets. It will be the job of each project leader to adapt the tools presented here or to propose new ones.

a) The tools

a.1. The situation chart of operations

Operations are monitored according to a timetable (situation chart of operations). It would be useful if all the partners from the start of the project had a concerted situation chart, adopted together, of the operations to be undertaken in the course of the project. The chart will serve as an initial situation chart for reference. It will enable analysing the variations in content of the actions and timetable and facilitate necessary rescheduling in a project or for the work of a network. Partners are not obliged to establish a standard form of situation chart, but they must however establish a detailed work programme and timetable for all projects falling within the six types of action. Project leaders will therefore find attached a suggested structure for situation charts, which can be improved and modified through the suggestions of the other partners involved.


Example of structure for operational situation charts

Project : Actions

Sub-actions

Leader

Partners involved

Completion Date

Observations

Action I Launch

Ex. Establishment of Steering Committee Partner Contracts Organisation 1st meeting

X

X

Y, T, N

A, B, C

T0

T1

Study of documentation Documents to be prepared Finalisation of work programme

Finalisation of timetable

......

Action II Implementation

Launch of sub-project A

Launch of sub-project B

Launch of sub-project C

Evaluation seminar

Meetings with Commission, etc.

Action III Evaluation and interim report, etc.


Operations can also be presented according to a timetable, with the following notations: ⊗ meeting to be organised + work to be completed at a specific time. The other networks to be set up fall within the processes ! document to be submitted (or finalised) development phase (for documents but also action) as in the following example:

Month 1

Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8

Phase I Launch

Establishment of Steering Committee

! −− −− ⊗

Definition of work programme ⊗− −+− ⊗ ⊗− +−! Finalisation of timetable

− + −−−!

Meetings with the Commission and EI 2000

⊗ +

Phase II Implementation

Definitive finalisation of work programme

⊗ − ⊗ − !

Launch of sub-project A

−− −−−−− − ! +

Launch of sub-project B

−− −−−−− − ! +

Launch of sub-project C

− −−−−− −−− ! +

Evaluation Seminars

!−−−− −−−⊗− −−! +

etc...

Each sub-project can be broken down in a similar way, distinguishing between the operational management of the action and the various reports to be drawn up.


These situation charts should first show the nature and logical background of the methodology used in launching such operations, and the dates when examination, re-evaluation and analysis of operations took place. These instruments will mainly be of use to the Project Management, and possibly the Steering Committee. They may be attached to the various reports (see chapter IV).

a.2. establishment of internal procedures for continuous evaluation Continuous evaluation is in no way related to the notion of audit or control introduced by the Commission. It is a procedure for use by the project director and his partners, which can obviously also be used when preparing activity reports. Such evaluation is distinct from any monitoring mechanisms of the Commission. Continuous evaluation requires that qualitative and quantitative indicators be linked to each individual project with regard to the project’s objectives, the results achieved and their impact, and to ensure that the selected indicators are subject to regular evaluation, at least before each meeting of the Steering Committee.

1. Indicators regarding a project’s objectives should consider the direct anticipated results of the project, in terms of job creation, newly developed activity, the number of operations undertaken for the optimisation of heritage; but also, from a more qualitative point of view, improvements in organisation, joint validation of strategy by the partners involved, etc. It is therefore the responsibility of each project leader to suggest a collection of simple indicators to the Steering Committee and the Commission

2. Indicators regarding a project’s results are the physical measurement of the results

obtained. Comparison with the project’s objectives or anticipated results will enable an analysis of any `variation’ between these two categories of information, and to determine their causes. This, in turn, will enable project partners to evaluate the effectiveness of the project’s organisational structures. If one considers the costs and use of resources which lead to these results, one can also evaluate the project’s efficiency.

3. A periodical re-evaluation of the methods used for management, internal

communication and steering of the project will also allow for an evaluation of the quality of the organisation implemented and the proposal of possible improvements. Likewise, the organisational methods which have led to notable results will be the subject of further development and a study of its potential transferability, through close dialogue between the project director and the Commission, which is assisted by EI 2000.

The table overleaf shows, for information purposes, a number of suggested indicators for all three levels that can be adapted and completed in accordance with the specific situations, contexts and objectives of individual networks and projects.


These indicators are to be defined at the start of the project in collaboration between the project leader and the EI 2000 staff member in charge of the theme; they will then be submitted to the Commission.


CONTINUOUS EVALUATION CHART FOR PROJECTS

Examples of indicators

RIS, RISI I, NSJ 1st phase RTT, RISI II, NSJ 2nd phase, CULTURE I. Objective Indicators

- Quality / density of local partnership - Quality of basic situation analysis - Quality of SWOT analysis - Concentrated effective steering - Implementation of practical action plan - Satisfactory participation of partners etc ...

- Number of jobs created or sustained - Number of technology transfer operations implemented - Number of meetings between partners - Quality of transfers - Quality of local integration of strategies - Number of enterprises participating in project etc ...

II. Results indicators

- Definition of strategy and action plan - Effectiveness of joint agreement - Info sheets summing up identified projects launched - Capacity for financing or bringing together resources for launching strategy etc ...

- Number of jobs created or sustained - Implementation of services in support of activity creation - New economic partnerships - Effectiveness of technology transfer and consolidation of know-how in disadvantaged regions - Number of telematic applications and degree of use etc ...

III. Impact Indicators

- Possible impact on . employment and insertion . activity, particularly that concerning the creation of new jobs and enterprises . SME competitiveness . rationalisation of organisations providing services to enterprises etc ...

Impact of pilot projects or networks on: - employment and insertion - Community cohesion - modernisation and diversification of local productive fabric - technological autonomy of disadvantaged areas

- opening towards new opportunities linked to the revitalisation of cultures and the enhancement of

heritage etc ...

NB. The indicators suggested above are numerous and imprecise: it will be necessary to achieve, at project level, a greater degree of prevision, both quantitatively and qualitatively.


The Commission will, when necessary, make comments, project by project, on the proposed continuous evaluation mechanism.

The evaluation mechanism must be approved by the Steering Committee, as this enables project leaders to agree on the anticipated results and the impact sought beyond the project itself. EI 2000 is at the disposal of project holders to assist them in developing such a mechanism for continuous evaluation, through the contact with the members of staff responsible for individual themes. Continuous evaluation, even if the evaluation system is developed internally by project and network partners, should allow for the existence of `outside views’, from an expert working directly with the network.

b). Identification of key points, key actions, key events

The project director and his team should identify, through the management of the project, those points, actions and events which are significant in the implementation of the project A project is never accomplished in a linear fashion, as it would appear when examining the provision timetable. There are crucial phases involving the preparation and finalisation of decisions, the launching of actions, the resolution of conflicting positions of project partners, the reaching of a consensus. For information purposes, and to stimulate reflection on the part of project directors, their teams and their partners, the following can be suggested: - as regards key points:

• signed partnership agreement, Steering Committee; • joint agreement concerning work programme and timetable; • nomination of project director and project team; • identification of objectives; • definition of a methodology for project evaluation and monitoring; • launch of proposed actions notably those initial actions of symbolic value

which show a `new start’; • identification of achieved results and their impact; • contribution to the general motivation of the project and its democratic

organisation; • definition of a policy for the optimisation of results.


- as regards key actions :

• implementation of effective partnership; • joint approval of working methods and management tools; • pilot actions for the launching of strategy, preferably showing high levels of

visibility; • preparation of medium and long-term actions; • investment in human resources devoted to the project; • optimisation and dissemination of initial results.

- as regards key events: • internal seminar aimed at the definition of steering, organisation and working

structures for the network; • creation of Steering Committee; • meetings of Steering Committee; • `inauguration’ of effective pilot actions; • monitoring or evaluation meetings with Commission staff ; • approval of interim and final reports by Steering Committee; • moments when the project is opened up to the general population, and where

information concerning the project is disseminated to the same.

The management over time of key actions and events will need to be performed in relation to the key points, and this in order to avoid any form of disorder and in order to allow time for reflecting on the future of the regions involved or of regional, national or transnational networks. Discussion on these key points, actions and events may occur at project team level in order to make constructive proposals to the Steering Committee. Within a network where strong inter-personal relationships are present, it is often impossible to identify key events. In such cases, it is often easier, through the identification of key points, to understand how and at what time the network has benefited from the contribution and solidarity of those partners whose involvement is crucial to the success of the project. This `navigation’ should be undertaken at the initiative of the project director, in close collaboration with the Chairman of the Steering Committee and those partners with whom he maintains close relations, and if necessary, should involve EI 2000 and even the Commission.


3.7. SUGGESTIONS AND METHODS SPECIFIC TO THE DIFFERENT FIELDS

A distinction is made in this section between those projects - or project phases - whose aim is to define joint partnership agreements for local development, and those projects seen as demonstrative pilot actions. Within the first category are:

- RISI I projects - RIS projects - NSJ projects (definition phase)

All these projects are developed on a local or regional basis. Within the second category are:

- NSJ projects (for the pilot projects launch phase) - RISI II projects - RTT projects - CULTURE projects, which are all transnational projects, except NSJ projects.

These categories are the subject of the following two information sheets, which suggest a few practical methods for the management and positioning of projects.


METHOD SHEET RISI 1, RIS, NSJ PHASE 1

The reflections and suggestions outlined below are based largely on three reference documents: the "Regional Innovation Strategies Guide book"; the Practical Manual for Employment Actions produced under the supervision of DG V; the Evaluation of Strategies for Local Development published by the Commission (DG XVI). The connection between actions implemented under RISI I, RIS, and NSJ (phase 1) is that each, within its particular field, must:

- perform a study of the base-line situation; - determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with regard to the strategies to be implemented (SWOT analysis); - define objectives and a coherent strategy, adapted to the local context ; - define and establish the necessary conditions for the implementation of an action plan.

I. ANALYSIS OF THE BASE-LINE SITUATION

1.1. THE ANALYSIS OF THE BASE-LINE SITUATION IS DEFINED IN RELATION TO THE TARGETED OBJECTIVE

Understanding how new sources of jobs can be explored, even if this implies some overlapping, is quite different from an analysis of the relationship between, for example, the information society and local development A first recommendation is therefore to focus the methodology used in establishing an analysis of the regional base-line situation on the main theme and objectives of the programme.


Reminder of primary objectives and implied questions

RISI I

State/condition of network structures, infrastructures and institutions linked to the Information Society. Degree of penetration of new information and communications technologies.

Is the information society already disrupting the local landscape? How ? Are there any key industries ? any `window’ operations?

RIS

State/condition of innovation networks, infrastructures, programmes and institutions linked to the promotion of innovation. Local innovation partnerships, especially public/private.

What top-level know-how and technologies are present? Have they been adapted to the local economic fabric? How are these technologies bridged? Are there any public/private partnerships for the promotion of innovation?

NSJ

Structure of the economic fabric and notably of local services. Presence of significant opportunities for innovative actions. Encouragement of dynamic actors.

Which opportunities are not exploited? In which conditions would they be viable? Is public/private/voluntary cooperation possible? How can the created jobs be sustained?

1.2. THE TARGETED OBJECTIVES WILL LEAD TO A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT GIVES RISE TO SURVEYS OF DOCUMENTATION AND ACTORS

A number of instruments may be used for developing the base-line analysis: 1. Investigation of factors leading to the positioning of actions. This will lead to a

`mapping-out’ of the decision-making powers available to key actors, their power of influence, their interest in the theme, their working relations with other bodies and actors.

This investigation will involve the survey of a sample of actors capable of retracing the historical development of local and regional alliances or blockages, and of commenting on the manner and reasons for which notable examples of such


alliances and blockages have been achieved. In order for it to be as impartial as possible, this survey must be entrusted with an external organisation, which is experienced in the region but is in no way connected with any of the partner bodies.

2. A SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the field in

question. This is now a classical analytical tool. It allows reflection on the strategic position; evaluation of strengths and the manner in which they can be reinforced; the elimination of weaknesses; while at the same time taking advantage of opportunities while avoiding the main threats. Its primary aim will be to foster reflection among key actors and the Steering Committee.

3. Detailed documentary analysis of the situation of the economy, employment, business

- notably of enterprises, of the relationship between large enterprises and SMEs, the situation of young people in relation to the job market, the attractiveness of the region, recent arrivals of enterprises, the degree of internationalisation - or lack thereof with its consequences; the identification of specific endogenous dynamics including at the level of micro-enterprises.

1.3. A COLLECTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BASE-LINE SITUATION MUST LEAD TO THE DEFINITION OF STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

It is difficult to devise a strategy if there is no collective agreement among key actors to first conduct an analysis, even if such an analysis emerges over time. An analysis of the base-line situation, in the form of a diagnosis, is to be submitted to the Steering Committee so that it may establish a grid of strategic objectives. Care should be taken to ensure that these objectives do not contradict one another: the promotion of rural tourism, for instance, could come into conflict with the required development of the agri-food industry such as intensive husbandry, or to other regulations concerning the protection of natural species or of sites selected for the installation of future infrastructure. A strategy therefore has to be coherent. In order for this coherence to be ensured, the strategy should contain a small number of compatible and non-contradictory objectives.


1.4. THE STRATEGY SHOULD, IN PRINCIPLE, RESULT IN A DETAILED ACTION PLAN OR WORK PROGRAMME

One could, at the start of the project, have a number of preconceptions and ideas as to what should be accomplished. The analyses foreseen in sections 1.1 to 1.3 are aimed to limit the field of work to what is relevant in relation to regional development, capable of being done in partnership with local actors, and with a strong consensus on the need for implementation and feasibility. The action plan can be divided into three types of action:

1. structuring actions over the duration, for the implementation of a new logic; 2. highly visible actions which can be achieved in the short-term, called `actions

to trigger strategies’, and capable of mobilising not only opinion leaders but also the local population directly affected by the proposed actions;

3. communication and information actions aimed at the press and general public

on a wider basis.

The co-existence of these three types of action is essential in ensuring the successful implementation of the plan over time.

1.5. THE ACTION PLAN CAN ONLY BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH A STRONG MOBILISATION OF PARTNERS

In order to progress in an active manner, the action plan must:

1. be able to rely on the support of technical, human and financial resources from the partners, in the hope of acting as a levering mechanism towards other partners;

2. be suggested and implemented by a concrete management structure,

originating from the Steering Committee and technical team, and which is credible in the eyes of the key supporting actors;

3. rely on an active communication policy towards those actors and leaders

concerned.


METHOD SHEET RISI II, RTT, CULTURE,

NSJ PHASE 2

The methods and advice presented here are largely based on the internal Commission documents "Innovative actions for regional development" (DG XVI and DG XIII); and "Examples of applications demonstrating the deployment of information society for regional development for European Commission actions" (DG XVI, 1995). These actions both support pilot projects which should, at the ground level, be demonstrative and exemplary and, if possible, transferable. If, in the case of NSJ, they are pilot projects situated primarily within a national framework, for the other projects the framework is essentially a transnational one that begins with the creation of a network. This explains the distinction made below.

I. NEW SOURCES OF JOBS (NSJ)

1.1. THE PROJECT LAUNCH PHASE FOLLOWS A DETAILED DEFINITION PHASE LASTING EIGHT MONTHS (SEE INFORMATION SHEET 1)

It is now assumed that the global strategy for exploring sources of jobs has been approved and is supported by the local Steering Committee. In principle, a public/private partnership has been established, the pilot actions have been defined in terms of their content and timetable for implementation, and the partners’ responsibilities are clear and have been agreed.

1.2. MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT INVOLVES GUIDING OR SUPPORTING RISK PROJECTS

In the case of supporting a project being developed using the existing local fabric or when new activities are created, it is clear that the new projects must be given particular attention:

a) with regard to the effective definition of a project, complemented by market surveys and analysis of technical feasibility at the level of production, accompanied by an analysis of the matching of supply and demand within the new source of employment considered;

b) with regard to the definition of a “business plan" and the monitoring of the

same, which implies the provision of support to creators or developers;


c) with regard to the definition of the relative roles of the sectors involved in the

project, be they public, private or voluntary; d) with regard to the search for financial resources from partners or specialised

organisations (risk capital, development capital, but also specific public funding).

Within this framework, one must think market, mobilisable human resources, and financing to be included in a timetable incorporating one’s own Community mechanisms (see ch. IV).

1.3. RESULTS WILL BE APPLIED ON THE BASIS OF OBJECTIVE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE PROJECT DIRECTOR

The project director has every interest in implementing a system showing results in terms of:

• job creation • increase in the employability of the unemployed or of people in social

difficulty;

• contribution to local and regional development, notably to large-scale developments.

An important point to be made is that proof will have to be shown that the actions undertaken have not weakened the competing private sector, for example in the BTP or health service sectors.

II. TRANSNATIONAL PILOT OPERATIONS (RISI II, RTT, CULTURE)

2.1. THESE OPERATIONS ALSO INCLUDE A WORK PROGRAMME DEFINITION PHASE

These pilot projects are being organised on a relatively large-scale; in addition, they feature transnational partnerships; this is why they must be managed with great rigour and discipline with regard to methods and procedures.


The definition phase should include:

- technical, economic and financial validation of the project - extremely precise organisation with regard to steering and the operational

project team; - a clear definition of roles, who does what, who are the permanent contact

persons dealing with the Commission and EI 2000; - a work programme, which, even if it is still flexible, is precise in outlining the

work to be undertaken in different phases; for example, a phase of exchanges and joint work, followed by a phase aimed at defining concentration or at the transfer of know-how around a particular action; phase leading to the implementation of transfer or transnational action with necessary support, particularly with regard to training; phase focusing on the optimisation, communication and dissemination of results.

The programme will have to be agreed by all partners convening in the Steering Committee; a partnership agreement should in theory have been signed 5(1).

2.2. IMPLEMENTATION BY THE PROJECT DIRECTOR

This requires :

- rapid establishment of Steering Committees and particularly of the project team; - investigation of different methods to be used in resolving problems of language

and trans-cultural understanding, and implementation of effective communication network;

- rapid focalisation of specific projects allowing partners to mobilise in their teams the technical resources or resources to organise events.

2.3. THE SIZE OF THESE PROJECTS IMPLIES FROM THE START THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A GRADUAL METHOD FOR MONITORING AND CONTINUOUS EVALUATION

The corresponding tools were suggested above in § 3.6.

5(1) as concerns RISI 2, RTT, and certain "CULTURE" projects, this agreement is all the more necessary in that the rights controlling use and dissemination of technology must be sufficiently open to allow the t̀ransferability’ sought by the Commission


The project director will be responsible for determining, through the implementation of these tools and the information at his disposal, whether the proposed objectives are being achieved, with a level of expenditure foreseen in the budget.

- As concerns CULTURE projects, the fact that between one and three themes may be developed should mean that the project director closely monitors the collection of all information necessary for the revision of situation charts and the preparation of network activity reports. Similarly, the general organisation of the network will be an important factor

- Regarding RISI II and RTT projects, the essential responsibility of the project

director will be to ensure the effectiveness of the transfer and consolidation of local know-how for those regions receiving it.

This supposes that the project’s objectives have been clearly defined from the start; otherwise, in cases of research and technology, certain partners tend to blame failures or shortcomings on the very specific nature of the processes which would not be transferable; whereas in the majority of cases, a dynamic relationship has to be started up between the supplier of the technology and the receiver that is not decided unilaterally and that allows for gradual conditions for the introduction of new technologies and know-how in the receiving environments. An essential question for the programme is to analyse this relationship between those in possession of the know-how and technology and the receiving environments, and to understand the conditions of acceptability. The project leaders will have to take into account this situation of economic and cultural tension in the case of transfers of know-how and technologies in different socio-cultural and organisational contexts. The Commission attaches great importance to the interest, quality and effectiveness of the transfer but is just as interested if not more in the consolidation of the know-how transferred in those Objective 1 and 6, or even 2 or 5b, areas which benefit from the transfer.


CHAPTER IV

Recommendation This guide must be read with care, because past experience has taught us that for reasons related to a lack of knowledge or failure to comply with certain rules or procedures, though easy to apply, the Commission was unable to consider as eligible certain expenditure that could have been eligible had this not been the case. The successful completion of the project from an administrative and financial point of view requires that the following six points be taken into consideration: 1 The budget and budgetary adaptations (pp. 75-80)

The reference tables and amounts, the procedures to be followed in case of significant overruns of some of the amounts indicated in the reference tables. Be careful, failure to comply with these procedures results in the ineligibility of the expenditure that significantly exceeds the amounts indicated in the approved budgets. An example presents the consequences in case of non-compliance with procedures (pp. 108 -117).

2 The project implementation period, the timeframe and procedures for the modification of the timeframe (pp. 81-82)

Be careful, if there is no prior justified request to change dates in the timeframe, the expenditure committed or paid after these dates is ineligible.

3 The progress reports, activity reports and the procedure for submitting reports to the Commission

4 The certificate of expenditure, tables of expenditure paid and the interim and final reports (pp. 82-92) (pp. 106-108)

If these documents are completed according to the indications given in the guide, the payment by the Commission of the advances and final balance will be speeded up.

5 Eligible expenditure (pp. 100-104)


The expenditure listed in the certificates of expenditure and in the financial tables may only concern, for each item, eligible expenditure. Ineligible expenditure may not be listed as matching funds.

6 The project accounts and controls (pp. 118-122)

Maintaining separate accounts makes its easier to draw up certificates of expenditure and financial reports. It makes it possible to identify budgetary overruns on time to set into motion the procedure to modify the project budget. Lastly, with separate accounts it is possible, in case of control, to justify the statements contained in the financial documents sent to the Commission.


OBLIGATIONS OF THE PROJECT LEADER

The allocation of Community financial assistance for the implementation of a project generates a series of obligations of different kinds. The project leader undertakes to comply with these obligations when he agrees to benefit from Community assistance. Formally speaking, even if the project is conducted as a partnership, even if the partners have certain obligations to meet, fundamentally there is only one project leader for the European Commission: the body that is designated in the grant letter of Community financial assistance and that signs the declaration of acceptance presented in annex 3 to the grant letter. The project leader fully assumes the responsibility of managing the project until its completion, the responsibility of satisfying obligations and any consequences arising from their non-compliance, even if these consequences are not directly his fault. The project leader’s obligations are presented in the grant letter of Community assistance and the various annexes and sub-annexes which are an integral part thereof6. The purpose of the present chapter is to explain these obligations and sometimes present them in detail from an operational a point of view as possible in order to facilitate the implementation of the project’s management, with particular emphasis on the methods used to report on the project’s implementation at the technical and financial level.

6 For reasons of clarity, reference is systematically made to the various annexes and sub-annexes of the grant letter in italics.


PROJETCT MANAGEMENT : TIMETABLE AND MAIN DEADLINES PROJECT MANAGEMENT: TIMETABLE AND MAIN DEADLINES

TECHNICAL AND BUDGET

REPORT FINANCIAL REPOR

DEADLINES

BEGINNING DATE Progress report + of ELIGIBLES EXPENDITURE

Monitoring Table of Budgetary

Interim and Final Activity Report (s)

Certificate of expend

(start date) Commitments (MTBC) START of PROJECTS

WORKS and ACTIONS

DATE of GRANT LETTER of COMMUNITY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Progress report + MTBC :

every 4 months from the date of

notification to the

Interim Report (s) number & date variable

final date of commitments 1st/2nd Certificate (s) oExpenditure : date varaccording to rate of paof eligible expenditure

FINAL DATE OF COMMITMENTS

maximum 6 months

END of PROJECT WORKS and ACTIONS

END DATE of

PAYMENTS

maximum 3 months after

the FINAL DATE of PAYMENTS

Final Report

+ Definitive Certificate

of Expenditure


4.1. PRACTICAL REPORTING ON PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Two types of documents are defined for reporting on the project’s progress (technical implementation as opposed to financial and budgetary implementation):

• the progress report; • the activity report: interim report(s) and final report.

4.1.1. THE PROGRESS REPORT See. annex 2 § 4 The progress report (maximum 4 to 5 pages) is to be drawn up every 4 months from the date of the grant letter of Community financial assistance: it is to be sent no later than the end of the month following this deadline. NB: the first progress report is to be drawn up at the end of the 5th month that follows the month of the date of the grant letter.

example date of grant letter 13/03/97 date for preparing 1st progress report: 31/03/97 submitted by: 31/08/97 date for preparing 2nd progress report: 30/11/97 submitted by: 31/12/97 …

Variation NSJ pilot projects: for pilot projects falling under the theme of New Sources for Jobs, the timeframe for drawing up progress reports is based on the start date for eligible expenditure, i.e. 01/10/96.

NSJ and CULTURE pilot projects the progress report is to be presented according to the model indicated in information sheet 4.1 (attached). RISI, RTT, RIS the progress report is to be presented according to the model sent directly to the project leader. Each progress report must be accompanied by the monitoring table for budgetary expenditure (MTBC) relating to the same period (see § 4.2.4.below).


Information Sheet 4.I. - PROGRESS REPORT : STANDARD FORMAT (MAXIMUM 4 TO 5 PAGES)

I. Identification of project - Title or Acronym - File no. - ERDF Reference no. (see grant letter) - Project leader (organisation designated in the grant letter and name of person in charge). II. Definition of reference period (duration: 4 months) - Start date of period: - Final date of period: III. Partnership - Partnership as it progresses around project: a) changes or modifications to partnership (explanation of reasons behind these changes) b) elements which have led to a consolidation of the partnership (signature of agreements, meetings,

seminars, specific missions, etc.) c) composition of operational team in charge of project and its management and composition of Steering

Committee and/or main elements of changes (with description of any changes) IV Actions undertaken 4.0 Description of studies, research, appraisals, surveys, ... and other analysis work done in the framework of the project. 4.1. Implementation of co-operation projects or transfer actions. Any progress achieved during the period concerned is to be clearly indicated: content of achievements, partners involved, results obtained, results expected thereafter, preparation of other phases of work, etc.. 4.2. Meetings, seminars, working groups, steering committee meetings, etc. Indicate the objective, venue, participants (political and/or technical function), principal results obtained, including for the preparation of subsequent seminars. 4.3. Dissemination, communication and information actions linked to project Indicate the objectives and aims of each action, whether any documents or other communication support tools have been produced. 4.4. Consolidation actions through the creation of structures, agencies, enterprises, or through the mobilisation of competences and networks. Describe, if applicable, the principal elements of these actions and indicate the manner in which they feature within the project (notably in cases where use has been made of consultants or technical expertise; creation of associations or organisations). 4.5. Other actions and work. …


V. Evaluation 5.1. Overall state of progress of project - Based on an overall comparison of the initial situation chart and initial timetable, on the situation chart

and timetable reported for the completion date of the operations indicated below and on the monitoring of the indicators associated with the project,

- Provide a brief analysis of the project’s state of progress; if necessary, explain any reported delays. 5.2. Difficulties encountered and problems still to be resolved: - Indicate the difficulties encountered and how they were resolved - Explain the nature of the problems that remain to be solved and the solutions currently envisaged to

solve them. 5.3. Actions, work, and initiatives planned for the next 4-month period. VI. Free global commentary by project leader (max. 1 page) N.B.: For points III and IV : only the headings that are relevant in relation to the nature of the actions undertaken and given the changes in the project are to be reported. However, the standard numbering of each point is to be retained with its title (indicating ‘not applicable’ for points left with no comments).

-> TO BE ATTACHED TO THE PROGRESS REPORT: the Monitoring Table of Budgetary Commitments (MTBC)

PS: The progress report and MTBC must be drawn up within one month after the end of the reference period. Both documents must be sent to the Commission, the TAO and the leader of each of the partner regions (multi-regional projects). N.B.: As a reminder, some of the information in the progress report may be used in publications initiated by the Commission (newsletter, electronic forum,...).


4.1.2. ACTIVITY REPORTS: INTERIM REPORT(S) AND FINAL REPORT The activity report is to be drawn up according to the model indicated in information sheet 4.II below.

• Interim Report(s) The number of interim reports is indicated in annex 2 to the grant letter of Community financial assistance.

• Final Report The final activity report must be sent at the same time as the definitive financial report (definitive certificate of expenditure and final financial report - See § 4.2.2.D. below), i.e. no more than 3 months after the final date of payments.


Information Sheet 4.II - ACTIVITY REPORT: STANDARD FORMAT

(INTERIM REPORT OR FINAL REPORT) Warning: it is recommended that a relatively short and concise report (maximum 50 pages) be drawn up and that detail elements be sent in annex. I. Identification of project - Title or Acronym - File no. - ERDF Reference no. - Project leader - Partners - Summary of objective - Outline of work programme II. Project implementation period - Start date according to notification of Community funding - Actual start date - Project completion date (comments if necessary) III. Partnership dynamics 3.1. Outline of organisation of initial partnership and changes during project: description and qualitative evaluation; 3.2. Steering methods and relationship between `politicians’ and `technicians’: description and evaluation 3.3. Monitoring tools used by experts from Commission and EI 2000 TAO: description and qualitative evaluation. IV. PROGRESS and ACHIEVEMENTS 4.1. Presentation of actions undertaken in relation to objectives - comparison of initial situation chart and table of operations undertaken. - analysis of differences, discrepancies (delays including those affecting timetable), and comments. - reorientations during project: were they important? if so, why? [PS. The content and presentation of this point are to be adapted according to the type of project. Complementary elements that are more specific to each theme and to be taken into account in the activity report are to be sent to the project leader, if necessary.] 4.2. Evaluation of results obtained in relation to expected objectives - quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results obtained (notably with the indicators connected to the project):

progress, deficiencies or shortcomings. 4.3. Community added value’ approach of project and links with other Community programmes.


V. Future of the project 5.1. The project in the future: sustainable, expanded, scaled down - any follow-up planned by partners; in such case, outline of development plan - methods envisaged for consolidation of actions. 5.2. Leverage effect - will project follow-ups find own financing? - is there a financial leverage effect (financing obtained from various partners)? - is there a sustainable effect of the mobilisation of partners? 5.3. Demonstration effect and spin-off of results - assessment of information, communication and dissemination actions undertaken - any proposals to extend them - identification of key points of actions in terms of innovation and exemplary nature. 5.4. Transferability - evaluation of transferable nature of actions undertaken, notably: content of action partnership working methods co-operation between partners permanent dynamic evaluation consolidation of know-how others... VI Free global commentary by project leader


4.1.3. COMMON RULES ON DRAWING UP AND SUBMITTING PROGRESS REPORTS AND OTHER REPORTS

See annex 2 § 5-6 A/ All the documents (progress reports and other reports) are to be written in one of the official languages of the European Community with a copy in French or in English if a language other than these two is used. B/ All the documents (progress reports and other reports) are to be produced on word processing software (MS WORD 6.0 / WINDOWS 3.1 or MS WORD 7.0 under WINDOWS 95 preferred; MS WORD version 2.0 minimum, or compatible*) or on spreadsheet software for numerical tables (MS EXCEL 5.0 / WINDOWS 95 preferred; MS EXCEL version 3.0 minimum, or compatible*).

* " compatible " implies that the document (file) can be converted into MS WORD 7.0 / WINDOWS 95 or MS EXCEL 5.0 / WINDOWS 95.

-> Why these requirements ? : These documents will be used to circulate information on the Electronic Forum between the various projects and to facilitate the electronic processing of the data. (texts and tables).

C/ All the documents (progress reports and other reports) are to be submitted by post or delivered directly to:

• the European Commission /DG XVI - A2, in 4 copies,

for the attention of: Mr. Carmelo MESSINA, Unit Head Mailing address: Office CSM2 200, rue de la Loi, B- 1049 BRUSSELS BELGIUM

• the EUROPE INNOVATION 2000 Technical Assistance Office, in 2 copies,

for the attention of: Mr. TAO co-ordinator, Mailing address: 9-11, rue des Ménapiens B- 1040 BRUSSELS BELGIUM

Warning : the interim report(s) and final report on the one hand, the certificates of expenditure, on the other, must be sent to DG XVI-A2 by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt or by courier. These documents are to be submitted at different times, and it is essential that the date of submission is established beyond doubt.


In addition, in the case of multi-regional projects, the periodical progress reports and the reports prepared by the overall project leader must be sent to the leaders of each regional partner.

All these documents are also to be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) at the same time to the following address:

[email protected]

Reminder See annex 2 §6 Unless it is obvious that connections with the network or the network itself are technically impossible, the project leader must have an E-mail address: If it is temporarily impossible to send documents by E-mail, then it is requested that a copy be sent on computer diskette, either by post or direct delivery, to the TAO EI 2000:

-> technical specifications : diskette HD 1.2 Mo - 3.5 formatted MSDOS


4.2. FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY REPORTING ON PROJECT’S IMPLEMENTATION

4.2.1. THE PROJECT’S BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL TERMS OF REFERENCE A/ THE PROJECT BUDGET

The project budget presented in annex 1 to the grant letter of Community financial assistance is the reference document to which the project leader and his partners have committed themselves with regard to the European Commission. See annex 2 § 1

a- Reference amounts The project budget, as presented in annex 1 to the grant letter of Community financial assistance, sets the total amount of eligible expenditure and its allocation between different types of expenditure (breakdown by budget headings). In annex 2 to the grant letter of Community financial assistance, the maximum amount of Community assistance is defined in absolute value and as a percentage of the total amount of eligible expenditure. It will be in relation to this budget, approved by the Commission, that the actual implementation of eligible expenditure will be assessed (the definitive total amount and by category of expenditure). See annex 2 § 1

-> total amount of eligible expenditure: if the definitive total amount of eligible expenditure is less than the total amount shown in the budget, then the definitive amount of Community assistance will be proportionally reduced by applying the % defined above. -> maximum amount of Community assistance : conversely, if the project’s definitive total amount of eligible expenditure is greater than the total amount shown in the budget, then the definitive amount of Community assistance will remain limited to the maximum amount indicated in the grant letter.

b- Modification of the budget during the course of the project See annex 2A § IV


The management of a pilot project cannot be entirely planned in advance. The project budget may very well be changed in the course of implementation. “Minor” budgetary adjustments are allowed (flexibility). “Major” budgetary adaptations require Commission approval. • “Minor” budgetary modifications: - increases in the amount of one or several categories of eligible expenditure which, category by

category, do not exceed the amount of ECU 20 000, or if they exceed this amount of ECU 20 000, do not exceed 10% of the initial budget of each of the categories modified - the budget’s total amount remaining unchanged...

... which means that any increase in one or several categories of expenditure must be offset by

an equivalent decrease in or or several other categories.

-> example of minor budgetary adjustment • tasks which were to be done in-house and which are contracted out, thereby resulting in a transfer from category 2 Staff costs to category 1 Studies and experts’ reports, provided that category 1 Studies and experts’ reports does not increase by more than ECU 20 000 or by 10% of its initial amount; • replacement of seminars and meetings by teleconferences, which leads to a reduction in category 3 Travel costs and/or category 6 Meetings and an increase in category 4 General expenditure.

Warning: the thresholds of ECU 20 000 and/or 10% of the budget of the category of expenditure are based on the budget approved by the Commission. If the combination of several successive modifications results in the ceiling being surpassed, then it becomes a case of a “major” budgetary adaptation.

- for multi-regional projects, variations in the allocation of the budget between partner regions

that are less than 10% of the initial budget of each partner region - the total amount of the budget remaining unchanged.

• “Major” budgetary adjustments: In the case of a budgetary modification that exceeds the limits of a “minor” adjustment, that is to say in the case of a “major” adjustment, the project leader must request and obtain Commission approval.

-> hence, any upward or downward modification of the total amount of the budget constitutes a “major” adjustment that must be approved by the Commission.,...

• a downward adjustment may occur if matching funds fail to be confirmed and/or if a planned partner pulls out. In such case expenditure has to be reduced, unless substitute funding can be found; • an upward adjustment may appear necessary if expenditure in one or several categories has to be increased without being offset by reductions in other categories. In this case, it is essential that revenue be increased so that the adjusted budget remains balanced.


The request to modify the project budget must be supported by a presentation of the reasons which necessitate this modification and the proposed figures in ECUs of the revised budget, presented in the same format as the initial budget approved.

-> The application for modification of the project budget is to be prepared using the budgetary modification tables and accompanied by an appropriate note in annex which describes and justifies the request. See standard tables below: • model A for a modification between categories of expenditure; • model B for a modification between partner regions. NB. If there are combined modifications between categories of expenditure and between the budgets of the partner regions, then the two tables should be submitted at the same time.

The application for modification of the project budget must be sent by the project leader to the Commission (with a copy for information to the TAO EI 2000) as soon as possible once such a “major” adaptation appears essential, and at the latest before the final date of expenditure commitments.

Warning : in the absence of Commission approval, the portion of expenditure, assessed category by category, that exceeds the threshold of a minor adjustment will not be taken into account to determine the definitive amount of Community assistance7.

The Commission is entirely at liberty to consider whether the application for a revision of the budget is justified. It may even refuse such a modification, or it can give its consent, including for a revised budget different from the one proposed by the project leader. Acceptance by the Commission of budget modifications may not result in an upward revision (increase) of the total maximum amount of Community assistance.

On the other hand • a budget modification that results in a significant reduction in the total amount of eligible expenditure...

and/or for the CULTURE projects • a significant modification of the weighting between partner regions to the detriment of regions listed in Objective 1 or 6 areas for multi-regional projects...

... may result in a downward revision of Community assistance in value and in %.

7 See § 4.3.4 below for the effect on the determination of the definitive amount of Community assistance.


-> ERDF ceiling intervention rates vary according to Objective areas: 75% for Objective 1 or 6 regions, 50% for the other regions (Objectives 2 and 5b and non-Objective areas). Now, the relative and absolute share of each partner region has been taken into account by the Commission when accepting the project budget and determining the amount of Community assistance. Therefore, a decrease in the relative share of Objective 1 or 6 regions will, for a project financed at the ceiling rate and all other things equal, translate into a reduction in the maximum amount of Community assistance. When the overall project leader submits the definitive accounting of eligible expenditure, the Commission determines the balance of Community assistance by verifying that the rate of assistance, region by region, does not exceed 75% for Objective 1 or 6 regions, 50% for the other regions (Objective 2 and 5b areas or non-Objective areas).

TABLE A : MODIFICATION OF BUDGET ALLOCATION BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF EXPENDITURES

PROJECT ERDF REFERENCE Responsible body

START DATE COMPLETION DATE

Unit : ECU A B C D E F

Date of completion of table INITIAL BUDGET APPROVED

% BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

% REVISED BUDGET %

Name and signature of person responsible ELEGIBLE BUDGET EXPENDITURE

adjustment >0 -> sign +

adjustment < 0 -> sign -

= C x100/A

E = A + C

1 Costs of studies and experts' reports

2 Staff costs

3 Mission expenditure (travel and subsistence costs)

4 General costs

5 Promotion and publications

6 Expenditures on meetings, conferences and seminars

7 Expenditure on equipment

8 Infrastructure and constructions

9 Other (to be specified in the note in annex)

10 TOTAL

-> Please attach a short note explaining the content of the variations of the different budget items.

-> contact details (name, organisation, phone/fax, E-mail) of the person to be contacted for additionnal information :

RESERVED FOR USE BY THE COMMISSION AND THE TAO -> DATE of RECEIPT of TABLE :

MAJOR BUDGETARY ADJUSTMENTS : table to be submitted to support request for Commission consent See annex 2B § IV.


PROJECT : TABLE B : MODIFICATION OF THE BUDGET ALLOCATION BETWEEN ERDF REFERENCE PARTNER REGIONS responsible body START DATE COMPLETION DATE

A B C D E Date of completion of table PUBLIC

AUTHORITIES PRIVATE SECTOR COMMUNITY FINANCIAL

ASSISTANCE Name and signature of person responsible TOTAL AMOUNT %

INITIAL BUDGET

Unit : ECU A B D F G

OBJECTIVE 1 ou 6 REGION 1 2 3 SUB-TOTAL

OBJECTIVE 2 ou 5b REGION 1 2 3

NON OBJECTIVE REGIONS 1 2 3 TOTAL REVISED

BUDGET Unit : ECU A B D F G

OBJECTIVE 1 ou 6 REGION 1 2 3 SUB-TOTAL

OBJECTIVE 2 ou 5b REGION 1 2 3

NON OBJECTIVE REGIONS 1 2 3 TOTAL

-> Please attach a short note explaining the content of the variations of the different budget items. -> contact details (name, organisation, phone/fax, E-mail) of the person to be contacted for additionnal information :


MAJOR BUDGETARY ADJUSTMENTS : table to be submitted to support request for Commission consent See annex 2B § IV.


B/ PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD The reference period for the financial implementation of the project is defined in the grant letter of Community financial assistance. See annex 2 § 2 a - The timeframe See annex 2 § 2 As regards the timeframe, there are three main dates:

• the start date for eligible expenditure on the basis of which the expenditure incurred for project work and actions is taken into account; it should be noted that work and actions must actually start within 6 months following the “formal” start date8 .

See annex 2 § 8b • the final date of expenditure commitments relating to the project

See annex 2 § 3.1 • the end date for payments which is based on the final date of expenditure commitments: this end date is no later than six months after the final date of expenditure commitments9 .

See annex 2 § 3.2 Variation NSJ pilot projects: for New Sources for Jobs pilot projects, the end date for payments is no later than 3 months after the final date of expenditure commitments.

These dates define the project implementation period from a financial point of view. They also define, as a result, the intermediary deadlines planned in the project management and the deadlines for the preparation of documents: progress reports and budgetary monitoring documents, interim activity report(s), final activity report, definitive financial report,… b - Modification of the timeframe See annex 2 §3.3 The management of a pilot project cannot be entirely planned in advance. The project’s implementation timetable may have to be modified. If this proves essential, the extension of a deadline (final date of expenditure commitments, end date for payment of project expenditure, deadline for the submission of the final report and the definitive certificate of expenditure) must first be approved by the Commission. The request for a deadline extension must be supported by a presentation of the reasons which make this delay necessary and by a proposal for a new completion date. The project leader must

8 In practice, it is possible for project work and actions to have started before this “start date for eligible expenditure”. But the expenses incurred before this date will not be eligible for Community assistance. 9 In practice, the project’s actual completion date must be situated between the final date of commitments and the end date for payments.


address the request to the Commission (with a copy for information to the TAO EI 2000) no later than 1 month before the deadline whose extension is requested.

->The Commission is entirely at liberty to consider whether this deadline extension is justified. It may even refuse such an extension, or it can give its consent, including for a date different from the one proposed by the project leader.

Warning: A deadline extension may in no case whatsoever exceed one year.

-> If the need for a deadline extension is accompanied by the need for a “major” budgetary adjustment, then the requests for an extension and budget modification must be made at the same time.

4.2.2. THE CERTIFICATE OF EXPENDITURE and THE PAYMENT OF ADVANCES See annex 2 § 7 and 9 and annex 2B The certificate of expenditure reports on eligible expenditure paid.

-> eligible expenditure: the expenditure must, by way of its nature, fall in the framework of the project budget and the categories of expenditure allowed by the rules relating to projects (See annex 2.A § I and § 4.3.1. below); -> expenditure paid: the expenditure is not taken into account until it has actually been paid.

The aim of the certificate of expenditure is to certify the reality of the project-related expenditure: it conditions the payment of the 2nd advance, in certain cases the 3rd advance, and the payment of the balance of Community assistance. It is the only type of financial document that has “legal value” in terms of project implementation: it must therefore be prepared with precision and rigour on the basis of the project accounts, according to the model presented in annex 2B of the grant letter of Community financial assistance (See annex 2 § 11.a and § 4.3.2. below). A/ The certificate of expenditure is drawn up in ECUs. It is accompanied by two supporting tables that are an integral part of the certificate (models of tables are inserted after page 78):

• table 1: Summary of expenditure (paid), drawn up in ECUs, presents the expenditure paid which is listed by year of payment and by type of expenditure (headings of the project’s initial budget whose total eligible expenditure is recalled in column 2)


• table 2: Summary of exchange rates... presents the details for conversion into ECUs of expenditure paid in national currencies. The table is presented in two versions: one for the projects implemented by a single region (one-region project), the other for multi-regional projects.

B/ If two advances and a balance are to be paid during the project, normally two certificates of expenditure have to be drawn up, since the 1st advance is paid at the start of the project (more exactly: when the Commission receives the statement of acceptance signed by the project leader).

• the first certificate of expenditure is drawn up in support of the request for payment of the 2nd advance. See annex 2 § 8c -> The request for payment of the 2nd advance is optional. If the project leader does not make use of this option, then this first certificate of expenditure need not be drawn up. • the definitive certificate of expenditure must be drawn up after completion of the project in support of the request for payment of the balance of Community assistance. See annex 2 § 8d -> In order for an expenditure to be validly included in the certificate of expenditure, it must have actually been paid. Therefore, the definitive certificate of expenditure can only be drawn up once all project expenditure has actually been paid.

C/ The first certificate of expenditure Drawn up in support of the request for payment of the 2nd advance, the first certificate of expenditure certifies that eligible expenditure has been paid for an amount equal to at least half of the 1st advance.

-> In Table 1, in practice, the amount shown in the “Total Payments/TOTAL” box has to be strictly greater than half the amount of the 1st advance.

Payment of the 2nd advance is subject to two further conditions: submission of an interim report and notification to the Commission of the decisions of the bodies concerned with the matching funding stipulated for the project,…

- for the total amount if only 2 advances are planned, - for half of the total amount of the matching funding if 3 advances are planned. See annex 2 § 8c -> “decisions of the bodies concerned with matching funding”: these must be definitive binding decisions and not only a declaration of intent or commitment in principle.

On principle, national or regional matching funding must not include elements from other funding of Community origin (e.g.: SPD or Community Initiative Programmes, such as LEADER II, INTERREG II,…).


If a 3rd advance is to be paid, a “second” certificate of expenditure must be drawn up according to the same provisions. The request for payment of the third advance requires in particular that at least 40% of the project budget (the total amount of eligible expenditure) has been used to pay eligible expenditure. See annex 2 § 8d D/ The definitive certificate of expenditure The definitive certificate of expenditure is drawn up on the actual end date for payments and is submitted in support of the request for payment of the balance of Community assistance - balance that it helps determine (See 4.3.4 below). It may take into account expenditure incurred and paid after the final date of commitments so long as this expenditure has been committed by this date.

->… “committed” example : • the order has been placed, the service delivery contract has been signed,… • travel costs : the trip has been scheduled and organised but has not yet taken place; the expense documents

and invoices are not received and are therefore not payable until afterwards; • … • Specific case: certain operations cannot, because of their nature, be carried out until after the final date of

expenditure commitments. If these operations are contracted out, it is essential that the order be placed before this date:

example : - last stage of the in itinere project evaluation mission; - finalisation of project accounts and preparation of the definitive financial document; - costs of editing and publishing final report; - meeting of Project Steering Committee for approval of final activity report; -…

The definitive certificate of expenditure is to be submitted to the Commission no later than 3 months after the end date for payments, at the same time.as the final activity report. See annex 2 §3.2 The definitive certificate of expenditure is accompanied by a document in which each category of expenditure is clearly described (See 4.3.3 below) and where the inclusion of various receipts and financial revenue (See 4.3.2 below) is explained: the final financial report. It is accompanied by a summary statement of matching funding (national and regional matching funding) that shows the amounts notified, the forms taken by this matching funding (matching funding in the strict sense or matching funding in the form of providing staff) and the recipients of this matching funding (project leader, project partner, ...). The definitive certificate of expenditure, as accepted by the Commission, establishes the definitive amount of the project’s eligible expenditure - definitive amount which is evaluated globally and for each of the categories of expenditure - and the net definitive amount of the project’s eligible expenditure (See 4.3.2 below) which will be used to establish the definitive


amount of Community assistance and the balance amount which is the subject of the final payment or, in certain cases, the amount which the Commission will ask be repaid if the total amount of advances paid exceeds the definitive amount of Community assistance. See annex 2§15 E/ The Commission reserves every right to request any element of justification or to undertake any operation of control that it considers necessary for validation (acceptance) of the certificate of expenditure (See § 4.3.3 below).

4.2.3. REMARKS ON THE COMPLETION OF TABLES The tables are presented in annex 2B of the grant letter: they are included in the following pages. A/ Presentation of tables no.1 and no.2 in annex 2B Table 2 • One-region projects : the expenditure shown for month M, expressed in national currency (column 2 of table 2) is the eligible expenditure paid, according to the date on which the payment is posted in the project’s accounts (See § 4.3.2 below). It is converted into ECUs (column 4) by applying the exchange rate (column 3) determined according to the method indicated below (See 4.2.5 below). • Multi-regional projects : the processing of expenses in national currency and their conversion into ECUs is done region by region. This processing is done by the overall project leader using the detailed statements of eligible expenditure paid which are drawn up in national currency and submitted by the leaders of each partner region. The date to be taken into consideration for conversion into ECUs is the date on which the expenditure presented in these detailed statements is posted in the overall project accounts which are kept by the overall project leader. The monthly exchange rate to be used is determined according to the method indicated below (See 4.2.5 below). Table 1 The expenditure expressed in ECUs is then totalled by year on the one hand, broken down according to the types of expenditure of the budget, on the other, to be inserted in table 1.

-> in the case of multi-regional projects, in order to ensure the breakdown according to the types of expenditure of the budget, it is essential that the detailed statements of eligible expenditure paid submitted by the leaders of partner regions be organised according to this breakdown by budget type.

Warning : decimal figures are never to be used for amounts expressed in ECUs. All ECU amounts are to be shown as whole numbers, rounded off to the next highest number (for decimal numbers >or= 0.50) or the next lowest number (for decimal numbers <0.50).

PROJECT Table 1 Annex 2B ERDF Reference No Date of this certificate Date of the last update of expenditure certified in this document SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURE (corresponding to payments made by final beneficiaries as justified by receipted invoices or equivalent documents) Period of eligibility : from ……..……....to…………………..(As stated in the letter granting assistance, date of beginning and end of elibility of expenditure) To be drawn up in ecus (please show the amounts converted for each monthly exchange rate in an attached summary) Types of expenditure Eligible

expenditure10 Payments in 1996 Payments in 1997 Payments in 1998 Payments in 1999 Total payments

1. Studies and experts’ reports 2. Staff costs 3. Mission expenditure (travel

and subsistence costs) 4. General expenditure 5. Promotion and publications 6. Meetings, conferences, and

seminars 7. Equipment 8. Infrastructure and

construction 9. Other (specify)

TOTAL Please give the name, telephone and fax numbers and administrative address of the person to be contacted for any technical information on the above data. Stamp and signature of the authority responsible

10 State in this column the total eligible expenditure according to the financing plan approved by the Commission and in force on the date of certification.


Table 2 (for use where projects involve several regions) Annexe 2B PROJECT Date of this certificate ERDF Reference No Date of the last update of expenditure certified in this document CERTFICATION IN ECUS : SUMMARY OF EXCHANGE RATES USED FOR CONVERSION BY AMOUNT AND BY REGION Period of eligibility from …………………..to…………………….. National currency (NC)…………….. Region :

NC : Region :

NC : Region :

NC : Region :

NC :

Year NC

ECU Rate for the month11

NC ECU Rate for the month1



January February March April May June July August September October November December

Total

Stamp and signature of the responsible authority

11 Use the exchange rate for the month in which the expenditure was entered in the accounts of the project leader

Table 2 (continued) (for use where projects involve several regions) Annexe 2B PROJECT Date of this certificate ERDF Reference No Date of the last update of expenditure certified in this document CERTFICATION IN ECUS : SUMMARY OF EXCHANGE RATES USED FOR CONVERSION BY AMOUNT AND BY REGION Period of eligibility from …………………..to…………………….. National currency (NC)……………..

Region : NC :

Region : NC :

Region : NC :

TOTAL

Year NC

ECU Rate for the month12



ECU

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Total

Stamp and signature of the responsible authority

12 Use the exchange rate for the month in which the expenditure was entered in the accounts of the project leader

Annex 2B

TABLE 2 (to be used for projects concerning only one region)

PROJECT ERDF REFERENCE No Date of this certification Date of the last upadating of the Expenditure certified in this Document CERTIFICATION IN ECU : SUMMARY OF THE EXCHANGE RATES USED FOR CONVERSION BY

AMOUNT AND BY REGION Period of eligibility from ……. to .............. National currency (NC) ................ Date of entry of the expenditure Amount of

expenditure in NC Exchange rate Amount of

expenditure in ecus

Year Month 19.. January

February March April May June July August September October November December

Total 19.. January

February March April May June July August September October November December

Total

CERTIFIED CORRECT RESPONSIBLE FOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

(Name and signature)


B/ In general, identification of the date of payment does not pose a problem, since the payment is made in one instalment: payment of an invoice, expense note, wages, social security,… If the payment of an invoice is divided up, for example with the payment of a deposit when placing an order or with staggered payment, each successive payment is to be considered on the date it was actually made. If there is no “payment” in the strict sense, when the elements concerned by the “expenditure” constitute the contribution from partner bodies of the project (cost of staff assigned to the project: See annex 2.A § 2.3) or in the case of “indirect costs” evaluated by rational implication, then, in lieu of an invoice, the body had to draw up “a bookkeeping voucher of probant value” which explains the service provided and justifies the amount posted as expenditure. In this case, the date of “payment” is to be considered the accounting date on which the “bookkeeping voucher” is posted in the project’s accounts, so long as the corresponding service has actually been rendered. C/ In general, the amount of the expenditure to be declared is the actual amount paid. C1- However, this is not the case for a certain number of expenditure for which the “eligible amount13” can differ from the amount paid: • in the case where the payment includes refundable VAT, then the amount of the expenditure to

be declared is shown as the amount of the expenditure excluding VAT (See § 4.1 below). • in the case where the expenditure exceeds the ceiling amount allowed by the European

Commission, then the amount of expenditure to be declared is posted as the ceiling amount allowed.

example: - fees of consultants and experts which exceed the scale (See annex 2.A § I.1 and sub-annex 2.A.III); - travel costs and daily subsistence allowance (per diem) which exceed the scale (See annex 2.A § I.3 and sub-annex 2.A.III); -…

C2- In the case where there is no “payment” in the strict sense, when the elements concerned by the “expenditure” constitute the contribution from partner bodies of the project: cost of staff assigned to the project (See point B below and annex 2.A § 2.3) or in the case of “indirect costs” evaluated by rational implication (See point B below and annex 2B § 4), then, the amount of the expenditure considered to be paid is stipulated in the “bookkeeping voucher of probant value”. D/ For expenditure on equipment (See § I.7 of annex 2A) whose eligibility is only partial, the dual question of the date and amount of the payment is sometimes more complex. Two cases are possible:

13 On the notion of eligible amount, see § 4.3.1.B below.


• if it is an acquisition through leasing, the amount of eligible expenditure paid is the rent; the entire rent is taken into account as it is actually paid for the period covered by the project (See § 4.3.1.C and information sheet 6 in annex).

• if it is a purchase, the amount of the paid expenditure is taken into account for the eligible

amount alone, only once at the time of payment if a single payment is made; if the payment is staggered, then this eligible amount has to be broken down in proportion to and according to the date of the actual payments (See example on following page).

E/ The Commission has the possibility of requesting any additional information for comprehension of the certificate of expenditure and related tables.


Processing of expenditure on equipment and its payment example: Pilot project X start date: 01/11/96 - duration: 2 yrs -> final date of commitments: 31/10/98 -> end date for payments: 30/04/99 Purchase of a personal computer + peripherals for ECU 3 000* ordered on 15/11/96, delivered and installed on 30/11/96. NB: in practice, these operations are done in the national currency used for the transaction. The example is given in ECUs for reasons of simplicity. The amount of eligible expenditure is calculated as follows: • period of use in months for the project : 30 months from 11/96 to 04/99 • eligible amount for one year’s use (12 months): ECU 1 000* (eligible expenditure limited to 1/3 of the cost per year of use of information technology) • total amount of eligible expenditure : ECU 2 500* or: ECU 1 000 x (30 months / 12 months) NB. The calculation must be done in months in order to determine the duration of use case 1: expenditure on equipment with single payment paid in full on 15/01/97. -> date on which the expenditure is declared, for an amount of ECU 2 500* in tables 1 and 2: January 97 if the payment is posted in January 97 case 2 : expenditure on equipment with staggered payment payment in two instalments: a deposit of 20% at the time of ordering on 15/11/96 and the balance (80%) on 15/01/97. -> dates on which the expenditure is declared, for an amount of ECU 2 500* in tables 1 and 2: • November 96 for ECU 2 500 x 20% = ECU 500 if the payment is posted in November 96 • January 97 for ECU 2 500 x 80% = ECU 2 500 if the payment is posted in January 97


PROJECT MANAGEMENT: BUDGETARY MONITORING AND FINANCIAL

REPORTING

Monitoring Table of Budget Commitments - MTBC

Certificate of Expenditure

Aim: monitor the project’s implementation from a budgetary point of view

Aim: justify the use of Community assistance and approve successive payments (2nd/3rd advance and balance)

COMMON FEATURES

• expenditure eligible for the eligible amount

• expenditure expressed in ECUs (with exclusive use of Community exchange rate)

• expenditure listed according to budget categories

SPECIFIC FEATURES

expenditure committed and implemented

for the period concerned and accumulated since the

start of the project • pre-determined rate: the MTBC is drawn up every 4 months

at the same time as the progress report • less constraints (indication of figures and conversion into

ECUs, ...)

paid expenditure accumulated on the date when the certificate is established

•the first certificate of expenditure may be drawn up according to the rate of payment of expenditure

•the definitive certificate of expenditure must be drawn up no later than 3 months after the end date for payments


4.2.4. MONITORING TABLE OF BUDGET COMMITMENTS (MTBC) The MTBC is the Monitoring Table of Budget Commitments of the project. Drawn up every 4 months and systematically combined with the progress report (See § 4.1.1.), it aims to report periodically on the budgetary implementation of the project (budgetary execution) in connection with its operational implementation. This is why it is drawn up in terms of committed and implemented expenditure for the period concerned.

-> committed and implemented expenditure: this is expenditure calculated at the time of its implementation, whether it has been totally implemented or only partly (implementation under way). -> expenditure…relating to the period concerned: this is expenditure charged for the amount relating to the 4-month period covered by the progress report. It is then added up from the start of the project to obtain a position on the date when the budgetary monitoring document is drawn up.

example : - an employment contract agreed for the duration of the project constitutes a commitment of

expenditure. In the MTBC, only the amount of wages for the 4-month period concerned plus the corresponding social security expenses (NB. in the MTBC, these social security expenses can be calculated by reasoned estimate).

- the expenditure incurred annually (e.g. insurance, local taxes, ...) or quarterly (rent...) is calculated in proportion to the 4-month period.

- for expenditure on equipment, the eligible amount for the duration of the project is reported in proportion to the 4-month period.

-> in contrast to the certificate of expenditure, the MTBC does not take the payment of expenditure into account.

A/ In practice, the MTBC is in the form of a table (See attached model). As the operational tool for budgetary monitoring of the project, and without influence on the payment of Community assistance, it is relatively simplified in terms of implementation and certain constraints are loosened: accounting precision does not need to be absolute, expenditure in national currencies can be converted into ECUs with the same rate of exchange for the 4-month period...

-> NB. A model of the table is available from the TAO in EXCEL 7.0 WINDOWS or EXCEL 5.0 MAC OS.

PROJECT : MONITORING TABLE OF BUDGET COMMITMENTS (MTBC) : PROJECT

EXPENDITURE REFERENCE : to be attached to the periodical progress report (frequency: every 4 months body responsible : START DATE OF ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE : 4 MONTH PERIOD COVERED BY THE PROGRESS REPORT AND TMBE FINAL DATE OF COMMITMENTS : MONTH/YR . . / . . . . / . . . . / . . . . / . .

Unit : ECU A B C D E Date of completion of Table : APPROVED

BUDGET initial or revised

PREVIOUS EXPENDITURE

EXPENDITURE IN THE PERIOD

COMBINED EXPENDITURE

% OFCOMBINED EXPENDITURE

Name and Signature of person responsible : ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE

OF BUDGET

See: COLUMN D OF TABLE OF

PREVIOUS PERIOD

4 MONTH PERIOD COVERED BY PERIODICAL

REPORT

D = B + C E = D X 100 / A

1 Study and experts' reports

2 Staff costs

3 Mission expenditure (travel and subsistence costs)

4 General expenditure

5 Promotion and publications

6 Meetings, conferences and seminars

7 Expenditure on equipment

8 Infrastructure and construction

9 Other (to be specified in attached note)

10 TOTAL

-> Please attach a short note explaining the content of the different budget items -> contact details (name, organisation, phone/fax, Email) of the person to be contacted for further information:



B/ Preparing the MTBC

Column A: project’s initial budget, broken down by category of expenditure, or revised budget, if the initial budget has been the subject of modifications approved by the Commission (major modifications); Column B: identical to column D of the MTBC relating to the previous period (NB: this column remains empty when drawing up the first MTBC); Column C: eligible expenditure relating to the 4-month period covered by the MTBC; Column D: eligible expenditure accumulated since the start of the project; Column E: total amount of eligible expenditure expressed in % of the budget (D x 100/A). -> Calculation method : it is possible to calculate C directly, and then perform the addition D=B+C. In practice, it may be easier to calculate C on the basis of D-B expressed in national currency or currencies, and the ECU exchange rate is applied to the amounts obtained for the expenditure of the 4-year period. Warning: previous expenditure (column B) is never recalculated. If there are retroactive corrections to be made, these must be included in the current period and reported in the attached note. -> Practical advice for multi-regional projects : it is strongly recommended, and probably essential in practice, that each region leader draw up a MTBC for his part of the project, thereby facilitating the task of the overall project leader of preparing an overall MTBC (consolidated MTBC).

Conversion into ECUs: it is possible to use the same exchange rate for a 4-month period, in practice, for example, the monthly rate of the 1st month of the period. The exchange rates used must nonetheless be indicated in the attached note.

Warning: decimal numbers must never be used. All ECU amounts are to be shown as whole numbers, rounded off to the next highest number (for decimal numbers >or= 0.50) or the next lowest number (for decimal numbers <0.50).

Attached note : an annex note clearly describing the content of each budget heading is to be attached to the table. C/ The Commission or Technical Assistance Office may request any additional information to help understand the monitoring table of budgetary commitments


4.2.5. SOME COMMON RULES FOR DRAWING UP THE CERTIFICATE OF EXPENDITURE AND THE MTBC A/ Use of the ECU Expenditure in the various national currencies are converted on a monthly basis in ECUs by applying the conversion rate defined by the Commission, i.e.: the monthly rate applied to the amounts expressed in national currencies of month M is the rate14 of the penultimate working day (in Belgium) of the previous month M-1. These conversion rates are published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC - C series) the penultimate working day of each month and on the EUROPA server which is accessible via the INTERNET http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg19/inforecu/en/index.htm15

Warning: never use the exchange rate actually applied by a banking institution for an exchange operation, or the national reference exchange rate.

-> If necessary, the list of ECU conversion rates may be obtained from the TAO.

B/ Taking into account VAT VAT is taken into account in the amount of the eligible expenditure if, and only if, it cannot be recovered according to the status of the body responsible for the project and current national rules (See § 4.3.1 below). C/ Submitting documents The same conditions (number of copies, recipient bodies, transmission by E-mail...) should be applied to financial and budgetary monitoring documents as to the corresponding activity report (See § 4.1.3. above):

• for the certificate of expenditure, see submitting the interim report and the final activity report;

• for the MTBC, submission at the same time as the progress report to which it is related.

14 The rate is used with all the decimals included in the figure published in the OJEC or on EUROPA. 15 Warning: to obtain the rate to be used in the form of a list of rates month by month for a national currency, click on the “flag” of the Member State concerned, and not on the “official rate of the ECU”. The rate given for month M corresponds to the rate to be used for the conversion of the expenditure posted in month M. By clicking on “Monthly InforEcu Sheet”, it is possible to obtain for a given month the exchange rates to be used for all the national currencies of the Member States.


4.3. BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT RULES All the funds mobilised for the project’s implementation, matching funds and Community assistance, must be spent in compliance with Community and national regulatory provisions, according to the principles of sound financial management. The project management system, and in particular the accounting system, must comply with certain guidelines: the principle of reality of expenditures (costs) and revenues (receipts), which means painting a faithful and sincere “picture” of the “real cost” of the project’s implementation, the principle of transparency, which means that the project’s management is intelligible and auditable. The project management system must be organised in such a way that it facilitates the preparation of budget monitoring documents and the financial report by the project leader, and, if the need arises, facilitates later control by the Commission’s services of the accuracy of the certificate of expenditure drawn up by the leader of the project benefiting from Community assistance.

4.3.1. ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE See annex 2.A §I Eligible expenditure is expenditure that can be validly taken into account for the project’s implementation and shown as such in the financial statements (certificate of expenditure) and MTBC. As a rule, to be eligible, the expenditure must fulfil the necessary conditions of: falling under a category of expenditure listed in the budget, be justified and have been paid. Certain aspects concerning the notions of period of eligibility, date of expenditure and payment, ... have been dealt with below (See § 4.2 above). In any case, because of the application of conditions for the awarding of Community assistance, some expenditure is a priori totally ineligible:

• expenditure that does not fall within a category of expenditure of the project budget approved by the Commission;

• expenditure that cannot be justified, in the regulatory sense of the word, i.e. there are no

supporting documents (voucher); • expenditure that is unrelated to the project’s implementation.

A/ Expenditure ineligible by nature The detailed definition of eligible expenditure presented in annex 2.A.I. excludes the following types of expenditure:


• expenditure in kind (See annex 2.A §I), except general expenditure allocated to the project by

imputation of a share of the general expenditure of a partner body (See information sheet 3 in annex) and the provision of staff (See information sheet 4 in annex), a form in which a partner can make his contribution (See annex 2A §2).

• costs of public administrations (national administrations and administrations of regional and

local authorities), including wages of government employees which correspond to normal tasks of management, monitoring and control of the actions co-funded;

See annex 2.A.I.bis • financial costs: interest on loans, bank charges, and interest on banking overdrafts,…

-> in contrast, investment income, for example the interest collected through the temporary placement of advances paid under Community assistance, is not revenue to be included as matching funding of Community assistance; on the other hand, it must be posted in the project’s accounts. And in certain conditions, the income can be deducted from assistance when determining the definitive amount of Community assistance (See annex 2B § III and 4.3.2 below). -> this exclusion does not concern banking costs (costs charged by a bank to do certain operations: charges for payments, account charges, charges for mailing chequebooks, ...) which fall under category 4 of General Expenditure, so long as the operations that generate these costs are related to the project. -> costs related to bank guarantees are generally ineligible, since Community assistance for the project is not a “global subsidy”, unless the implementation of such a guarantee was required by the Commission (see information sheet 5 in annex).

• exchange rate losses whether they are related to sums collected as Community assistance,

movements of funds between project partners, payment of suppliers and service providers; -> in contrast, exchange rate gains are not revenue to be entered as matching funding of Community assistance; on the other hand, the gains must be posted in the project’s accounts as must exchange rate losses.

• any abnormal miscellaneous costs (e.g. penalty charges for late payment of social security expenses, police

fine even if occasioned while managing the project, expenditure contrary to the rules, extravagant expenditure,...) exceptional costs (equipment disposal loss,…) or unjustified in relation to the project (e.g. travel unrelated to the project, travel already covered elsewhere in another capacity,…);

• All expenditure incurred before the start date or committed after the final date of commitments,

and all expenditure not yet paid at the end date for payments. -> this leads to the exclusion of all expenditure incurred for the project’s preparation, since this expenditure is by nature incurred before the start date.

IN CASE OF DOUBT CONCERNING THE ELIGIBILITY OF EXPENDITURE (nature, amount, date) IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE QUESTION BE POSED TO THE TAO, by fax or E-mail.


Warning: transfers of funds between the overall project leader and his partners are not in themselves an expenditure. This particularly concerns repayments made by the project leader to his partners from advances received under Community assistance. Each partner must justify with the project leader the use, as eligible expenditure, of the funding which he has for the project, regardless of the origin.

B/ Eligible expenditure and ceiling of eligible amount Certain types of eligible expenditure are limited in their eligible amount, that is to say, a ceiling is set with reference to the Community scales presented in sub-annex 2.A.III. This means that the expenditure may in some cases be greater than the ceiling determined by applying the scale, but then only the amount below or equal to the ceiling amount is allowed as eligible expenditure.

Staff made available by the project’s partner bodies: this expenditure may not in any case exceed 25% of the total amount of the project’s eligible expenditure. See annex 2 A I: costs of public administrations.

a - Fees a1- fees of consultants and experts See §I of annex 2.A.III The term consultant or expert is understood to mean self-employed workers who intervene in their own name (free lance) and research organisations and advisory organisations. The scale of reference lists the normative daily rates (fees man/day). The control of the application of this rule requires that the contracts concluded with a consultant or expert in the framework of the project specify the price per day and the time budget allocated to each intervening party. a2- studies and research If the services contract relating to a study is concluded for a lump-sum amount, then the amount of eligible expenditure is justified by the invoice(s) of the service provider, provided that the study is actually done. a3 - Sub-contracting "in cascade" is, in principle, prohibited, unless it can be justified. Similarly, all service contracts where the amount to be paid to the service provider is expressed in % of the total amount of the project and/or the amount of Community assistance are to be prohibited. b- travel costs See §II of annex 2.A.III The reference text is already explained in detail.


Payment of “minor” travel costs (taxi, bus, metro, ...) is included in the subsistence costs and is done in compliance with local rules. c- travel-related subsistence costs: accommodation, meals, related expenses,… See §II of annex 2.A.III

“Subsistence costs are understood to mean all expenditure, including costs for accommodation, meals and travel in the place where the work is being done.”

The Commission limits the eligibility of the amount of this type of expenditure to the maximum amount of 155 ECU per day.

-> A number of bodies operate according to specific arrangements: reimbursement of costs at real amount or at capped real amount, food expenses separate from accommodation expenses , daily subsistence rates of a different amount,... In practice, this means that the amount of eligible subsistence costs will systematically have to be compared with the amount resulting from application of the Community rule on the basis of the characteristics of the trip: duration, location, distance,…. • If the amount of eligible subsistence costs is less than 155 ECU/Day, then the amount is eligible as such; • If the amount of eligible subsistence costs is greater than 155 ECU/Day, then the eligible amount is limited to 155 ECU/Day.

->Warning: the maximum amount is reduced to ECU 75/Day if the place of the meeting or the work is less than 100 km from the usual place of work of the person concerned and if there is no overnight stay there (see 2.A.III.§II below)

C/ Even if the expenditure is eligible, the amount of this expenditure that exceeds the budget of the category concerned is not eligible beyond the limit of variation which corresponds to a “minor” budgetary adjustment, or if the Commission has given its approval, to a “major” budgetary adjustment (See § 4.2.1.A above and 4.3.4 below). D/ Eligible amount of expenditure on equipment (See§ I.7 and § 1.9 of annex 2A) For expenditure on equipment which, as a rule16, is only partially eligible because it is spread out over the normal period of usage and not over the duration of the project alone, the question of the eligible amount has already been raised partly (See § 4.2.3.D. above).

Warning: any expenditure for the acquisition of hardware, software or office furniture exceeding the unitary rate of ECU 400 excluding VAT is considered to be expenditure on equipment.

16 Some expenditure on equipment is eligible in full : see annex 2A.I.7. and below


Several cases are possible: • if it is an acquisition through leasing, the amount of eligible expenditure is the rent; it is taken

into consideration for the total amount paid, but only for the period covered by the project from the date of acquisition.

• if it is a purchase, the eligible amount is:

- the full purchase price if the equipment is strictly destined for the project and must continue operating in this framework after the project’s completion;

-> this assessment must be carefully justified case by case in the note attached to the first certificate of expenditure and in the final financial report.

- a fraction of the purchase price determined in proportion to time in relation to the duration of

use of the equipment in the framework of the project. • In the general case, the ratio in proportion to time is 20% per year of use; it is 33.33% for

information technology-related equipment (computers and peripherals, communication equipment,…); it is 50% for software.

-> the duration of use in the framework of the project is calculated in months starting with the month of acquisition (in practice the date of delivery of the equipment, or the date of its reception) until the end date for payments.

• The purchase amount taken as reference value for the calculation of the eligible amount in

proportion to time is the full purchase price, including related expenses for transport and installation.

E/ The specific case of allocations to a Risk Capital Fund (RCF) The allocation of a portion of Community assistance to a Risk Capital Fund (RCF) is subject to a series of specific rules, and this can pose some practical problems17: See information sheet 7 in annex. Whatever the form and amount paid into the RCF, the eligible amount of expenditure is solely the portion of the allocation to the RCF which is actually used by the final date of the project, date which constitutes the closing of Community intervention (in practice, in this case it is the end date for payments).

17 This also applies to Risk Capital Companies, or to Guarantee Funds.


On this closing date, a detailed account of the net financial position of the RCF must be prepared in order to determine the actual use of the allocation made from Community assistance for interventions: the unused portion is not taken into account as an eligible expenditure.

-> The interventions of the RCF consist in investments (taking up of authorised capital, subscription to bonds, loans,…) in small and medium-sized enterprises.

F/ About VAT (See annex 2A §10, annex 2B.I §10 and sub-annex 2.A.I) The guideline is simple: any refundable VAT, whatever the terms for refund (charges, compensation, reimbursement,…), even if the refund is only partial18, is to be excluded from the amount of eligible expenditure. This applies even if the VAT has not actually been refunded. In contrast, if the VAT is not refundable, then its amount is included in the eligible amount of expenditure.

-> each network leader will be systematically requested to supply information on his “income tax status” with regard to VAT: this information must be submitted in the note attached to the MTBC associated with the first progress report.

This rule applies for all other taxes19 (taxes on wages, taxes on offices used exclusively for the project,…): they are not included in the eligible amount of expenditure, or they do not constitute eligible expenditure if they are refundable or reimbursable. G/ Obligation to issue calls for tender. At the European Union level20, a call for tender procedure is compulsory for contracts awarded by a public sector body (public supply, works or service contracts). Community rules must at the very least be applied to all such contracts awarded within the framework of the project21.

-> Failure to comply with the obligation to issue a call for tender, when applicable, results in the ineligibility of the corresponding expenditure.

18 for bodies operating with two "fiscal sectors" and application of a pro rata on refundable VAT. 19 except for the tax on profit, whatever its name, which is not eligible. 20 At the level of each EU Member State, other rules may exist, and may be more binding, notably with regard to the amount of the contract which requires the issuing of a call for tender. In any event, in the case of a project implemented with financial assistance from the European Commission, the European rules must at least apply. 21 The levels that trigger the obligation to issue a call for tender procedure are: - public service contract: an amount equal to or greater than ECU 137 537 (excl. VAT); - public works contract: an amount equal to or greater than ECU 5 000 000 (excl. VAT); - public supply contract: an amount equal to or greater than ECU 137 537 (excl. VAT).


4.3.2. INVESTMENT INTEREST AND REVENUE Any interest earned from the investment of advances paid by the Commission and the various revenue generated by the project must be indicated in the final financial report. See annex 2A.III When the Commission calculates the definitive amount of Community assistance, this income (various revenue and interest) is deducted from the total amount of eligible expenditure paid relating to the project to obtain the definitive net total amount of eligible expenditure paid. This “net amount of expenditure” will be used to determine the definitive amount of Community assistance and therefore the amount of the balance to be paid after deduction of the advances already paid22.

• If the definitive net total amount of the eligible expenditure paid is less than the overall

amount of the budget approved by the Commission, then the definitive amount of Community assistance will be adjusted accordingly by applying the level of assistance (expressed in %) indicated in point 1 of annex 2 of the grant letter.

• If the definitive net total amount of the eligible expenditure paid is greater than or equal

to the overall amount of the budget approved by the Commission, then the definitive amount of Community assistance will be equal to the maximum amount indicated in point 1 of annex 2 of the grant letter.

-> See information sheet 1 in annex on the accounting of revenue other than bank interest and information sheet 2 in annex on the accounting of bank interest earned on Community advances. 4.3.3. FINAL FINANCIAL REPORT: EXPLANATION OF EXPENDITURE The financial report is composed of tables 1 and 2 and the certificate of expenditure, with all the vouchers, documents and commentary notes deemed necessary and appropriate to validate the statement of expenditure: each budget item which corresponds to a category of expenditure must be described in a way that is understandable, using the elements indicated below. Category 1 Studies For each study done, indication of the amount paid and the summary of the final report presenting the main results and conclusions.

22 or, in certain cases, the amount which the Commission will ask be paid back if the total amount of the advances paid exceeds the definitive amount of Community assistance (see annex 2 § 15).


Consultants/experts Name of expert and professional status, description of his mission, reference according to category (I to IV) according to the scale presented in sub-annex 2.A.III to the grant letter, number of days worked, fees paid (man/day). Justification of fees When the basic rate for certain experts (number of years of experience), is exceeded it should be justified:

• If the fees paid are standard fees accepted by national or regional administrations for experts of a profile similar to the experts used for the project, it need only be indicated that they are standard fees, specifying for which administrations;

• If the fees paid are greater than the standard fees or if there are no standard fees, indicate

the work done and the level of expertise or the specific skills of the experts selected for this work which justify the fees paid. A justification indicating the usual market rate for this type of expertise would be welcome.

Example: industry policy expert with more than 15 years experience (level I) and with specific expertise in company auditing. Experts with this qualification can be found on the market at ECU 600-700 man/day. The calculation would therefore be: 20 days x ECU 610 = ECU 12,200.

Category 2 Staff costs Distinction between staff of public administrations and others. Name, function in project, number of days or months, remuneration by day or month (complete wage cost: wages + social security expenses) Category 3 Travel and subsistence costs Number of trips, overall amount of transport costs, overall amount of subsistence costs. Category 4 General expenditure Amount per type of expenditure. For indirect general expenditure (see information sheet 3 in annex), the calculation used to arrive at the amount stated, indicating what the accounting rules generally allowed are in the country of the bodies concerned, and the distribution key(s) for the body’s general expenditure for the part allocated to the project with references to the invoices of expenditure covered by this distribution (Reminder: indirect general expenditure must have been paid when the certificate of expenditure is drawn up). Category 5 Promotion and publications Indication for each individual action (e.g. information brochure, 1,000 copies, overall amount of action).


Category 6 Seminars and conferences Number of seminars held, total number of participants, overall expenditure for seminars. For each conference: number of participants and overall expenditure. Category 7 List of equipment acquired or used For the equipment acquired for the project: • if the total amount of expenditure is listed in the statement but its depreciation period exceeds,

after purchase, the project eligibility period, it must be explained why this investment cannot change destination when the project is completed and why it is going to contribute to a continuation of certain results (e.g. culture pilot project, audiovisual equipment used for tourist promotion of a historic building in the framework of the remaining project, at the end of the project, used for the same purpose);

• for the other equipment acquired, indication of the rate of depreciation used in compliance with

the rates stipulated in annex 2 of the decision and the calculation used to arrive at the eligible amount;

• for hired or leased equipment, the amounts spent. Category 8 Infrastructures, construction work and fitting out of buildings List of infrastructures and cost of each. Category 9 Other expenditure Indicate for each type of expenditure their purpose and the amount spent. 4.3.4. CALCULATION OF COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE BASED ON DECLARED PAID ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE Community assistance for the project (ERDF contribution) is calculated according to the following elements: a) the amount of total eligible expenditure, minus any interest and revenue, that is to say the net

amount of total eligible expenditure (see 4.3.2 above). b) the amount of expenditure that can be considered as accepted, given the flexibility rules for the

budget approved by the Commission, initial budget or revised budget if there have been modifications to the initial budget accepted by the Commission (see 4.2.1.b above).

When the definitive certificate of expenditure and the final financial report are submitted to the Commission, its services (DG XVI and DG XX) calculate the definitive amount of Community


funding according to a method that takes into account the flexibility rules presented in annex 2A.IV of the grant letter. Failure to comply with these rules may lead to a significant reduction in Community funding as is demonstrated in the following examples. Several cases are conceivable. So that this capital point is clear for all project leaders, each case is illustrated by an example based on a standard pilot project which has the following characteristics: -> project whose initial budget approved by the Commission is ECU 500 000 (column 2), with an ERDF contribution rate of 50%, or ECU 250 000. -> the eligible expenditure paid, stated in the definitive certificate of expenditure, is indicated in column 4. There are plus or minus differences for certain items (categories of expenditure). -> in column 6 the amount of expenditure accepted by the Commission is indicated for each budget item.

Case 1 The project leader did not present a request for budget revision or, if he did, failed to obtain the Commission’s approval for the budgetary revision. The project leader only benefits from minor budgetary flexibility, i.e.:

for categories whose eligible expenditure paid is greater than the expenditure of the last budget approved, is posted as accepted expenditure the eligible expenditure paid in the limit of ECU + 20 000 in relation to the amounts of the last budget approved when these amounts are less than or equal to ECU 200 000; or in the limit of + 10% for categories of expenditure whose amount is greater than ECU 200 000. See annex 2A.IV rules on adjustments to the project

The total amount of expenditure declared amounts to ECU 530 000, according to the breakdown by category indicated in column 4. The amounts of expenditure accepted by the Commission are indicated in column 6: the Commission has applied for each budget item the rule of minor flexibility (see column 5). The result is that the total amount of expenditure accepted comes to ECU 450 000 (instead of ECU 390 000 in the first case). The definitive amount of Community assistance comes to ECU 225 000 (ECU 450 000 x 50%) instead of the maximum amount of ECU 250 000. Case 2 The project leader has presented a revised budget with acceptable justifications, and this revision has been approved by the Commission (see column 3). It is once the revised budget has been approved that minor flexibility can come into play.


The total expenditure declared amounts to ECU 530 000, according to the breakdown by category indicated in column 4. The expenditure amounts accepted by the Commission are indicated in column 6: the Commission has applied to each budget item the rule of minor flexibility (see column 5) based on the revised budget (column 3). The result is that the total expenditure accepted amounts to ECU 500 000. The definitive amount of Community assistance amounts to ECU 250 000 (ECU 500 000 x 50%), i.e. an amount equal to the maximum amount. Case 3 The project has generated revenue or the advances have earned financial interest. The reference amount to calculate the definitive amount of the ERDF contribution is the amount of expenditure accepted after applicati23on of the rule of minor flexibility (see column 6). The total amount of expenditure declares amounts to ECU 540 000, according to the breakdown by category indicated in column 4. After deduction of revenue and interest (ECU 20 000: variation a; ECU 60 000: variation b), the net total amount of eligible expenditure amounts to ECU 520 000 (variation a) or ECU 480 000 (variation b), as indicated at the bottom of column 4. The amounts of expenditure accepted by the Commission are indicated in column 6: the total amounts to ECU 531 000. The Commission has applied the rule of minor flexibility (see column 5) to each budget item based on the revised budget (column 3). • If this accepted amount (total column 6) is less than the grand total of column 4 (net eligible

expenditure after deduction of revenue and interest), then it is the total amount of expenditure accepted that is the reference for calculating the definitive amount of the Community contribution (see case no. 1 or case no. 2 above).

• In the case where the total amount of expenditure accepted is greater than the grand total of

column 4 (net eligible expenditure after deduction of revenue and interest), it is the grand total that is the reference:

variation a: there are ECU 20 000 in revenue and/or interest. Deducted from the eligible expenditure relating to the project (column 4), the net eligible expenditure amounts to ECU 520 000, an amount less than the amount of expenditure accepted (ECU 531 000 in column 6). Therefore, it is the amount of net eligible expenditure (ECU 520 000) that will be used to calculate the definitive amount of the ERDF contribution. In practice, the Community contribution will be limited to the maximum amount indicated in the grant letter, i.e. ECU 250 000.

23 A budget revision was approved (column 3), and the information regarding budget overruns for certain items was conveyed


variation b: there are ECU 60 000 in revenue or interest. Deducted from the eligible expenditure relating to the project (column 4), the net eligible expenditure amounts to ECU 480 000, an amount less than the amount of expenditure accepted (ECU 531 000 in column 6). In this case, it is the amount of net eligible expenditure (ECU 480 000) that will be used to calculate the ERDF contribution which will amount to ECU 240 000 (ECU 480 000 x 50%).

Case no.1 No revised budget but notification of overruns = application of minor flexibility

Categories of expenditure

(1)

Initial budget approved

(eligible expenditure)

(2)

Last budget approved


(3)

Eligible expenditure paid

(4)

Differences

4-3 = 5

(5)

Minor flexibility in relation to (2)

Expenditure accepted

(6)

1 80 000 135 000 + 50 000 + 20 000 100 000 2 240 000 180 000 - 60 000 180 000 3 50 000 29 000 - 21 000 29 000 4 35 000 30 000 - 5 000 30 000 5 25 000 66 000 + 41 000 + 20 000 45 000 6 60 000 36 000 - 24 000 36 000 7 10 000 34 000 + 24 000 + 20 000 20 000 8 0 20 000 + 20 000 9 0 0 0

TOTAL 500 000 530 000 + 30 000 + 60 000 450 000

ERDF contribution rate 50 %

ERDF amount 250 000 225 000


Case no.2 With revised budget but with notification of overruns = application of major and minor flexibility

Categories of expenditure

(1)

Initial budget approved


(2)

Last budget approved


(3)


(4)

Differences

4-3 = 5

(5)

Minor flexibility in relation to (3)


(6)

1 80 000 110 000 135 000 + 25 000 + 20 000 130 000 2 240 000 210 000 180 000 - 30 000 180 000 3 50 000 40 000 29 000 - 11 000 29 000 4 35 000 35 000 30 000 - 5 000 30 000 5 25 000 25 000 66 000 + 41 000 + 20 000 45 000 6 60 000 50 000 36 000 - 14 000 36 000 7 10 000 10 000 34 000 + 24 000 + 20 000 30 000 8 0 20 000 20 000 0 20 000 9 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 500 000 500 000 530 000 + 30 000 500 000


ERDF amount 250 000 250 000


Case no.3 With revised budget, with notification of overruns and with revenue Categories of expenditure

(1)

Initial budget approved (eligible

expenditure) (2)

Last budget approved (eligible

expenditure) (3)


(4)

Differences 4-3 = 5

(5)


(6)

Revenue, interest

(7)

1 80 000 120 000 145 000 + 25 000 140 000 2 240 000 215 000 180 000 - 35 000 180 000 3 50 000 40 000 29 000 - 11 000 29 000 4 35 000 35 000 30 000 - 5 000 30 000 5 25 000 60 000 66 000 + 6 000 66 000 6 60 000 60 000 36 000 - 24 000 36 000 7 10 000 10 000 34 000 + 24 000 30 000 8 0 20 000 20 000 0 20 000 9 0 0 0 0

TOTAL expenditure 500 000 540 000 540 000 + 30 000 531 000 20 000 (a) 60 000 (b)

Revenue and interest - 20 000 (a) - 60 000 (b)

GRAND TOTAL 520 000 (a) 480 000 (b)


ERDF amount 250 000 250 000 (a) 240 000 (b)


4.3.5. PROJECT ACCOUNTS

See annex 2 § 11.a The project leader must keep project accounts so that all expenditure (costs) and all revenue (receipts) can be posted and audited and detailed summary reports drawn up (certificate of expenditure, MTBC). In case of multi-regional projects, this obligation applies to each partner responsible for each of the regions: the overall project leader keeps the overall accounts (consolidated accounts) of the project for which he alone is accountable to the Commission - in addition to the accounts relating to his own region. A/ Observations on the choice of the accounting system The project accounting can be organised in the form of separate accounting or self-balancing cost accounting within the project leader’s accounting system. The project leader freely chooses the accounting system, including the system of reference (public accountancy, company accounting,...), provided that the system ensures complete coverage of the operations and transparency of the management.

-> separate accounting: accounting system completely distinct from the accounting method(s) used by the project leader(s), although designed in relation to the reference system of the project leader (public accountancy, company accounting). -> self-balancing cost accounting: accounting system which is part of a more general accounting system that enables obtaining a distinct position (individualised) of the project.

In most cases, the choice of a strictly separate accounting system is absolutely indispensable, and is certainly desirable,- therefore recommendable,- even if this leads to a dual treatment of accounts; in addition, it will remain necessary for the project operations to be posted in the usual accounts of the body managing the project. - this is probably the best way in accounting to deal with the expenditure and revenue that is not

invoiced and actually paid, or expenditure that will have to be differentiated between eligible and non-eligible portions (for amounts exceeding the ceiling amount of eligibility).

- it is the way to organise the project’s accounting system according to the dual approach of:

• the actual realisation of the revenue and costs, which is required for the management of the project itself and the budgetary monitoring (preparation of MTBC);

• the payment of expenditure, which is required for the financial report (preparation and

justification of certificate of expenditure).


- it is the most appropriate way to organise an accounting system that ensure perfect compatibility

with the nomenclature of the budget in 9 categories of expenditure according to which the certificate of expenditure and the MTBC must be presented, while this functional budgetary nomenclature differs on certain points from the nomenclatures and accounting procedures of legal (or regulatory) value, which can vary between Member States.

->example: - posting of leasing operations, - no distinction between investment operations and exploitation and function operations, - obligation to depreciate expenditure on equipment;…

- finally, this makes accounting for the actual duration of the project possible, without having to

ensure that it corresponds to the periods and deadlines for the legal (or regulatory) opening and closing of accounting years.

The Commission and TAO may request information regarding the accounting system chosen.

Advice : it is strongly recommended that the body or bodies responsible for the project open a separate bank account that is exclusively for the project (one bank account per partner region for multi-regional projects).

Specific information for multi-regional projects It is necessary that project accounts be organised and kept at the level of each partner region by each of the “regional” project leaders. The overall project leader, who alone is accountable to the Commission, is responsible for the overall project accounts. In particular, he is the only person responsible for drawing up certificates of expenditure. These overall project accounts must be organised according to certain rules on the consolidation of accounts: neutralisation of transfers of funds between partners, neutralisation of any reciprocal operations in summary reports,…

Warning : the transfers of funds between the overall project leader and his partners from other regions do not constitute by themselves an expenditure. This notably concerns repayments by the project leader to his partners, using the advances received under Community assistance.

-> example of reciprocal operation A project partner organises a seminar and bills the participation costs to all the participating partners of the project. These seminar costs are, on the one hand, revenue from the project for the organising partner, and on the other hand, expenditure for the participating partners. As a result, these costs cannot be considered eligible expenditure as they are "balanced" within the project by an equivalent corresponding item of revenue.


The overall project leader must receive copies of all supporting documents relating to region accounts. It is therefore the responsibility of each region to send these copies to the overall project leader, at the same time as the corresponding accounting statements. It is therefore up to the overall project leader, who alone is accountable to the Commission, to ensure that the financial and accounting statements drawn up by his partners are reliable and, in particular, that each partner applies all the obligations relating to the project’s management: observance of conditions of eligibility of expenditure (nature, amount, dates of commitment and payment,…), observance of the budget approved by the Commission,… The rules for the organisation and implementation of the project’s overall accounting system must be stipulated in the partnership agreement. B/ Implementation of the project’s accounting system The project’s accounting system ensures the posting of all expenditures (costs) and revenues (receipts) related to the project. Expenditures (costs) are posted in their entirety, even those elements which are not eligible; the distinction between eligible/non eligible expenditure, and, in the case of eligible expenditure, between the amount which is and is not eligible, must be clearly made in the accounting system. Revenues (receipts) are posted in their entirety: Community assistance, regional/national matching funding, including revenue in the form of a contribution of staff, various forms of revenue, even if they do not enter directly into consideration as matching funding (commercial receipts, reimbursement of costs, investment income, gains from currency exchange,…). C/ Certification of the projects’ accounts It is strongly recommended that project accounts be certified by a qualified individual: public accountant for bodies of an institutional nature, chartered accountant and/or statutory auditor for bodies with a private status. In the case of multi-regional projects, the overall project leader should ensure that the certification covers not only the overall project accounts but also the separate “regional” accounts kept by the partner regions. D/ Preservation of supporting documents Supporting documents (bookkeeping vouchers and other supporting elements: service contract, rental agreement, leasing contract,…) must be grouped together, archived and preserved for at least 3 years after the Commission’s last payment relating to the project, in the offices of the overall project leader.


In the case of multi-regional projects, these documents must be grouped together, archived and preserved for the same length of time in the offices of each regional project leader. The overall project leader must also preserve copies of all supporting documents which have been submitted to him by the leaders of each partner region so that they can be shown in the case of an audit.

4.3.6. CONTROL OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Controls may be undertaken by the State, the Commission and the Court of Auditors of the European Community, in order to ensure that funds are used in compliance with the project’s objectives, the provisions referred to in annex 2A and according to the principles of sound financial management on the one hand, and the reality of expenditure on the other. Control by the Commission

A control is primarily concerned with verifying that the project is being managed in compliance with the rules, obligations and conditions relating to the awarding of Community assistance. In this respect, a control is fundamentally different from a project evaluation which is primarily concerned with the effectiveness of the project results and the cost-efficiency ratio, even if these two operations are in some ways related. A control can be concerned with all or part of the components of the project’s management: control of eligible expenditure of a specific category, control of the project management system (reliability of the accounting system,...),... A control can be done in a number of ways:

- request for supporting documents (originals or certified copies), - information requested by way of questionnaire, - on-site control of accounting records.

ADDENDUM to Chapter IV Concerning the OWNERSHIP OF RESULTS of a pilot project In the case of the development of one or several "products", which may be marketable or distributed free of charge, in the framework of a pilot project, the project partners have ownership of this product or products according to the rules agreed between themselves. However, there is always, and without limitation in time, the obligation to state that the product was developed with the assistance of the European Union.


Information sheets in annex to chapter IV: 1- Posting revenue other than bank interest 2- On the notion of real costs 3- Allocation of indirect costs 4- National part-financing in kind 5- Bank guarantee costs 6- Leasing 7- Financial engineering: risk capital fund


Information sheet no.1

Eligibility of expenditure under the Structural Funds

POSTING REVENUE OTHER THAN BANK INTEREST

The revenue generated by the project cannot be posted as matching funding of the Community contribution. If, in the estimated budget, a portion of the anticipated resources comes from revenue, the ERDF intervention rate stated in the grant letter is calculated excluding revenue. During the project’s implementation, revenue which is directly or partly related to part-financed operations must be posted as indicated in point 11 of annex II to the grant letter. This revenue is taken into account to calculate the balance owed by the Commission. Two different situations are possible: I) Situation A All revenue is directly related to the operations part-financed. It must be allocated fully to the action, i.e. deducted from eligible expenditure. II) Situation B The revenue is only partly related to the operations part-financed. It must be deducted from eligible expenditure using an appropriate allocation key (proportional basis). The basis of assessment of final eligible expenditure from which revenue will be deducted to calculate the balance owed by the ERDF is the total amount of project-related expenditure paid which complies with the content of annex 2A to the grant letter (see example case no.4, page 42).




ON THE NOTION OF REAL COSTS General rule: The “actual expenditure incurred” must correspond to payments made by the final beneficiaries, supported by paid invoices or bookkeeping vouchers of equivalent probative value (point 5 of the Financial Implementation Provisions). 1. The eligibility of an expenditure must be determined in relation to its general

context, nature and amount and in light of the physical or temporal allocation of the good or service to the part-financed action.

2. Two cases are to be excluded: - more than two levels of sub-contracting or unjustified sub-contracting

providing no added value; - contracts with intermediaries/consultants where the amount to be paid is

expressed in percentage of the amount part-financed. 3. “Bookkeeping vouchers of equivalent probative value” are understood to mean,

in the case where the issuing of an invoice is not necessary according to national fiscal and accounting rules, any document submitted to justify that the accounting entry is a faithful image of reality and complies with the accounting law in force.

Specifications by Fund: • ESF: i) The calculated costs, which are acceptable when the programmes/measures are

approved in the framework of a proposed budget, must reflect real costs that should be verifiable according to a controllable method at the time of the final statement of expenditure.

ii) In compliance with what is stipulated in information sheet no.2, certain invoices still

outstanding when the annual tranche is closed may be posted under this tranche, provided they are paid before the filing of the application for final payment by the Member State (see information sheet no.2, ESF specification).

iii) In compliance with points 13 and following of the financial implementation

provisions, at the stage of advances, “the proof of actual expenditure incurred may be based on appropriate information from the intervention monitoring system. The Member State must also certify that the action is progressing according to schedule”.


• EAGGF ‘Guidance’ section: In order to establish the cost of certain work done for one’s own account and which is part of the part-financed investments, Member States may set legal scales for unit prices. These scales exempt the final beneficiary from the obligation of presenting an invoice for this work. Sources: Financial regulation (Article 2) ESF regulation (Article 21)




ALLOCATION OF INDIRECT COSTS General rule: Indirect costs must be allocated in an equitable manner, in compliance with generally accepted accounting rules. As an example, in the framework of the training actions part-financed by the ESF, indirect costs should be allocated on the basis of a proportional distribution equivalent to full-time training which is obtained by the ratio of the number of hours/trainees part-financed to the number of hours/trainees taught in total by the training organisation. Sources Financial regulation (Article 2) ESF regulation (Article 2.1)




NATIONAL PART-FINANCING IN KIND

General rule: 1. The regulation of the Structural Funds (Article 21§1 of the coordinating

regulation) and the Financial Implementation Provisions (point 5) stipulate that the payment of Community assistance must refer to actual expenditure incurred and that this expenditure must correspond to payments by the final beneficiaries that are supported by paid invoices or bookkeeping vouchers of equivalent probative value.

2. Under certain conditions, a contribution in kind may be considered eligible for

national part-financing (public and private) if it is in the form of: - land, fixed assets in part or in whole, durable capital goods; - raw materials; - voluntary, unpaid work provided by a private person (natural or legal). 3. Conditions to be observed: i) The contribution in kind must be approved beforehand by the public body

responsible for the measure. ii) This contribution must comply with the general provisions of eligibility, and

particularly those related to the purchase of land and buildings, public administration expenses.

iii) The amount declared by the final beneficiary for contributions in kind must be

evaluated and certified either on the basis of official scales established by an independent authority or by an independent third professional;

iv) The ceiling on Community assistance is set at the level of actual expenditure

incurred (i.e. the net total eligible cost of the contributions in kind). Example: In the case of a Community part-financing rate of 50%, there is a total

eligible cost of 100 with only 40 being expenditure actually incurred and 60 being contributions in kind. Community assistance, which is theoretically 50 (50% x 100) has a ceiling in this case of 40.

v) The cost of private voluntary work must be evaluated in compliance with national

rules on the calculation of the hourly, daily or weekly cost of labour (e.g. approved legal scales) if such rules exist.

N.B.: The private contribution in kind is excluded in the framework of financial engineering (guarantee fund and risk capital fund).


Specification by Fund: • EAGGF Guidance section The total costs of a part-financed project may include as eligible expenditure, under the conditions of evaluation and control stated above, the cost of labour of a self-employed farmer evaluated according to the legal scales in force in the Member State (see information sheet “On the notion of real costs”). When this cost is valued according to the legal scales set and approved by the Member State, the cost of labour of the self-employed farmer is considered as an actual expenditure incurred that is supported by a bookkeeping voucher of equivalent probative value; it is therefore eligible under Community assistance. • ESF In the framework of the training actions part-financed by the ESF, the contribution in kind may also be in the form of educational material. Sources: Coordinating regulation (Article 21) Framework regulation (Article 13.3) Answer from Mrs Wulf-Mathies to the parliamentary question QE no.3178/95, OJEC C 109 of 15/04/96




BANK GUARANTEE EXPENSES General rule: The expenses related to a bank guarantee are not eligible for part-financing in the situations envisaged below, i.e.: - for all forms of intervention (OP, SPD, CIP, etc.) except global subsidies, and - for any type of risk to be insured by any project leader whosoever (e.g. performance

bond or any other bank guarantee required of a prime contractor for the submission of a tender or the performance of a project) and regardless of the form of intervention considered.

Exception: Case of global subsidies Bank guarantee expenses are eligible solely in the framework of global subsidies. In this case, eligibility is limited to bank guarantee expenses or any other insurance that the intermediary appointed by the Member State may take out to cover the risk of abuse or negligence in the use of Community funds that are not allocated to him (in compliance with the provisions of Article 23.1 indent three of the coordinating regulation). Specification CIP LEADER: In the framework of the Community Initiative Programme LEADER, Local Action Groups (LAG), which are intermediary managers approved by the appointed intermediary, may be obliged to take out letters of bank guarantee. The costs resulting strictly from these letters of bank guarantee presented by the LAG (intermediary bodies) are considered eligible for part-financing. Case of pilot projects: In the case where the Commission requires letters of bank guarantee in addition to the requirements stipulated in Community legislation, the costs resulting strictly from these letters of bank guarantee are eligible. These expenses are ineligible in all other cases.


Sources: Coordinating regulation (Article 23.1. indent three) Declaration of the Commission regarding Article 21.3 of Regulation no. 4253/88 as amended by Regulation no. 2082/93, entered in the minutes of adoption by the Council of Regulation no. 2082/93 of 20 July 1993




LEASING General rule: A leasing operation is eligible under the conditions defined below(1). Necessary conditions of eligibility A. Direct leasing (the leasing company, or lessor, is the primary beneficiary of Community assistance, allocated on the basis of the goods that it purchases and which are the subject of the leasing agreements): 1. The leasing agreements benefiting from the intervention must contain a

repurchase clause or provide for a period of leasing corresponding to the useful life of the good which is the subject of the agreement.

In the case of an early end to the agreement that was not approved by the competent authorities, the lessor undertakes to reimburse the competent national authorities (for the account of the Fund concerned) the part of the Community subsidy corresponding to the remaining leasing period.

2. The purchase of the good by the leasing company, supported by a paid invoice or

a bookkeeping voucher of equivalent probative value, constitutes the expenditure eligible for part-financing. The Community assistance is paid to the lessor who is responsible for passing on the Community assistance to the beneficiary of the leasing agreement (lessee).

3. The maximum eligible amount for Community part-financing must not exceed

the net market value of the leased good. This limit is set in order to exclude the part-financing of ineligible expenditure related to the leasing agreement (taxes, interest, costs of refinancing, administrative expenses of the leasing company, insurance costs, etc.). As a result, the agreement must break the rent down into two parts, on the one hand the amount corresponding to the net purchase and on the other hand the expenses resulting from the above-mentioned operation.


4. Community assistance paid to the leasing company must be used in full by the beneficiary of the leasing agreement by way of a uniform reduction of the amount of all the corresponding rents and interest over the leasing period.

B. Indirect leasing (the lessee of a leasing agreement is the beneficiary of the Community assistance): 1. The leasing agreements benefiting from the intervention must contain a repurchase

clause or provide for a period of leasing corresponding to the useful life of the good which is the subject of the agreement.

2. The rent paid by the lessee to the lessor (the leasing company), supported by a paid

invoice or a bookkeeping voucher of equivalent probative value, constitutes the expenditure eligible for part-financing.

The Community assistance is paid to the lessee on the basis of each rent actually paid or in a single payment on the basis of the present value amount of the rents corresponding to the period of eligibility if this present value amount corresponds to actual incurred expenditure borne by the final beneficiary at the beginning of the operation.

3. If the total duration of the leasing agreement exceeds the duration of the Community

intervention, only the rents paid by the lessee up to the closure of the intervention (cut-off date for the consideration of payments) are eligible. This condition results from the fact that only real costs actually incurred are eligible for part-financing whereas expenditure to be incurred in the future (i.e. future rents) is ineligible. In order to ensure that the duration of the leasing agreement better coincides with the period of intervention, the initial price of the good could be lowered at the beginning of the period by a payment eligible for part-financing.

4. The maximum amount eligible for Community part-financing must not exceed the

net market value of the leased good. This limit is set in order to exclude the part-financing of ineligible expenditure related to the leasing agreement (taxes, interest, costs of refinancing, administrative expenses of the leasing company, insurance costs, etc.). As a result, the agreement must break the rent down into two parts, on the one hand the amount corresponding to the net purchase and on the other hand the above-mentioned expenses derived from the operation.

Specification by Fund: • ESF i) The ESF does not part-finance the purchase of goods but only their leasing or their

depreciation for the duration of the action (see information sheet no 6 “Depreciation”). The condition of the purchase clause is therefore not compulsory for this Fund, and in any event the ESF only part-finances part of the rents incurred by the beneficiary of the leasing agreement, under operational leasing, in proportion in time to the duration of the training action or any other eligible action.


ii) In addition, in order to ensure a good cost-efficiency ratio, there will be verification to

see whether the cost borne by the final beneficiary for the leasing is not greater than what the hiring of the same equipment would have cost, provided the possibility to hire is offered. If it is greater, the additional cost generated by leasing the equipment instead of simply hiring it will be deducted from eligible expenditure.

• ERDF The endogenous development part-financed by the ERDF enables the acquisition, through leasing, of goods necessary for the creation and operation of an enterprise offering services to SMEs. The specification given above for the ESF also applies for current expenditure financed under this. • Case of pilot projects These actions being by nature of short duration, the specification given above for the ESF in i) and ii) also applies to pilot projects and innovative actions, and this for the three Structural Funds and the FIFG. Sources: Detailed guidelines on the treatment of leasing in the framework of Community financial instruments for structural ends. OJEC No. C 250 of 14.09.1993


Information sheet no. 7


FINANCIAL ENGINEERING: RISK CAPITAL FUND General rule: The Structural Funds may part-finance the participation of Member States in the creation or reinforcement of risk capital funds (hereafter referred to as RCF). The following general principles should apply in the case of part-financing financial engineering measures, notably RCF: i) The Community’s involvement in financial engineering techniques should be limited,

and in any event should avoid substituting or overlapping the financial system; unless it was shown that this financial system is unsuitable for the development needs of the region in question.

ii) The Community part-finances the public contribution to the authorised capital of the

fund; it does not participate in the fund’s management or contribute to its management expenses. Only the Member State and its private or public partners, and not the Commission, constitute the participants / shareholders of these funds.

iii) The Community part-financing rate must take into account the limitations imposed in

compliance with Article 17(3), second indent of Council Regulation no. 4253/88 as amended by Regulation no. 2082/93.

iv) Principle of public-private partnership: it is preferable that the RCF include

shareholders from both the public sector and private sector, with a substantial contribution from the private sector (e.g. 30% of the fund’s capital) in order to obtain a leverage effect.

v) When an exception to the preceding principle concerns the absence of national public

financing, the Member State must retain subsidiary responsibility in the framework of the partnership agreed in the Structural Funds (see Article 23 of the coordinating regulation).

vi) These RCFs must be managed according to the rules and practices that exist each time

on the markets considered. vii) The operating mechanisms of such funds must be adapted to the financial

implementation provisions of the interventions, particularly with regard to the notion of commitment and expenditure incurred and the closure of the intervention.


viii) The RCFs intervene in financial and economically viable enterprises. Their interventions may not cover operations that simply refinance the liabilities of the enterprises.

ix) The activities of the RCF are presented in a report to be submitted per calendar year

to the Commission after the opinion of the Monitoring Committee. x) The Commission and the European Court of Auditors have a right of control over

the activities of the RCFs, including the right to conduct or have conducted audits in the enterprises where the RCF intervened.

xi) The RCFs must be established for an appropriate time period that is compatible with

the objectives pursued. Their minimum duration is the duration of the form of intervention.

xii) Any exception to the principles agreed in this information sheet must be submitted

case by case for the approval of the Commission’s services. [N.B. the provisions of point :) are automatically considered fulfilled when the Commission (DG IV) has given its approval to the compliance of the State aid arrangements with Article 92.3 of the Treaty]


CHAPTER V

V. PROGRAMME COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION

5.1. THE OBJECTIVES OF COORDINATION (EXCHANGES OF EXPERIENCES, COMPARISON AND TRANSFERS OF KNOW-HOW, POOLING OF ACTIONS AND PROJECTS, DEFINITION OF METHODS AND CONDITIONS OF TRANSFERABILITY)

PUTTING PARTNERSHIP ACTIONS IN THE SERVICE OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

5.1.1. NETWORKS AND ACTIONS OF COOPERATION

A European network of the human kind is a transnational structure organised with the purpose of exchanging ideas, experiences, means, tools.

These exchanges enable :

- comparing different approaches, different methods

- breaking isolation and relativizing difficulties

- highlighting strong points and offsetting weak points

- gaining time by benefiting from other experiences

- proposing and disseminating models

- creating poles of expertise

- innovating at the level of an area

- initiating transnational cooperation by benefiting in advance from conditions that are decisive

for the success of a cooperation project: becoming acquainted, having a common approach

and objectives.


Transnational or regional cooperation is a project of actions carried out to achieve specific objectives.

To implement a cooperation project, several actors combine their expertise to implement one or several actions defined together according to the specific needs of each partner’s mission or undertaking. This merging of expertise is based on the conviction that a joint action will make it possible to better satisfy the objectives of the mission defined, to improve the performances of the bodies involved, to provide added value or a new development to past achievements. Contrary to the network whose mission is a general one of exchanges, cooperation must lead to a specific joint action limited in time. Networks and cooperation projects are part of regional development instruments One must never lose sight of the fact that the key point is to improve the effectiveness of the local action and/or the development of the areas concerned through clearly targeted joint actions. The network is not a must in order to initiate cooperation. However, it may be easier to arrive at cooperation through the network, particularly given the timeframe that must be observed for preparing and implementing a project. Conversely, a successful cooperation project carried out between a few partners may lead to the establishment of a network in order to be sustainable.

5.1.2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR A PARTNERSHIP ACTION (NETWORK AND COOPERATION) IN THE SERVICE OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Complementarity and transferability In a regional or transnational cooperation project, the partners choose one another based on the complementarities that they can develop and the added value that these complementarities may confer on the project that they are implementing. These complementarities may be geographical, cultural, economic, of human resources and are to generate transfers of experiences and expertise. The diversity of geographical situations is interesting and may constitute an economic asset. Working together in a partnership makes it possible to achieve economies of scale or to have greater weight on the market.


Complementarity, however, also has risks for the project :

- the pull-out of a partner can jeopardise the entire project; - refusal by a regional authority to support the programme of one of the partners involved in a

project initiated in the framework of European programmes can threaten the project’s feasibility and success for all the partners.

• Solidarity The European project is fundamentally a project of solidarity; it is in this vision that regional cooperation projects are to be seen, whether or not transnational. A regional or transnational partnership action may lead “competing” operators to work together: to want to cooperate is to decide that the advantages of working in partnership are greater than those of working in competition. • Cooperation, a vehicle of added value A project conducted in cooperation, be it a local or transnational partnership, must enable the project operators to implement the planned actions in a different way that is better than if they were acting alone. In the discussion phase which precedes the decision to engage in cooperation, but also at the beginning of the implementation of a partnership project, it is fundamental that the impact and added value that the cooperation may bring to the project be defined and respecified.

5.1.3. BEYOND THE BINDING ASPECTS OR THE FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE TO BE GAINED, INVOLVEMENT IN A COOPERATION NETWORK, AND EVEN MORE SO IN A PARTNERSHIP PROJECT, REQUIRES TREMENDOUS MOTIVATION

The effort to be made in terms of human resources and in financial terms goes beyond the obligation or financial benefits related to European part-financing of the project. Anyone who has worked in a European regional cooperation project can testify to the importance of becoming involved with personal motivation that transcends the immediate financial advantages linked to part-financing. This motivation and clear vision of the added value of working in partnership often condition the continuation of the partnership beyond the period of European part-financing and the sustainability of the cooperation.


5.2. THEMATIC SEMINARS

The primary aim of thematic seminars scheduled in 1996 and early 1997 will be to launch the innovative actions of Article 10. In 1997, other seminars are planned that will focus more on the initial results, the experiences of project leaders and that will deal in particular with the specific problems of the various topics examined. The six actions of the four main areas of innovative actions of Article 10 - New Sources of Jobs, Economic Cooperation of a Cultural Vocation, Information Society, Innovation and Transfers of Technology - will be dealt with on several occasions in 1996 and 1997 at seminars that will bring together the project leaders of innovative actions under Article 10. These seminars are, unless otherwise planned, exclusively reserved for project leaders and members of the EI 2000 consortium, representatives of the European Commission’s services and experts mandated by the Commission to coordinate the seminars. The objectives of the seminars held in 1996 and early 1997 may be summed up in the following manner:

- promote contacts between the project leaders selected, the European Commission and the TAO

- disseminate technical information - provide methodological tools - lay the groundwork for a network and organise an initial exchange of experiences between

members. To do this, the seminar will focus on:

- examining the provisions for applying the Guide of the project leader - offering a methodology for project implementation and management - providing information on the network coordination mechanism - discussing the participants’ expectations of the network - promoting exchanges of experiences and points of view on the methods to conduct, monitor

and evaluate projects.


5.3. ANNUAL CONFERENCE

At the request of the European Commission’s services, an annual conference to “sum up” and evaluate the experiences acquired in the framework of innovative actions under Article 10 may be organised in 1997. It will enable:

- reviewing the actions undertaken - highlighting sound practices and successful experiences - favouring the transfer of experiences gained from pilot projects to a target public in order to

satisfy the objectives of transferability and creation of a European innovation culture.

5.4. ELECTRONIC FORUM

An Internet site “Innovative Actions under Article 10” will be set up at the beginning of 1997. Easily accessible via the Internet (or via other similar systems, Compuserve, etc.), the site aims to be a forum of information and exchange on innovative actions under Article 10. Project leaders will find permanently updated information on Article 10 (reference texts, documents, etc.) and will have an opportunity to participate in forums where project leaders can discuss and exchange their experiences and expectations.

ORGANISATION OF SITE • Home page • Menu • Article 10: presentation outline • New Sources of Jobs

- text of invitation to tender - info pack - list of projects selected - summaries by project in the form of information sheets

• Economic Cooperation of a Cultural Vocation

- text of invitation to tender - info pack - list of projects selected - summaries by project in the form of information sheets

• The Information Society

- texts of invitations to tender - info pack - list of projects selected - summaries by project in the form of information sheets


• Transfers of New Technology

- texts of invitations to tender - info pack - list of projects selected - summaries by project in the form of information sheets

• questions/answers - discussion forum • forms • library/publications • connections with other sites (Europa, DG XVI, Rural Europe...) • main elements of project management guide Proposed architecture of “Innovative Actions under Article 10” site

Home pagel

________ Menu ________ Art. 10

Theme 1 ________ - text invitation to tender - info pack Theme 2 - list of projects - summaries Theme 3 Theme 4 Page DB search ACCESS Forum Forms Lib./Pub. Links


• General objective To create a place for information and exchanges on innovative actions under Article 10. To introduce a dynamic use of new information technologies in support of local development. To favour contacts between project leaders and in so doing contribute to the network effect. To widen the perspectives of Article 10 project leaders by encouraging them to enter in contact with other local development experiences on other sites connected to the Article 10 site. • Target public As a matter of priority, project holders of “innovative actions under Article 10”. Because of open access to the site(no password), the site can be consulted by others. The site will nonetheless be freely accessible on the Internet to all bodies or individuals interested in regional development. • Features The first five selections on the menu have an essentially informative role. The basic texts of the various calls for proposals will be placed there as will reference documents (info packages). In contrast, the inclusion of lists of projects selected in each of the various themes also aims to foster exchanges and contact between project holders. Searches by work sub-theme, geographical area, partner, etc. will be possible via a search page connected to the database of the projects set up by the TAO.

Questions/answers - Forum - objective

• create a place of expression and question-asking for project holders; the establishment of thematic forums is also possible;

• foster the exchange of ideas and experiences on the innovative actions under Article 10 and more broadly on local development projects;

• systematise the answers to frequently asked questions by introducing FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).


- operation

• site open to all project holders; • site coordinated by EI 2000 (AEIDL); coordination (moderation) consists in the

creation/management of FAQs, the stimulating of debates, the conveyance of interesting ideas to the other project holders, etc.

Forms - objectives

• provide project holders with the technical documents that they need for the sound management of their projects (reporting, registrations in seminars, etc.).

- operation

• the technical documents published, for example the project leader guide, or the project monitoring guide, will be placed there.

Publications - objectives

• enable “on line” access to publications: newsletters, project leader guide, etc. - operation

• publications will be uploaded there. • Technical features - languages English and French - user-friendly The architecture proposed makes information searches easy, even for novices.

5.5. PUBLICATION OF COMMUNICATION DOCUMENTS

In addition to the information tools described above, network coordinating documents providing information on innovative actions under Article 10 will be published. - a quarterly newsletter will be published and distributed to a very large public, going beyond Article 10 project holders. A genuine network coordinating tool, this newsletter will provide information on the state of progress of projects, report on experiences in the framework of the projects selected, open its “partnership” column to organisations in search of partners for cooperation projects and also provide a summary of the most recent European policy decisions of concern to project holders of “innovative actions under Article 10”.


- a guide on the pilot projects selected will include, in the form of information sheets, the identity and features (partnership, objectives, working theme...) of each of the projects selected under Article 10. This project “directory” will provide an overview of the projects selected and constitute a fine source of good practices and potential partners. - a guide on completed pilot projects will aim to analyse the most significant projects completed: in terms of methodology, transferability, exchanges of expertise... This capitalisation of information and achievements of projects of “innovative actions under Article 10” will contribute to the reflection on the development of regional policies.


SUMMARY TABLE TITLE OBJECTIVE FREQUENCY THEMATIC SEMINAR

CAPITALISATION EXCHANGE, REFLECTION

ONCE A YEAR PER THEME

NEWSLETTER

INFORMATION GOOD PRACTICES PARTNERSHIPS

QUARTERLY

GUIDE ON PILOT PROJECTS SELECTED

DIRECTORY OVERVIEW

BEGINNING 1997

GUIDE ON PROJECTS COMPLETED

METHODOLOGY SUCCESS STORIES

END 1997 OR LATER

INTERNET SITE INFORMATION DISCUSSIONS REFLECTION

1997


ANNEX

ORGANISATION OF THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE EUROPE INNOVATION 2000

EI 2000 is an association operating under Belgian law based in Brussels. It is presided over by Jacques BARDOUIN, Vice President of MERIDIANA. A board of directors is comprised of representatives of consultancy firms and representatives of local authorities. a) The management organisations that are members of the consortium and the persons involved in EI 2000

are: AEIDL: Françoise DUBRUILLE, Main functions: Programme communication, coordination. MERIDIANA: Jacques BARDOUIN, Serge DEMAILLY, Claire GRAPELOUX, Teresa MASCARENHAS, Alasdair REID: Main functions: Presidency and relations with the Commission, management of NSJ theme, management of experts, management control, administration, management of transfer of technologies theme LANCASHIRE ENTERPRISES: Patrick BERRY, Véronique DAUSSY, Roisin NI CHONCHUIR Main functions: Transversal analyses, participation in management of “Information Society, Transfer of Technologies and New Sources of Jobs” themes FERE CONSULTANTS: François de LAVERGNE, Michel GAULT, Isabelle REBOUR Main functions: General coordination - coordination of programme and projects Technical secretariat, management of Culture theme, technical activity reports, information technology, legal assistance EI 2000 (directly) Sofia CORAYANNAKIS: management of information society theme. b) The function of the regional and local authorities which are members of the association is to provide

their expertise to support the mechanisms for the discussion, exchange and capitalisation of experiences, notably by hosting thematic seminars locally. They also serve as information relays whenever necessary.


These organisations are: - REGIONAL COUNCIL OF TAMPERE (FINLAND) - TOWN OF ÖSTERSUND (SWEDEN) - CITY OF BARCELONA (SPAIN) -OMAGH DISTRICT COUNCIL (UNITED KINGDOM - NORTHERN IRELAND) - REGION-BRUXELLES-CAPITALE (BELGIUM) - PREFECTURE OF THESSALONIKI (GREECE) - LAND OF BRANDENBURG (GERMANY) - LAND OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA (GERMANY) - POITOU CHARENTES EUROPE ASSOCIATION (FRANCE) - TECLA ASSOCIATION (ITALY) - INDE (PORTUGAL)

PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT · practical guide for project management final version...

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