Multi-annual Cooperation projects & Cultural policy analysis - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Thematic workshop Strand 1.1 and 3.2: Multi-annual Cooperation projects & Cultural policy analysis (2013)

Fiona DEUSS FRANDI and Chiara PUCCI

Agenda:

• Project life-cycle
• Grant agreement
• Roles: coordinator, beneficiaries, associate partner
• Budget, eligibility of costs, third country costs
• Bank account, financial transfers, exchange rates,

subcontracting

• Amendments
• Interim/Final report, publicity obligations
• Checks and audits

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Project life cycle

Audit Evaluation & dissemination of results Monitoring & support

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Grant Agreement

• Two main parts (Special conditions and Annexes):

Multi-beneficiary Grant Agreement Annex I General Conditions Annex II Estimated budget of the action Annex III Model financial statement Annex IV Model technical report Annex V Description of the action Annex VI Guidance notes – Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report – Type II Annex VII Mandates provided to the coordinator by the other beneficiaries

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Grant Agreement

• Multi-beneficiaries
• Special conditions > Annex I General conditions > other

Annexes

• Grant agreement (including annexes) = legally binding

for all signatories (beneficiaries & the Agency)

• Flexibility (changes) possible but inform the Agency in

due time (address of one of the beneficiaries, legal representatives,

contact persons, one of the beneficiaries, the budget, the work programme)

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Grant Agreement (Art. I.1 – I.2)

By signing the Agreement beneficiaries legally commit themselves to (Article I.1):

• implement the action as described in Annex V
• do everything in their power to implement the described

action

• act on their own responsibility

Duration (Article I.2):

• Start and end date = eligibility period for expenses

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Project's budget (Art. I.3)

Total cost vs. eligible cost

• Max. EU grant as % of total eligible costs

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Beneficiaries' general obligations and role

(General conditions II.1.1)

• Be jointly responsible for caring out the action
• Be responsible for complying with any legal obligation

Shall agree between themselves on:

• the proper implementation of the action,
• the budget and its division

Cooperation agreement

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Cooperation agreement

Not annexed to the grant agreement A legal document signed by all beneficiaries (describing

the tasks, roles and financial contribution of each partner, etc.)

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You can update it anytime to include the grant agreement rules (ask for our advice)

Cooperation agreement

We advise you to include the following provisions:

• a clear description of the objectives of the project, and of the

activities that will be implemented in order to achieve these

• bjectives
• a clear description of the role, obligations and responsibilities of the

coordinator and each of the co-organisers and third country partner

• the budgetary and financial framework of the project, including the

financial contributions of each co-organiser

• a clear description of payment modalities and how the EU grant will

be distributed between partners

• legal aspects such as duration of the agreement, liability, breach of

contract, termination of the agreement, intellectual property, governing law and dispute resolution

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Coordinator’s general obligations and role

(General conditions II.1.3)

a) monitor that the action is implemented (as per grant agreement) b) be the intermediary for all communications between the beneficiaries & the Agency

i. inform the Agency of any change ii. supply all required document/info to the Agency

c) make arrangements for the bank guarantee (if required) d) establish the payment request on behalf of the beneficiaries

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Coordinator’s general obligations and role

(General conditions II.1.3)

e) ensure that the beneficiaries receive their part of the EU grant without unjustified delay (proof to include in the final report) f) provide all the necessary documents in the event of audits, checks or evaluations g) transfer to the other beneficiaries any document related to the action (e.g. copy of the signed grant agreement)

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Other beneficiaries' general obligations and role (General conditions II.1. 2)

a) inform the coordinator immediately of any event liable to substantially affect/delay implementation of the action b) inform the coordinator of any change concerning its

• rganisation (legal, financial, technical)

c) provide the coordinator in due time with:

i. all data needed to report to the Agency, ii. all documents in the event of audits, checks or evaluations iii. any other information requested by the Agency

Associate partners

• participate to the implementation of a project (but not to the

extent and level of participation of the other beneficiaries)

• contribute to the project’s outcomes/activities.
• their expenditure is not eligible, unless:
• directly paid or
• refunded by coordinator or other beneficiaries
• if they provide services  subcontracting!

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Associate partners – Global invoice

• their financial contribution is not mandatory
• their costs for the project  global invoice  to one of

the beneficiaries (coordinator or other beneficiaries) in charge of the related activity(ies)

• which information and documents are required?
• The detail of activities / services carried out
• Copy of all his underlying invoices
• Evidence/proof of payments

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Associate partners

• List of invoices: not correct non-eligible
• Correct

16 Associated partners Associated partners

Bank account (Art. I.5)

• the Agency will make all payments to the coordinator’s

account

• payments made to the other beneficiaries  made

through coordinator's account (Art. I.5)

• share of EU grant per beneficiaries to be mentioned in the

interim/final report (technical and financial)

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Financial transfers (General conditions – II.I.3(e) )

Transfer to co-organisers of their part of EU grant In annex III:

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Financial transfers: costs (General conditions – II.19.2-4)

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• are eligible:
• costs of requested financial guarantee
• are not eligible:
• interest owed
• exchange losses
• costs of transfers from the Agency charged by the

bank of a beneficiary

Exchange rate (Art. I.10.3)

• financial reports in Euro!
• exchange rates available here:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm?fuseaction=home&SearchField=&Peri

• d=2003-9&Delim=,&Language=en
• use the exchange rate EUR/currency

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Exchange rate

Two possible situations:

• 1. You are from the Euro zone and incurred a cost in

another currency:

– Use the exchange rate applied to the payment by the bank and recorded in your accountancy – Tick the box ‘Reimbursed by a partner from the EURO area’

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Exchange rate

• 2. You are from outside the Euro zone and incurred a

cost in another currency than Euro:

Which monthly rate to use (for all invoices) for strand 1.1?

• For interim reports  month of submission of interim report
• For the final report  month used in your last interim

report

For strand 3.2: Projects between 13 and 24 months  month after the action's midterm

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Subcontracting (Art I.10.2 + general conditions II.9-10)

Is: 'any service provided, in return for payment, by an external body, organisation or individual (including an associate partner) to the beneficiaries' is not:

• artist fees, fees for speakers
• services provided by a public body
• travel, local transport, subsistence
• purchase of equipment (depreciation only)

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Subcontracting (Art I.10.2 + general conditions II.9-10)

• limited to 50% of the total direct eligible costs

(chapters 1+2+3+4)

• only supporting activities! The beneficiaries remain

legally & in practice responsible for the project management

• tendering procedures  follow national rules regarding

procurement (amount exceeding 60.000 €)

• pay extreme attention to avoid conflict of interest!

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Subcontracting – Natural persons (Art I.10.2)

Costs of natural person (e.g. freelancers) will be assimilated to staff costs if:

• the person works under the instructions of a

beneficiary and he/she is in his premises

• the result of his/her work belongs to beneficiary
• costs similar to the ones of staff member

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Subcontracting

list of invoices  indicate if the expense relates to subcontracting or not

Annex III

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Eligible costs (general conditions Art. II.19)

To be eligible, costs must be:

• incurred by one of the beneficiaries
• related to an activity which has taken place during the eligibility

period (exception  Report on Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report )

• foreseen in the estimated budget (Annex II)
• identifiable and verifiable (recorded in the accounting records)
• Compliant with applicable tax and social legislation requirements
• reasonable and justified, compliant with sound financial

management

• paid (when the final report is submitted)

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Staff costs:

– Max 20% of other direct costs (i.e. chapters 1 + 2 + 3) – List of invoices  name of the staff members involved

Supporting documents:

• the contract/secondment decision
• job description,
• salary slips,
• timesheets (covering the person’s complete time-involvement

with the organisation)

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Staff costs: timesheets

• full name employee
• title of the project or grant agreement number
• description of the daily activities performed
• all activities and all hours worked by the employee
• full name of a supervisor (person in charge of the project)
• Signature by the employee and his/her supervisor + date

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Model timesheet

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Travel costs

– Travel by plane  economy class ticket – Travel by train  first class ticket allowed – Travel by car  km allowance according to national rules (no fuel costs!). To be justified in the final technical report – If duly justified, taxi costs (daily allowance or real costs)

Justification: - airline tickets or travel agent invoices

• boarding passes or bus/train tickets
• taxi receipts

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Travel costs

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Project Coordinators meeting

1

30/06/2013 01/07/2013 02/07/2013

TGEVVC BE BRUSSELS AT WIEN CHIARA PUCCI 1

Travel costs

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the place of departure and arrival: city + country, TOTAL the name(s) and number of the person(s), the name of the activity, the purpose of the travel, Net amount VAT 0,00 0,00 0,00

EURO - € exchange rate - see art. I.11.1 of the agreement (For EUR, put "1") PAID

Currency (ISO code)

NET amount VAT

(only if not able to recover) National/€

NET amount VAT

(only if not able to recover) Date of payment (dd/mm/yyyy)

Indicate wheter Yes

• r No a cost

was incurred in

• r in relation

to a third country

the means of travel and company used (plane, train, car, bus) and the number of km fin case a car is used (0.22 Euro/km are reimbursed)

Amount in EURO - €

Tick only in case the invoice was issued in another currency than the Euro and was paid in another currency then the currency used in the invoice

TOTAL THIRD COUNTRIES COSTS

Amount in national currency (also in EURO) Means of travel (air, train, car, bus) & transport company or travel agency used SCNBE - TRAIN EUR 150,00 0,00 1,00000 150,00 0,00 30/06/2013 NO

Subsistence costs

Daily allowances can be paid: – on the basis of real costs – on the basis of a flat-rate AND with proof of the payment

Justification: - real costs: invoices of hotel/restaurants, etc.

• flat rate: details of the per diems claimed
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Subsistence costs

Project Coordinators meeting

1

30/06/2013 01/07/2013 02/07/2013

TGEVVC AT WIEN CHIARA PUCCI 1 2

Subsistence costs

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AABBCC EUR 250 0,00 1,00000 250,00 02/07/2013 NO

Cost of equipment:

Only the depreciation is eligible, calculated as follows:

• Duration of the activity
• % of the actual use
• National rules (To be justified in the technical report)

Example: Duration = 2 years (01/05/2013 – 30/04/2015) Purchase of a camera on 01/11/2013 for a price of 5.000 EUR Depreciation rule = 20% per annum (= 1.000 EUR for 12 months) 18 months are eligible = 5.000 * 20% *1.5 = 1.500 EUR as eligible cost

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Indirect costs (Art. I.3 + general conditions II.19.3)

• max 7% of the total direct costs (chapters 1 + 2 + 3 + 4)

and maximum 180.000,00 EUR (for strand 1.1)

• in connection with the action (i.e. rent, electricity, gas...)
• no need to be detailed in the list of invoices but identified

in your accounting system

• non eligible if the beneficiaries receive an EU
• perating grant for the same period

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V.A.T. (General conditions II.19.2h)

• eligible cost if you cannot recover it
• list of invoices: split the cost between net amount and V.A.T.
• nly if you are not able to recover it.
• in annex III and technical report: indicate if the organisation

is able or not to recover V.A.T.

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Contribution in kind (General conditions II.19.4)

• Volunteering
• Donation
• Rent of a building, …

= ineligible

• contribution by a third party, not paid by the coordinator or one of

the beneficiaries

• it is not recorded under one of the beneficiaries’ accountancy

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Double financing

Each individual action is entitled to receive one grant from the budget of the European Union

• In the annex III:

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Third countries costs

• maximum 15% of the total eligible costs
• foreseen in the estimated budget (if not foreseen 

amendment)

• indicate if the expense relates to a third country cost or not

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Annex III

Amendments to the Grant agreement

(general conditions II.12)

WHY?

to give you some flexibility against unpredictable changes during the project's lifetime but  cannot change the substance of the selected project  any changes to the grant agreement that have not been officially approved by the Agency will be rejected when analysing the final/interim report(s)

WHEN?

anytime during the project’s life BEFORE the change takes place

HOW?

• fficial request signed by the legal representative,

motivate the request and provide supporting documents

Amendments to the Grant agreement Two categories of amendments

• 1. Administrative changes: Bank account, new legal

representative or contact person of one of the beneficiaries, address of coordinator, status

• 2. Changes to the content/budget of the project:

eligibility period, work programme, budget, changes to beneficiaries (replace, add, remove co-organisers)

Changes to the content/budget of the project:

change of beneficiaries (co-organiser)

• 1. termination of the participation of a beneficiary
• you can replace a beneficiary
• you can re-allocate the tasks among the existing beneficiaries

(eligibility!)

• 2. addition of one beneficiary

All partners should agree on the change in the partnership (written confirmation)

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Changes to the content/budget of the project:

Changes of beneficiaries - Documents needed:

• 1. Official motivated request
• 2. Withdrawal letter from the old beneficiary (if applicable)
• 3. Letter of intent from the new beneficiary (if applicable)
• 4. Agreement of the other beneficiaries

Cooperation agreement

• 5. Information on the new organization (template available)
• 6. Updated budget + work programme (use the EACEA templates)
• 7. CV’s + Activity reports
• 8. Mandates

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• Total eligible budget  never increase or decrease
• Shifts under 10% (budget categories)  no formal amendment

 inform the project officer  original budget is still the basis

• Changes of 10% or more  to be officially approved by

the Agency  budget amendment! Documents needed:

• Official letter explaining the change
• The template document 'amendment budget' duly filled in

Changes to the content/budget of the project:

changes in the budget (Art. I.8 and General conditions II.22)

Amendments to the Grant agreement

• Always discuss the changes with the beneficiaries (co-organisers)
• Prepare an official letter and motivate your request
• Include supporting documents
• Send the request on time (at the latest one month before the end
• f the eligibility period)
• Do not forget to sign and send back the copies of the

amendment!!!! (if applicable)

• Use templates (for amendment budget, co-organisers, work

programme)

INTERIM / FINAL REPORT

Where to find the templates: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/beneficiaries/2013/index_en.php

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INTERIM REPORT (Art. I.4.1, Annex III and IV)

WHY?

For the project’s and Agency’s benefit and use: to assess whether you are in line with what was foreseen in the grant agreement; to request 2nd or 3rd pre-financing payment (if foreseen)*

WHEN?

Stated in Art.I.4.1 and Annex III and IV of the GA

WHO?

Assessed by Agency’s staff

*If Interim payment foreseen= it is intended to reimburse the beneficiaries for expenditure based on a the detailed statement of costs incurred

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FINAL REPORT (Art.1.4.1, Annex III and IV)

WHY?

to enable the Agency to evaluate the quality of the project, its results & outcomes/outputs to request payment of the balance

WHEN?

2 months after the end of the project’s eligibility period Reporting period: start of the project until the end of the eligibility period Failure to submit the report can result in a full recovery of the pre-financing amount received!!!

WHO?

Evaluated by operational and financial Agency staff according to the 4 eyes principles

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INTERIM / FINAL REPORT

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My report should be:

• 1. Complete  all documents are included (see art. I.4, annexes III – IV)
• 2. Signed by the legal representative(s)
• 3. Using the correct template

failure to submit a valid report will result in the rejection of your report

INTERIM / FINAL REPORT

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Composed of two parts:

• A. Implementation report:

a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the projects'

• bjectives, results, outputs
• B. Interim/Final Financial report: detail of all costs incurred

during the implementation

• f the action and validated

by an external auditor

(for final report only!)

• A. Implementation report (annex IV)

You must provide the following information: PART 1 (coordinator):

• Overview- main project results
• Project activities implemented
• Evaluation of project activities
• Quantitative information
• Evaluation of cooperation among

participating organisations PART 2: must be filled in by each beneficiary (co-organiser) and signed by their legal representative

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• A. Implementation report (annex IV)

Project outputs:

• 1 copy of each output
• Absence of logo  all

related costs are ineligible

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Visibility of the Union funding(general conditions II.7)

• Use the European emblem (flag):

Available here: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eacea_logos_en.php

• Mention:

'With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union'

• For publications, mention:

'This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein'

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• B. Interim/Final Financial report (annex III)

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The report should:

• Mention the E.U. grant

requested

• Be balanced
• Be signed by the legal

representative

• Be certified and signed by

an external auditor (final

report only)

• B. Interim/Final Financial report

Fill in all green cells using the grant agreement:

• Eligibility period
• Grant agreement reference
• Estimated budget

Income part

• Amount of pre-financing received
• Final amount requested
• Other E.U. grant received
• Income generated by the project
• Self-financing by coordinator/beneficiaries
• Grant distributed between beneficiaries

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• B. Interim/Final Financial report

List of invoices

• All fields are

mandatory

• All invoices must

have been paid by the submission day

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• B. Interim/Final Financial

report - List of invoices

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Example of an eligible invoice

• B. Interim/Final Financial report

List of invoices

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2013/03 25/05/13 15/05/13 20/05/13

ES Donalds CARLOS, arquitecto Digitalisation of photographic material

• B. Interim/Final Financial report

List of invoices

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Eur 6.695,00 0,00 1 6.695,00 0,00 18/06/12 Yes No

Automatic

• B. Report on Factual Findings on the Final

Financial Report – Type II

• private organisation  an external auditor
• public organisation  an independent officer

Use only the EACEA template Concerns:

• all eligible expenses AND income of the

project (= costs stated in annex III and list of invoices)

• cannot be split between beneficiaries

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Requests for payment (Art. I.4.2 + General conditions II.23) The Agency may:

– approve the interim/final report (time limits 60 days) – ask additional information* – reject the report and ask a new report

*in this case the time for approval of the report is suspended until receipt of the additional information/documents

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EU grant minimum of:

• 1. amount of the grant allocated
• 2. amount obtained by applying the E.U. grant % to the

total eligible costs

• 3. amount necessary to balance the real budget
• 4. final amount requested by the coordinator

Payment Recovery order

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Determining the final grant (General conditions II.25)

Checks and audits (General conditions II.27)

Keep:

• all original documents, including accounting and tax

records (copies are accepted for co-organisers' costs)

• bank statements of all payments made (avoid cash

payments)

• all documents for a period of 5 years

Your project may be audited!

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TIPS!

• Read carefully the following documents:
• Guidelines:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/beneficiaries/2013/report_strand_11_en.php

• Financial Kit: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/documents/fik_1202.pdf
• Contact your project officer for any question, problem,

doubt or advise (we are there for you )

• One person must be responsible for the financial

management of the project

• Collect documents after each activity

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Do you have questions?

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